Federal laws require boats more than 16 feet long, used in U.S. waters, to be equipped with visual distress signals for both day and night. Sailboats without propulsion or any manually-propelled boats are exempt from day signals, but must carry night signals when operating from sunset to sunrise. Some states have their own regulations. <\/p>\n
Acceptable non-pyrotechnic devices include orange distress flags, mirrors and SOS distress flashlights.<\/p>\n
Pyrotechnic devices (flares) are far more effective in attracting attention from a distance. They include hand held flares and parachute flares. All pyrotechnic devices must carry a Coast Guard approval number and not exceed the stamped expiration date. <\/p>\n
There are many pyrotechnic devices available. Here is a list to see what best meets your needs.<\/p>\n
Hand-Held Flares<\/strong> Twelve \u2013 Gauge Meteor Flares<\/strong> 25 mm Meteor Flares<\/strong> 25 mm Parachute Flares<\/strong> An Orange Smoke Flare<\/strong> Remember to store flares in a cool, dry location and never leave them where children can play with them; they are dangerous and can cause a severe burn or death if not properly handled.<\/p>\n United Marine Underwriters is more than just boat insurance.<\/a> Browse our Used Boats For Sale<\/a> at Boat Browser or our new Lakes and Waterways’ Guide<\/a> at Lake Browser. Check out our True Fish Tales<\/a> \u2013 the ones that did not get away – and share your fishing stories. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Federal laws require boats more than 16 feet long, used in U.S. waters, to be equipped with visual distress signals for both day and night. Sailboats without propulsion or any manually-propelled boats are exempt from day signals, but must carry night signals when operating from sunset to sunrise. Some states have their own regulations. Acceptable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[237,238],"tags":[10,89,14,312,313,68],"class_list":["post-1031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boating-safety-2","category-boating-tips","tag-boat-insurance","tag-boating","tag-boating-safety","tag-boats-for-sale","tag-lake-and-waterways-guide","tag-uscg-regulation-requirements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1031"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1045,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031\/revisions\/1045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHand-held flares can be seen for about 5 miles, which vary from daylight to darkness. They should be held as high as possible at an angle overboard of the vessel to avoid burns from dripping slag.<\/p>\n
\nTwelve \u2013 gauge meteor flares are approved for both day and night use. They are fired from a pistol-type launcher; handle with care. This flare has an approximate visual distance of 21 miles. When launched, point it upward at an 80\u00ba angle to avoid its dropping back into your boat.<\/p>\n
\n25 mm meteor flares are approved for both day and night use. They can be launched to about 375 feet. Visibility extends to about 27 miles. Meteors are fired by self-contained launchers or by a pistol. Pistol-launched 25 mm meteors burn three times brighter and climb 50 percent higher than 12-gauge meteors, with comparable burn times of 5 to 8 seconds. Discharge at an angle with the wind to your back to prevent them from descending into your boat.<\/p>\n
\n25 mm parachute flares are approved for both day and night use. They can reach heights of 1,000 feet and descend slowly, giving a longer burning time. These flares can be seen for about 41 miles.<\/p>\n
\nAn orange smoke flare is approved for day use only but is most effective for pinpointing the location of a distressed vessel once attention is attracted.<\/p>\n