{"id":7177,"date":"2013-08-28T17:00:32","date_gmt":"2013-08-28T17:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/?p=7177"},"modified":"2017-12-20T21:02:07","modified_gmt":"2017-12-21T02:02:07","slug":"recreational-boat-navigation-lights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/editors-picks\/recreational-boat-navigation-lights\/","title":{"rendered":"Recreational Boat Navigation Lights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Have you ever wondered what those lights are for on your boat?\u00a0 If you\u2019re a novice boater, you may not be familiar with Coast Guard standards or know what these boat navigation lights mean, and this can potentially pose a hazard. Even an expert on the water can use a refresher course every now and then.<\/p>\n<p>You might be asking why these lights are required in the first place.\u00a0 Your car needs light to operate at night or in the rain or fog. The same is true for your boat&#8211;for safety. Making sure you can be seen by other boaters can help avoid a bad situation.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/nav-light-red-green.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"red and green navigation lights on the bow of a boat\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/nav-light-red-green.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/nav-light-red-green-94x70.jpg 94w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/> <h2>Coast Guard Regulations<\/h2><\/p>\n<p>Regulations vary according to the type of vessel, but let\u2019s say for the sake of this blog, that we\u2019re speaking of the average recreational boat around 18\u2019 in length. Recreational boats are required to use navigation lights from sunset to sunrise and in other times of limited visibility, such as fog and rain. These lights must be shown in certain colors as well as placed in certain locations on the boat.<\/p>\n<p>Sidelights are red on the port (right) side and green on the starboard (left) side. These lights are to be visible from at least one mile away on a dark, clear night.<\/p>\n<p>Recreational boats should display an all-around white light or both a white masthead and sternlight which must be visible from at least two miles away.\u00a0 The white all-around or masthead\/sternlight must be at least 3.3 feet higher than the sidelights.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"120\" src=\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/nav-light-diagram.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"diagram showing the navigation lights on a boat\" \/> <h2>Visibility of White Light<\/h2><\/p>\n<p>Often the all-around white light is mounted on a pole at the stern of the boat.\u00a0 If your boat is equipped with a bimini, this can sometimes restrict the visibility of the light.\u00a0 Consider mounting the all-around light on the bimini frame.\u00a0\u00a0Traditional canvases sometimes have to be modified to allow for mounting on the\u00a0bimini frame but at Boat Covers Direct&reg;, we can\u00a0save you the trouble.\u00a0\u00a0We offer a special canvas with a light cut-out already made into the fabric.\u00a0For more information on this product please visit <a href=\"\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/products\/bimini_tops\/pontoon\/31\/#standard-square-tube-light-cut-out\">\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/products\/bimini_tops\/pontoon\/31\/#standard-square-tube-light-cut-out<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"412\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/pontoon-bimini-with-light-cut-out-red.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"red pontoon bimini top with light cut out\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/pontoon-bimini-with-light-cut-out-red.jpg 412w, https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/pontoon-bimini-with-light-cut-out-red-300x145.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 412px) 100vw, 412px\" \/> <\/p>\n<p>Remember, not only is it important to have these lights for safety purposes, but it\u2019s the law. For more information on Boating Safety, visit the U.S. Coast Guard\u2019s Boating Safety Division at <a href=\"\/\/www.uscgboating.org\/\">\/\/www.uscgboating.org\/<\/a> .<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93,40,58],"tags":[107,172,287,285,286,288],"class_list":["post-7177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-boatlovers","category-editors-picks","category-tip-tuesday","tag-bimini-top","tag-boat","tag-lighting-regulations","tag-nav-light","tag-navigation-light","tag-safety"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Recreational Boat Navigation Lights - Boat Lovers Direct<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Boat Navigation Lights are a required to ensure the safety of you and other boaters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/editors-picks\/recreational-boat-navigation-lights\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Recreational Boat Navigation Lights - Boat Lovers Direct\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Boat Navigation Lights are a required to ensure the safety of you and other boaters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/editors-picks\/recreational-boat-navigation-lights\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Boat Lovers Direct\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-08-28T17:00:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-12-21T02:02:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/navy-inflatable-larger.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"652\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"207\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Susan J\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Susan J\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/editors-picks\/recreational-boat-navigation-lights\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/editors-picks\/recreational-boat-navigation-lights\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Susan J\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/#\/schema\/person\/5d85e8eaf6400807a84e6e868bce33cd\"},\"headline\":\"Recreational Boat Navigation Lights\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-08-28T17:00:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-12-21T02:02:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/editors-picks\/recreational-boat-navigation-lights\/\"},\"wordCount\":550,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/editors-picks\/recreational-boat-navigation-lights\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/navy-inflatable-larger.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"bimini top\",\"boat\",\"lighting regulations\",\"nav light\",\"navigation light\",\"safety\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Boat Lover's\",\"Editor's Picks\",\"Tip Tuesday\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/editors-picks\/recreational-boat-navigation-lights\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boatcoversdirect.com\/boat-lovers\/editors-picks\/recreational-boat-navigation-lights\/\",\"name\":\"Recreational Boat Navigation Lights - 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