Jones Beach Concert - nervous night boater

J

johnziemann

Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2007
RO Number
26752
Messages
5
Hello folks,

Thanks for letting a new guy ask a question.

I am a experienced boater, but not too much experience at night. I have a couple of buddies who want to go to the Rush concert tonight with my 25' crusier. It looks like a clear night with a full moon. My main hang out is Zacks Bay, and have piloted there 50 times from Freeport. Should I be nervous about making this trip? Is there going to be a parade of boats leaving Zacks bay after the concert? If I have a spotlight, will that suffice? (I do not have a GPS). Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,
John Z
Rx 4 Fun
 
You generally can not hear the JB concerts from Zach's Bay - the wind usually blows the sound towards the west. You are better off driving, parking in the lot, and walking to the promenade - you will hear everything, and even see part of the stage.
 
I have never been to a concert at zach's bay that i did not hear. It's always fun to drop anchor and listen to the concert from my boat. I wouldn't be too worried about traveling at night. If you know the water pretty well, you should be fine!

-Dan
 
If you don't have much experience piloting at night, I'd discourage you trying this without GPS. The water looks COMPLETELY different at night. It doesn't matter how many times you have made this trip during the day. If you're unfamiliar with the bay at night, it will be like it's your first trip. And you won't have the benefit of seeing, full moon or not.
 
You'll be a lot less nervous with a simple handheld GPS. You can get them now for about a hundred bucks.
 
But be careful with that spotlight -- it will be blinding to other boaters (and to you, for that matter).
 
Thanks for the input. I do have a spotlight. I am going ahead with the trip, and I have informed my crew that if we can't handle the return trip, we are going to tie up and spend the night - don't worry, I ain't no hero. The question I have about GPS, is how is that going to help me? Are the buoys on there too? Or what will the scrren show me? When I see those cheap hand helds in the catalogs, they look like very little info on there. I'm not opposed to picking one up right now if you tell me how it works. Thanks again, John
 
Depends on handheld but some show buoys. I would go a little more and get one that shows your position on a chart. Best tool you can have on a boat.
 
Update from John - Everything went well. I had a good crewman on the spotlight finding the buoys, and like I said, I know the route cold. What I learned about this subject is that I wouldn't recommend it to someone who didn't know the route perfectly. Thanks again for all of your input. P.S. The sound was pretty good.
 
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