Under South Carolina legislation, all boats must carry specific safety items to protect the occupants:
Personal flotation devices. At least one Type I, II, III, or V device is required per boat, but it’s better to have one for each passenger. By law, children younger than 12 are required to wear a life jacket, even if they know how to swim.
Navigation lights. Power-driven boats smaller than 65.6 feet should have red and green side lights and a round white light, both of which should be visible from 2 miles away. You must use these lights in any situation of reduced visibility, such as nighttime, gray, or cloudy weather.
Fire extinguishers. These are easy to forget – often, people don’t think about needing a fire extinguisher when they’re in a boat in the middle of a large body of water. But fires can occur on or inside the boat itself and cause your boat to sink if they get out of hand. South Carolina law requires at least one Type B extinguisher on each boat.
Noise-producing devices. If your boat is smaller than 39.4 feet long, you should have a way to put out an effective sound signal, such as an air horn.
Visual distress signals. Any boat traveling on federal water must have USCG-approved visual distress signals, and boats traveling anywhere between sunset and sunrise should have functional night signals.