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Ahoy! You may be less likely to rear-end someone if you’re sailing a boat at night than if you were driving a car in bumper-to-bumper traffic, but it’s still a real—and dangerous—possibility. Thankfully, strict sternlight requirements make it a lot easier to navigate on the water in the dark and give other boats a safe berth. In this article, we’ll go over the color and visibility requirements for sternlights (and other navigation lights) for sailboats and powerboats of varying lengths. Let’s get cruisin’!
Things You Should Know
- A boat’s sternlight is white and shines over a 135 degree angle behind the boat. It must be visible from 2 nautical miles (2.3 mi or 3.7 km) away.
- Masthead lights are also white and illuminate a 225 degree angle in front of the boat. The port (left) and starboard (right) sidelights are red and green, respectively.
- Boats under 12 m (39 ft) long can use a single, white all-around light in place of separate masthead and sternlights.
Steps
Expert Q&A
Tips
- Basic navigation light guidelines are set by the U.S. Coast Guard. Your state or local municipality may have additional or stricter requirements as well.[12]Thanks
Warnings
- It’s illegal to obscure or block any of your boat’s navigation lights with decorative or recreational lights.[13]Thanks
References
- ↑ https://www.boatingmag.com/navlightregs/
- ↑ https://www.godownsize.com/boat-navigation-light-rules-night/
- ↑ https://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Boating/documents/VOG/InlandLightingRules.pdf
- ↑ https://www.boatingmag.com/navlightregs/
- ↑ https://www.ilearntoboat.com/blog/boat-navigation-lights/
- ↑ https://www.uscgboating.org/images/420.PDF
- ↑ https://www.ilearntoboat.com/blog/boat-navigation-lights/
- ↑ https://www.uscgboating.org/images/420.PDF
- ↑ https://www.ilearntoboat.com/blog/boat-navigation-lights/
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