It's Dark Stupid
 

ok how fast do you run a river you know at night.....??????? I have been know to run balls out, yea I know I am not the brightest crayon in the boax

i'm ashamed to admit that i'm guilty of doing that,then only to realize after arriving safely back to port, it was pretty f*****g STUPID.

Never through a river but went BTTW through west harbor channel on Lake Erie in a friends boat and almost went to jail for underage consumption.

The bad part was that my friend was driving and he was stone sober:mad:

At least it was ALMOST went to JAIL...................
We are usually back to the ramp by night fall.

Right now it looks like we're all scared $#itless Or crazy MOFOs
Hardly anything in between...................

If I'm runnin at night in home waters, I'm usually not in the world's biggest hurry cause its already dark...

In the SeaRay (which is not the most maneuverable boat) I have charting GPS and radar. I usually run the same 32mph at night as I do in the day. Only occasionally look out the windshield, as I rely completely on the electronics as my eyes. If I have a problem with the electronics, I run off plane...

In the Formula, I run fast enough to be able to change directoin quickly. Under 30 the hull responds sluggishly. 35 or so is my night speed unless I need to make time. Then I do what all of us do - bury it...

Niagara River (Buffalo) in a 5 liter hydroplane, and yea, of course we were drunk. Even worse though was the nighttime skiing expeditions. That was really stupid unitl we came up with the railroad flare idea.

Depends on how good I can see,,,, there are some night with a clear sky and good moon, we can see about as good as daylight !!!!!!

Other nights I'm afraid to pull it on plane !!!!!!

Yeah , what obnoxious said about covers it. Depends on conditions.
I also like to follow another fast boat but back a bit. So if they hit something I can then avoid it:rolleyes:

I don't run on rivers. But on Lake Michigan, from port to port at night (which I do often) I run fast enough to make some time, but not so fast as to run over the stupid idiot fishing with no lights on. I usually run about 35-40 mph or so...handling is better at that speed than going slower too.

The scariest thing where we live is the world's largest night time bass tournament,6 PM to 6AM. 500 crazy 60-100 mph bassboats to terrorize everybody. We turn on all our boathouse lights and don't dare go boating on that night. Been going on for 15 years but surprisingly, only a few accidents.

20 mph on the Fox River in Illinois is scary as hell. The marked channel gets real narrow. There is 25mph speed limit after dusk.

I missed an unlit steel bouy at about 40 mph off Winetka in lake michigan a few years back. My wife yelled BOUY as we missed by 3 or 4 feet. It would have killed us.

Always fun to open it up in the dark!!!!!!

I will say that I run offshore a couple of miles at night. Seems most people like to run pier head to pier head in a straight line. I run outside that and use my gps to get in the peir head on the dot every time. Go straight out, turn north or south, and then run straight in. Much safer that way in my opinion. Out there, on a good moon lit night, I'll open her up sometimes. Often it's too rough to do so though. It's a big, huge lake don't ya know!! Small ocean?? Inland sea??:D :D

I hate to say, but i've done the wide open thing on the river more than once. Scariest thing I've evers seen though is one Tuesday nite running accrost lake Erie, racing a Top Gun doing over 70 less than 50 yards appart this little fishing boat anchored with no lites passes right between us. THAT will get your attention.

Madcow, is the Toledo area a decent place to plan a weekend of boating? Is the river something to do? Any colorful places to go for a day from Toledo other than PIB??

Nothing better than 572 CI'S breating through a set of dry pipes at night on a inland lake W.F.O! Ya neighbors love me

Our lake can have lots of "blow boaters" on it at night. They don't all have working lights! :rolleyes:

I try to keep it under 30 at night. It's very relaxing to cruise (slowly) at night.

Years ago with the Glastron- I and a friend ( Not WATERFOUL) (full moon and almost no clouds) sitting around the campfire -DRUNK- friend says VROOM and I say YEAH (come on you all have been there at least once) Take the boat out for a ride WFO on Hardy dam - way up river where the river is only 150 ft wide. We were doing about 90 mph when the moon went behind a cloud. Scared the crap out of both of us. We idled back to camp. And caught Hell from everyone the next day. Even Mr Parker ( about 2 miles down river) asked me if I had run my boat at 3 AM. I just smiled. Woke up half of the camp ground. Boy that boat was loud.

A friend of mine in a Mirage river race killed his wife, brother and brothers wife in a boating wreck at night, he was the only survivor, since then I cruise at night

Idle is a good nighttime speed, 30 or so if the moon lights the way.

Dave P should print this thread out and take it to the speed limit meeting. It will prove that pure stupidity is the cause for accidents and speed limits will do nothing to stop them.

Friday nite in Toledo Is usualy a pretty good time downtown long as the whether is good. Lots of good regattas here throughout the summer.You can check the local sched. at www.LEOPA.com . we also have a GREAT poker run (70 to 90 boats)here every year. Look forward to seeing you here this summer foul.

Thie biggest problem with the Ohio River at night is the barges. They have three lights on them. That's three lights, all on the bow, on an entire 400' barge. The tug is lit well, but it is incredabley hard to see them at night. Plus they can blend into the city lights rather well. My night speed usually depends on many factors. There are times at night you can see very well, other times you cannot. I do not like taking to many chances at night. If vision is poor, I take it easy.

20-30 at night but if its a calm moonlit night I have gone w.o.t. home from P-I-B. or Kelley's the lake's normally pretty empty if you follow the ferry route's most drifters and blowboaters stay in the bay at night.

Have gone wide open a few times but most of the time 35-45 will get things done. To many crabpots on our waterways to take a chance at snaggin' one of those mf er's in the dark!!!

I don't boat at night often. If I do it is in an area I am very familiar with. I will usually run about 40 MPH.

I never (or usually never) run at night. Too many logs, crab pots, fishermen, etc., etc. :D

Running WOT at night is how my Dad beached his boat. Thought he knew where he was and where he was going.
Turned out he didn't.
Even in familiar home waters danger lurks.

Better to slow down and play it safe than to get in trouble faster than you can blink.