If you ask your friends about their night-time driving experiences, you will usually hear rapturous monologues. They talk about clear starry skies, fantastic sunsets and sunrises, balmy nights with music and good conversations in the cockpit.
For young skippers in particular, the first night trip is a milestone: drawing up a watch plan for the first time, preparing the navigation, checking the ship technically. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why many charter companies report that the number of crews travelling at night is decreasing. The fear of making a mistake in the dark seems to be increasing.
But to put it bluntly: if you want to sail for a few nights or even just one night, you can only fall flat on your face if the planning was poor. If the weather forecast was not up-to-date or it only becomes clear when approaching the harbour that it is unsuitable for a night-time approach, it will be embarrassing for the skipper.
For this reason, we have summarised the most important points of preparation: What needs to be checked and prepared technically on board, what is important for navigation, which watch systems make sense for which crews and when, and much more.
In addition, experienced skippers talk about their favourite, most unusual or even hair-raising experiences when sailing at night. They also give important tips on how to learn from them. Now in the new YACHT, No. 10.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
