One of the fun things about Jon Boats is the ability to customize them in so many ways. Lighting is a fun way to “trick” out a boat, but it turns out that certain types of lighting are not only an accessory, but a requirement. It’s easy to hop into a boat and go without much thought towards specific laws, so I looked into the actual regulations around boat lighting and see if they also apply to little Jon Boats.
Jon Boat Light Regulations
What lights do I need for my Jon Boat? Per 33 CFR 83, Jon Boats are required to display navigation lights between sunset and sunrise and during periods of restricted visibility such as fog, haze, or rain. For power driven vessels these lights consist of green (starboard side), red (port side), and white (aft, i.e. the back) lights. Vessels without engines need an electric torch (i.e. flashlight) in order to prevent collision with other boats.
That’s a fairly simple definition, but what does it mean practically? In the rest of the post we’ll break those regulations down into more granularity and also give you some ideas for how to comply.
Source of Information
All of this information is taken from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) which governs all kinds of things such as energy, banking, agriculture, aviation and yes, boating. Title 33 Part 83 handles boating, and if you want the 45-page version of this post published by the United States Coast Guard you can find that guide here. If you want the 2-minute version, keep reading.
Light Requirements for Jon Boats with Engines
The CFR breaks down the lighting requirements into a lot of subsections, but Jon Boats will almost (if not always) fall into the grouping of vessels shorter than 39.4 feet (12 meters). From here it splits into two categories:
- Boats under power
- Boats “under oars” (i.e. no engine)
Boats under power require slightly more than boats with no engines. This makes intuitive sense because boats zipping across the water need to be more visible for safety because they pose a bigger accident risk than another boat just paddling in a cove.
Boats under power need navigation lights which is really just comprised of three things:
- Green starboard (right side) light
- Red port (left side) light
- White aft (back) light
The USCG depicts these three navigation lights above requirements in the following picture:
Why the Navigation Light Position and Direction Matters
The purpose of the different light colors and directions is so that at night when you can only see the lights and not the boat itself, you can distinguish the position and direction of the boat just based on these three lights.
If in the distance you see a red light on the left and white light on the right, which direction do you think the boat is going? The answer is right to left and they are not coming towards you.
What if you saw nothing but a white light? Well that means the boat is facing away from you (because you can’t see either a red or green light) and not a hazard.
Lastly, if you saw all three lights, that means there is a boat pointed towards you. If the lights are getting bigger that means the boat is getting closer to you and you need to alter course to avoid collision.
How to Memorize Light Directions
For some reason memorizing green means right and red means left has always been challenging for me because there aren’t many intuitive ways to remember this. It’s fairly random in my opinion. However, there are a few slogans I will tell myself to help remember. Here are a few:
- I’m right handed, and in my head I think that my right hand “has the green light” to do things such as write, eat, throw a ball, etc. So the right side is associated with green, while my left hand (red light) gets a big red “X” on its ability to throw a ball or write legibly. (sorry if you’re left handed… this won’t help you)
- The word “green” has more letters in it than the word “red”, just as the word “right” has more letters than the word “left”. I associate the two that have the most letters (“green” and “right”) and the two that have the least letters (“red” and “left”). I’m a numbers guy and so this has worked well for me.
However you need to memorize it, make sure you do it. Mixing up these light directions can lead to a very dangerous situation. Memorize them correctly and it could save your life. Literally!
Specific Navigation Light Requirements
Technically each of these lights have some specific requirements about the 1) direction from which you see the lights, and 2) how far away you can see them. We know based on the previous section that these lights tell a story to other boaters about both your position and your direction of travel, and so placing them correctly on your boat and making sure they shine bright enough are super important.
- Red and green navigation light requirements:
- Range of view must be approximately 112.5 degrees. If you look at the above picture, you’ll notice that the red and green lights are visible from the front of the boat but not from the back. This is because they should only wrap around a little more than 90 degrees from the front of the boat. Most navigation lights you can purchase online will already be designed to comply with this requirement, but make sure to double check that they aren’t visible from 180 degrees (this would mean that they are visible from the back of the boat as well which is not what you want).
- Observable distance of 1 mile. Remember that these lights must be used between sunset and sunrise and in times of reduced visibility. One mile visibility might seem like a lot, but if two boats are converging each going 30 miles per hour, that means they will meet in 60 seconds. That’s not a lot of time to safely avoid the oncoming vessel, especially if you don’t notice it right away. So these lights need to be present for at least a mile. Lights will generally advertise their visible distance on the packaging so you can ensure that you are in compliance.
- White navigation light requirements:
- 360-degree range of view. For boats under 39.4 feet (12 meters, which pretty much captures all Jon Boats) this light must be visible from any direction.
- Observable distance of 2 miles. Note that this is different from the 1-mile requirement of the red and green navigation lights, but is because it can be seen from all directions. My best guess for this is so that when you are scanning the horizon looking for boats, you’ll be able to see all of the white dots indicating boats, but only the ones that are headed relatively towards you would be seen as they get closer. This probably reduces your work load when analyzing other boats to avoid.
Light Requirements for Jon Boats Without Engines
While most Jon Boats will have an engine (even a small one) on them, some of you use these boats simply by rowing. For those without an engine, this is referred to as a “vessel under oars” and has different regulations when it comes to lighting requirements. It’s must simpler than boats with motors… are you ready?
