Cole: I have to agree with Skinwalker, in no circumstances should crew be on lookout at even a few feet aft of the bow at night or for that matter even in adverse daylight conditions, that situation is a safety hazard not a safety factor. As Skinwalker rightly suggests with the abundance of modern navigational resources available there is no reason to have an extra lookout on the bow which puts a life in danger. As you state, you have an open window so that should provide sufficient visibility for the watchkeeper and crew to keep a proper lookout as required under the Col Regs as long as the helm station lighting is appropriately set for night navigation. As a merchant mariner of 48 years I have only seen a lookout posted to the bow in very dense fog in a busy waterway a handful of times. One exception was a 160-foot tall ship where the visibility from the aft helm station was impaired by superstructure and rigging and in this case even in heavy rain the lookout was repositioned to the aft deck and the bridge crew doubled their vigilance. I understand and respect your intentions for the safety of your boat but perhaps you might consider a slightly longer trip by steering away from known fishing areas during night passages eliminating the need for spotlights which confuse your course intentions to bigger vessels which cannot manouever as easily as you. Don't wish to spoil your fun but have seen too many avoidable marine accidents and don't wish you or your crew to become another statistic. Cheers Bob Keltic Marine Group www.kelticstar.com > Safety of the watch is absolutely a concern. When I say "bow" I should clarify, they are usually /seated/ on the foredeck, having someone /standing/ right on the bow would be a very bad idea. This is something I will need to address with the President I just bought, as the old Trumpy had a seat across the front of the salon, a safe distance back from the bow. They do have a spotlight, but since its always aimed away from the pilothouse it does not affect my vision. > The size of my boat allows easy communication between us, through an open front window. Usually they are looking for channel markers, and in our area the ubiqituos crabpots or eel pots. > I have no problems "suffering" the opinions of others, sometimes they Are better than mine :) Cole M/v Voyager

i often run at night, maybe even moe often than during the day since we try to stretch weekend as much as possible, and dont' see the point of having someone on the foredeck. i know that conditions in So Fl are pretty easy but in winter we do get some 40/50s and cold (for us)northerly winds sometimes. We also get some pretty severe rainshowers with near 0 visibility, especially in winter. When visibility goes down, teh only option is to run the boat from the flybridge. if it's cold or rainy, bundle up... I've even had to use snorkleing gogles a few times but that was the only safe option. my boat has a very good view from the lower helm so that's not the issue even with every light off, glass still reduces visibility, and the main issue is that height gives you a much better view ahead. on most boats, including mine, having someone seated on the forward seat doesn't help since they will have the railing in their line of sight. If they are using a spot light it's even worst as the glare on teh railing will blind them. there is also the issue of communication with the helm. two way radio ? hand signal ? better practice to insure accurate information flow. sometimes it may not be very confortable to be up on an open flybridge, but that is often the only solution. having someone out in the rain and wind, plus the spray, doesn't do any good in my opinion pascal miami, fl 70 hatteras 53my