Moon Sailing

After hearing about others sailing in the night I thought I’d give it a try. It's a sensation delight. Sailing between the Big Dipper and Orion the Hunter is truly wonderful.

Anyway if you want to try it, add to that a full moon and it's truely magical. I’ve added the moonrise/set times to the conditions page, so you can get out there and experience stellar serenity.

Here’s the poop to make your scoop:

The moon makes a complete cycle every 29.5 days. The moon is brightest between the waxing gibbous and the waning gibbous, the full moon sits right in the middle of these two. The period between waxing and waning is about 7 days. To see the times for the moonrise, check out http://www.sunrisesunset.com/custom_srss_calendar.asp.

Lessons learned from the night flight:

Start in the late afternoon before sunset, to familiarize yourself with the terrain (objects, ice surface, etceteras)

During the day, your orientation will usually be with the horizon, shoreline or visible objects. At night the contours are lost and you’ll have to navigate by the lights on the shoreline.

It’s difficult to tell how fast you’re going in the dark.

During the week is generally more quite than the weekend. Many of the weekenders snowmobile at night too. So be careful.

The brightness of the moon is not required to sail. However, it just adds to the experience of wonderment.
Notice what happens to your perception of the white surface when you sail into the moon light versus away from the moon light.

Have a safe and happy flight!

Some people see things and say why? Some dream of things that never were and say why not? [was that Kennedy?]

Website: http://www.oocities.org/fitzgr