Quick question

[hardwaterfishing]

When sitting in a boat at night, not moving. Do I need both of my lights on or just the back one? Thanks...

[crazyice]

I am not sure, but to play it safe and avoid a meeting with a CO, I would run both.

[RobertELee]

Only the anchor light can be on. If you have the red/green lights on it means you are under power.

[hardwaterfishing]

thanks thats what I thaught..

[united jigsticker]

"More" doesn't always mean better.

Get some glow-in-the-dark paint and paint your whole boat with it.

Banana Yellow should do just fine.

[Dahitman44]

I am glad you posted about lights. I still run across people that have no lights on after dark.

You would think that natural selection would have taken care of those people by now.

[LBSPORTSMEN]

A week ago I alsomt split a small fourteen footer in half. Had a couple of half drunk teenagers with no lights. I cut right and dang near swamped'm with my wake. I came back around and feed them a piece of my mind, THEY ALMOST SCRATCHED MY BOAT! You almost have to have a wake board rack loaded with Baja's to protect your self from these half wits!

[BobT]

Quote:

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Only the anchor light can be on. If you have the red/green lights on it means you are under power.

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I do not believe this is accurate. For motorboats 65' for less all lights are required while underway but only the anchor light (white stern) is required while anchored. It is not required to extinguish your bow lights (red/green) while anchored but it is required to illuminate your stern light (white). In other words you may leave them all on if you wish but you MUST have the anchor light on at the very least. See page 19, item #3 of the 2007 boating guide.

Bob

[vermilionfox]

I think it is a matter of semantics here. While it says that only the 360 degree white light is necessary while at anchor, it does not say anything about extinguishing the red/green lights while at anchor. You most likely will not get ticketed for having them on, but it is confusing. As an operator I will assume that a boat is underway when the lights are lit. It makes it difficult for a boat that's underway to understand what the anchored boat is doing.

[wayne123]

As you already found out this is not a quick question. I think bobt summed it up pretty well.

Here is another thread with more info:

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=826329&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=all&vc=1

[Northlander]

I keep all my lights on so people know wich way Im sitting in the water. I also carry a flashlight and headlamp so when boats get too close to my liking I pop the light on and off a few times. If that dont work I give them a whistle then a air horn. If that dont work I get the life vest on.

[Rozman]

That just stirred up some old duck hunting memories That is good stuff, you made my night!!

[RobertELee]

Think of it this way....most switches for the lights have one side labeled anchor and the other labeled navigation. The anchor side turns JUST the white 360 deg light on. The Navigation side turns the Red/Green lights on AND the white 360 deg light on. How simple could it be. Also remember that if you are using the trolling motor at night you must have the Nav. lights on.

[BobT]

There you go Northlander. I personally like it when others leave all lights illuminated. Especially on those super dark nights. It helps me know precisely which way a boat is sitting.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Quote:

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I keep all my lights on so people know wich way Im sitting in the water. I also carry a flashlight and headlamp so when boats get too close to my liking I pop the light on and off a few times. If that dont work I give them a whistle then a air horn. If that dont work I get the life vest on.

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A big spotlight can be helpful ,too

[papabear]

I often keep all my lights on especially on very dark nights. I like the others to know where all of my boat is.

[use2bwalleyefanatic]

Nothing says I love you like 2,000,000 candles. Tough to mistaken that for a light on shore.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I always appreciate when people have the white, as well as the red and green light on as well. It gets very tough to distinguish boat lights from a light on shore sometimes. I also absolutely cannot believe how many times each year I almost kill someone because they don't have their lights on, or just plain don't have lights period. If I see it, I'll give my lights a flicker or 5 to be a gentle reminder to turn them on, as everyone forgets from time to time. I do know that my dad gives people a "not so gentle reminder" to say the least. Its all in the name of safety.

[palisade1kid]

2 million candles would knock me off my chair.

I remember duck hunting coming into this lil hole and it was dark.

A guy shines us with a bright spot & I thought my eyeballs were gonna explode.

Running lights are for running.

I'm used to watching which way a boat is going.

Having a really bright white aft light lets me now they are sitting still.

Anyone in my opinion that is fully underway at night is asking for problems.Speed kills.