Vessels under oars need a flashlight.
Okay, technically the more verbose legal term is that “it shall have ready at hand an electric torch (flashlight) or lighted lantern showing a white light that shall be exhibited in sufficient time to prevent collision.”
In other words, you need a flashlight.
I can’t find a specific requirement for how far this flashlight should be visible, but I would err on the side of caution here and get the brightest one you can find. New LED technology has really taken flashlights to a new level and they can be seen for a very long distance and are very affordable. Get the best one you can find because your safety might rely on it.
White Light Messes Up Your Night Vision
As a side note, I would highly recommend that in addition to your white flashlight you also get some sort of red or green flashlight that can be used onboard for close-range needs.
When there is low light, your pupils slowly dilate (get bigger) to let in more light and adjust to the reduced visibility environment. When you shine a bright white light to find something inside your boat, your eyes reverse this process since now there is a ton of light all of a sudden.
It’s kind of like if you go to the bathroom in the middle of the night with the light on and then can’t find your way back to bed in your dark room. Your night vision is compromised and it takes a while (usually 30-45 minutes) for your pupils to fully adjust to the night light and see optimally.
You can eliminate this process and keep your “night vision” by using a red or green light to up-close needs. Your eyes won’t be impacted like they do with white or blue light and you can safely still see out into the night sky.
These red or green LED flashlights are relatively inexpensive and well worth putting on a lanyard around your neck for easy access while in and around the boat.
Does a Trolling Motor Count as an Engine?
Based on my research this seems to be a bit of a gray area. As we know, trolling motors are not going to get you moving very quickly and so it could probably be argued that it’s similar to a “vessel under oars.”
However, the technical definitions refer to boats with engines as a “vessel under machine propulsion” which is considered to be a “power-driven vessel.” So I would err on the side of caution here and take the stance that if you are operating your Jon Boat at night with only a trolling motor, you still fall under the regulations of a powered vessel.
From a safety perspective I would err on the side of caution anyways and be well-lit. Spending another fifty bucks is well worth your safety if you’re going to be on the water at night in a little Jon Boat.
Light Requirements for Anchored Jon Boats
This is the one lighting regulation that applies to Jon Boats both with or without an engine. If you are anchored, the CFRs say that you must have a white anchor light that is visible in all 360 degree directions. This is the same light as the white navigation light discussed above. So if you have a powered Jon Boat you are already complying with this regulation – just be sure to keep the white light on while you are anchored.
Sound Requirements
Is there any other way to make yourself present at night other than the few lights you may or may not need on your boat? Sure – the answer is sound. Horns, airhorns, and bells can all be used in conjunction with lighting to make yourself safer on the water.
That being said, Jon Boats generally do not require the use of sound producing devices for the purposes of collision avoidance. This requirement only applies to vessels longer than 39.4 feet (12 meters).
Powering All of These Lights
What does it look like to install and power these lights we’ve been discussing above? Luckily light technology has taken a huge leap in the last several years with the mass commercialization of LED bulbs.
Traditional halogen lightbulbs use electricity (a lot of electricity) to heat up a filament inside the bulb, making it piping hot which emits a lot of light as a byproduct. While cheap to produce, these halogen lightbulbs end up taking up a lot of electricity and can burn your skin if touched while they are on (or even for several minutes afterwards).
On the other hand, LED lightbulbs use far less electricity and do not get hot to the touch. They also last considerably longer (to the tune of years) than their halogen counterparts.
Attachable LED Lights
I mention all of the above to make a case for using attachable LED lights for your navigation light requirements. This has a few perks:
- Attachable means they are generally cheaper to purchase and install than fully wired and integrated light systems.
- LED lights can operate off of batteries for a considerable amount of time and are cheap to swap out. You won’t need a separate large battery to power these.
Check out our recommend lights page where we’ll outline several viable options for detachable lights. There are many available on Amazon or your local sporting goods store and are relatively inexpensive.
Other Lighting Options
If you aren’t going with attachable LED strips for your navigation light requirements, you can alternatively install permanent lights that are integrated into your boat’s overall electrical system. This obviously takes more work but if you are planning on having a master circuit board that also controls a trolling motor, winch, fish finder, and more, then this is probably a good long-term solution.
I’ll venture to say that most Jon Boat activity isn’t going to be during the night hours and so my personal recommendation is still to start with the simple attachable LED light strips that will keep you safe and compliant and then move onto more integrated systems if you are spending more time and money customizing your Jon Boat.
If you do plan to create a more sophisticated electrical system for your Jon Boat just be sure to plan ahead with your energy needs. LED lights will save you a lot of electrical bandwidth, and while they are more expensive, you will get a lot longer useful life from that investment than regular halogen bulbs (and save yourself from an accidental burn at the same time).
Conclusion
Be safe out there! Having lights on board is more than just following the law, it is about practicing a safe and conservative boating. Even if you don’t foresee yourself doing much night boating, making a small investment in some LED lights will ensure that your boat is visible when nighttime conditions are near or you stay out later than planned.
Jon Boats don’t require a ton of lights but it’s good to make sure you’re compliant and avoid an unnecessary fine or unsafe encounter with other boats.
