It's pretty simple: The scary part of doing stuff at night (eh, most things), is that you can't see because it's dark. And if you're out on the water at night, what you can't see can hurt you – logs, junk, lines and other debris, not to mention other boats.

FLIR is a company named after the principal technology involved in its products: Forward Looking InfraRed. Basically, they sell devices that let you see in the dark. The technology uses extremely sensitive chips to detect small differences in temperature, primarily in the infrared part of the energy spectrum. 

The output usually is fed to a chartplotter or dedicated screen in the pilothouse and the difference it makes while navigating at night is truly something to, eh. . . see. The video image that results is usually rendered in shades of green, because that's what the human eye responds to best when evaluating contrast. The image can also be shown in grayscale similar to an old black-and-white television image. Theoretically, a helmsman or watchstander can see as though it was daylight and spot even the smallest debris in the water.

FLIR will be demonstrating theirgear at the Miami Boat Show, and I hope to be on hand when they do. 

FLIR