Rules & sources
Every line has a rule behind it.
Gear Muster applies the rules below, read from the eCFR (October 1, 2026 edition) and the Ohio Revised Code on October 15, 2026. Each line on your list links to its section.
| What | Rule |
|---|---|
| Wearable life jacket for each person; readily accessible; right size; serviceable | 33 CFR 175.15(a), 175.19, 175.21, 175.23 |
| One throwable at 16 ft and longer; canoes and kayaks exempt | 33 CFR 175.15(b), 175.17(a) |
| Children under 13 wear a life jacket under way (federal); a state's own child-wear law replaces it | 33 CFR 175.15(c), 175.25 |
| Ohio: children under 10 wear one on vessels under 18 ft | Ohio R.C. 1547.24 |
| Ohio life-jacket carriage | Ohio R.C. 1547.25 |
| Visual distress signals on coastal waters (Great Lakes, territorial seas, joined waters over 2 nm wide) | 33 CFR 175.101-175.130 |
| Fire extinguishers for boats propelled by machinery, up to 65 ft | 33 CFR 175.301-175.390 |
| Ventilation, gasoline boats built after July 31, 1980 | 33 CFR 175.201, 183.610, 183.620 |
| Ventilation ducts, older gasoline boats; backfire flame arrester | 46 CFR 25.40-1, 25.35-1 |
| Sound signal; whistle at 12 m | 33 CFR 83.33 (Inland Rule 33) |
| Running lights sunset to sunrise; restricted visibility | 33 CFR 83.20, 83.23, 83.25 |
| Copy of the Inland Rules, self-propelled 12 m and longer, on inland waters | 33 CFR 83.01(g) |
| Oil discharge placard, 26 ft and longer with a machinery space | 33 CFR 155.450 |
| Garbage placard (26 ft+) and written plan (oceangoing, meaning trips abroad or beyond the territorial sea, 40 ft+ with galley and berths) | 33 CFR 151.05, 151.51, 151.57, 151.59 |
| Marine sanitation device for an installed toilet | 33 CFR 159.7 |
| Certificate of number aboard (boats with propulsion machinery) | 33 CFR 173.11, 173.21 |
| Ohio registration and its certificate; boater education (born 1982 or later, over 10 hp) | Ohio R.C. 1547.531, 1547.54, 1547.05 |
How the check decides
- Length is the boat's length in feet; 12 m is taken as 39.37 ft. Boats over 65 ft are outside the check.
- Model year stands in for the build date: model year 1981 and later counts as built after July 31, 1980; model year 2017 and earlier gets the note that older, lower-rated extinguishers may stay while in good condition.
- Outboard boats under 26 ft need an extinguisher only when one of the five spaces in Table 2 to 33 CFR 175.320 exists. You tick them; the check does not guess.
- Waters: distress signals are a coastal-waters rule. Whether a bay counts as coastal depends on the width of its entrance on the chart; choose "Lake Erie or another Great Lake" when your water qualifies.
- Ohio: on Ohio waters Ohio's child life-jacket law (under 10, vessels under 18 ft) applies instead of the federal under-13 rule, as 33 CFR 175.25 provides.
Not covered
Personal watercraft, boats over 65 ft, boats carrying passengers for hire, racing shells and sailboards, other states' own rules, anchor and special-purpose lights, and the condition of your gear on the day. The flags on this site are international maritime signal flags used as decoration.
Independence
Gear Muster is not the U.S. Coast Guard or its Auxiliary, not a state agency, and not Cedar Point, Six Flags or Cedar Point Marina. It does not do vessel safety checks or inspections. For a check by a person at your boat, book a free Vessel Safety Check with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary (cgaux.org/vsc), and have extinguishers inspected and serviced as their labels and makers say.