Certainly some Truth here.....

[LaurencetheAdventurer]

Certainly some Truth here..... some of our best days are just the wife and floating at night, watching the stars!

 

[BigKahuna]

Certainly some Truth here..... some of our best days are just the wife and floating at night, watching the stars!

Sounds peaceful but we very rarely go out at night. Been out to see the fireworks twice in the 8+ years we've lived here and almost got hit both times!

 

[FeelingMinnesota]

Agreed, but sometimes you have to blow the candle out...

 

[jcr159]

Certainly some Truth here..... some of our best days are just the wife and floating at night, watching the stars!

being out at night is amazing... until i have to dock and get attacked by the mosquito marines...

 

[Kim in Central FL]

being out at night is amazing... until i have to dock and get attacked by the mosquito marines...

Same here in Florida - they are the size of birds!!!

 

[BigD]

Night boating is for the risk takers. I'm not one. Frankly, don't even know why we got RGB and underwater lights. Never used them.

 

[Kim in Central FL]

I agree, we were out just after dark a few weeks ago and my red nav light was not working! I feel that it is dangerous after dark on the Kissimmee Chain. Thanks to ITC-US.com all lights are working now but no plans to need them again this summer!!

 

[Vikingstaff]

We go out for 4th of July fireworks each year on the lake with company. That is it for “true” night boating. Some of the speeds a few people go in pitch dark when they are done are nerve-racking. We have begun lingering in place for 20-30 minutes before heading out. By then the speed demons in the pitch-black night are typically gone. Outside of that we might do a few evening rides a year, but in before dark. My wife isn’t into night boating. And I am not into covering it while being assaulted by a million hungry mosquitoes. That said, these are our only limited opportunities to use our RGB lighting. It looks cool, but we use it so little it is certainly an areas I could have trimmed costs in retrospect. All that said, being out in the still of the night with the stars overhead is certainly special. However, I just don’t trust others and some of the speeds they occasionally seem to be going in the darkness.

 

[Kim in Central FL]

Exactly - we have idiots who speed in the fog as well, claiming they "know the river like the back of their hand", too dumb to realize their knowledge or GPS does not show other boaters!!!

 

[PartyBarge]

OK, Big Dipper, that's a good one! Is that from some of the recent solar discharges?

Agreed, but sometimes you have to blow the candle out...View attachment 34149

 

[FeelingMinnesota]

OK, Big Dipper, that's a good one! Is that from some of the recent solar discharges?

This was early Sept of last year. We had some friends up for the weekend with their young girls and were playing board games, stepped out on the deck to grab a bev from the cooler and the green haze in the northern sky was just above the tree-line. We grabbed every blanket possible and went to the dock, watched from there for a while, then jumped on the boat. Once we got to a protected cove, it took a while for our eyes to adjust and then the show really started. They hadn't seen the Aurora before, and it didn't disappoint that night. We may have stayed all night if it were not so cold but the hours we spent on the lake were magical. Here's a shot from the dock.

 

[Michiman]

This was early Sept of last year. We had some friends up for the weekend with their young girls and were playing board games, stepped out on the deck to grab a bev from the cooler and the green haze in the northern sky was just above the tree-line. We grabbed every blanket possible and went to the dock, watched from there for a while, then jumped on the boat. Once we got to a protected cove, it took a while for our eyes to adjust and then the show really started. They hadn't seen the Aurora before, and it didn't disappoint that night. We may have stayed all night if it were not so cold but the hours we spent on the lake were magical. Here's a shot from the dock.

Wow! Totally awesome and for a lot of us, a once in a lifetime!

 

[Michiman]

We do some late night boating a couple times a season but only when there’s a large moon and calm weather. Most folks seem to be off the lake by 10 so we don’t usually have much traffic, if any, to worry about.

 

[sunedog]

I guess we're in the minority here. I'd guess a third of all our boating hours are after dark. We don't fish. We use the lake for relaxing and entertainment. In season about every weekend, we generally spend the afternoon tied up with friends and floating in the water. Usually have 5 to 12 boats tied up. Early evening we head to one of the marinas for some live music and food or to one of the groups' waterfront homes for an impromptu dinner party. Hang out, listen to music, dance or play pool. Enjoy each others' company. Put on some great music and putter home late under the stars. If the air is warm and the mood is right, keep cruising late to extend the bliss.

There have been some some horrific night time fatal crashes on our lake and we understand the risk. But we don't boat fast after dark or drunk. And we are always aware of our surroundings. Our lake is big and wide open. After your eyes adjust, it amazes me how clearly you can see.

 

[Link]

We go out at night on a regular basis. BK you are just choosing the wrong nights to venture out, alcohol infused holidays are treacherous. Go out on a peaceful night, slow crushing with music and friends. My favorite cruises

 

[BigKahuna]

We go out at night on a regular basis. BK you are just choosing the wrong nights to venture out, alcohol infused holidays are treacherous. Go out on a peaceful night, slow crushing with music and friends. My favorite cruises

I know Mark! I am willing to go out more but my wife (the Admiral) isn't crazy about it! Plus we keep our boat at a dry storage facility and they close at 600p. So I would have to have them put the boat in the water before closing then go out. Then when we come back we just leave the boat at the dock and they'll put it away when they come in the next morning.....

 

[PartyBarge]

This was early Sept of last year. We had some friends up for the weekend with their young girls and were playing board games, stepped out on the deck to grab a bev from the cooler and the green haze in the northern sky was just above the tree-line. We grabbed every blanket possible and went to the dock, watched from there for a while, then jumped on the boat. Once we got to a protected cove, it took a while for our eyes to adjust and then the show really started. They hadn't seen the Aurora before, and it didn't disappoint that night. We may have stayed all night if it were not so cold but the hours we spent on the lake were magical. Here's a shot from the dock.

Thanks for the info. I've had the good fortune to be under some impressive displays on polar flights. Very disorienting when the dancing lights appear to run almost horizon to horizon, even though flight altitudes are way below where the action is.

 

[FeelingMinnesota]

Thanks for the info. I've had the good fortune to be under some impressive displays on polar flights. Very disorienting when the dancing lights appear to run almost horizon to horizon, even though flight altitudes are way below where the action is.

Definitely a spot you don’t want to get disoriented! The payoff of having a panorama view would be worth it, except for the whole crashing part

 

[PartyBarge]

No worries, we didn't have a cockpit full of flight/navigation displays for nothin'. The exposure to high energy charged particles is another matter!