It is no surprise that most boating accidents occur between midnight and 2:30 a.m. The water looks different without familiar daytime landmarks, and you may get confused, or even a little frightened the first time you try navigating at night. This is normal, and it is essential not to get discouraged. Use these five tips to improve your nighttime boating skills, avoid accidents, and keep your OC boat insurance premium low.

Know Your Lights

Law requires that powered boats less than 12 meters long display one white light in the front, a red light on the port side, and a green one on the starboard. Those greater than 12 meters must have two white lights, with the most forward light positioned lower than the rear one. If you remember the positions of these lights, you can tell whether another ship is coming straight toward you or whether it is passing to your right or left.

Watch Out for Tugs

Three white lights on a tug mean it is towing something behind it; two white lights indicate it is pushing another vessel or towing it alongside. The red and green running lights of barges are notoriously difficult to see, so you can’t assume much about their size or position when navigating at night. Simply steer clear to avoid running into an extremely long towing line.

Pay Attention to Lighted Navigational Aids

New boaters often struggle to differentiate lights mounted on buoys and along channels from streetlights and buildings. However, with practice, you can distinguish the patterns of directional aids from background lights along the shore. Lights intended for navigation usually blink in a pattern to convey their message, but be careful not to mistake them for the blinking lights on towers and barges.

Maintain Your Night Vision

You can get a head start on the 30-45 minutes it takes your night vision to kick in by donning sunglasses 20 minutes before sundown. Every time you look at a bright light your eyes must re-acclimate, so strictly adhere to a no-lights or red-lights-only rule once the sun sets.  Also, look directly to the side of objects to focus with the maximum number of photoreceptors.  

Practice Finding Thing by Touch

Before the trip, become as familiar as possible with where you store things on board. Some of the most important items include the following:

• Tool kit
• Life jackets
• Heaving and dock lines
• Spotlight
• Communications devices

Learn the relative positions of switches on the control panel by counting over from the left. If you have time, you could even practice finding them blindfolded. Being familiar with the contents of your boat will also help if you ever have to file a claim with your OC boat insurance.

About Mariners Insurance 

Mariners General Insurance Group was founded in 1959 to protect boat owners and marine business clients. We are marine insurance experts and insure boats worldwide – in every ocean on the planet. Marine insurance is critical if you own a boat or nautical business. Trust the professionals with all of your Boat Insurance needs – trust Mariners Insurance. Call us at (888) 402-5018 any time you have questions or concerns about insurance for your vessel or marine business.