How to Kayak at Night

Paddling at night can be magical. A full moon or bioluminescent organisms in the water can turn a trip into a dream. But kayaking at night can also be challenging. It’s harder to navigate and harder to spot any potential water hazards. Here’s a few tips to enjoy a night time water adventure.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Glow lights
• Flashlight
• Headlamp with red filter
• Compass
• Map

1. You’ll want all your paddling partners to stay within visual contact at all times. It can be hard to impossible to find a group once one of you has wandered off. Cyalume sticks can help mark paddlers for orientation.

2. Make sure your vest and boat is outfitted with reflective tape. This will show up brightly in a spotlight or flashlight beam. You can also clip a small battery powered strobe to your vest to give other water vessels your location.

3. When navigating at night you need to be able to read your compass and map. Use a red light to retain your night vision instead of a white one. Many headlamps come with a red light filter for east use.

4. If you have to cross and major waterways be familiar with the lighting displayed by various vessels in the area. Sometimes the lighting is the only way to tell if a boat is moving away from you or toward you.

5. Don’t take any chances. Never paddle between a tug and its haul, or between large vessels whether they’re at anchor or not. The momentum and strength generated by their weight can easily crush you and your boat.

Tips & Warnings

• Always bring extra batteries
• Carry emergency flares

[gpcs]

on 12/17/2007 Gabe- I love my kayak - but have not been TOO adventurous about venturing out past dark. One time I did was on White Lake in NH - and we were scared to come to shore as we heard a mysterious yowling! Turned out to be an (apparently) abandoned and hungry cat who we adopted!
-George