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The Lighthouse Club receives lots of compliments on the great lighthouses we’ve installed around our lake, Lake Havasu. Boaters love ‘em, tourists love ’em, and lighthouse enthusiasts are awed at finding a little town in the middle of the Arizona desert that has more lighthouses than many of the states located on the sea actually have. But these are not mere lighthouses. These are navigation lights built in the image of existing lighthouses. The Club’s intention is to put navigation lights around our lake to make night boating safer.

A question often asked is “Why do we have different colored lights in different lighthouses?”

The color of the light is determined by the Coast Guard. The Colorado River (remember Lake Havasu is just a wide spot on that river) is a Federal navigable waterway and is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Coast Guard.

The lights are Red or Green depending on their location. There’s a saying “Red, Right, Return” that identifies the correct color. If you are “Returning” from the open sea, the lights on the “Right” will be “Red.” At one time, the Colorado flowed all the way to the sea emptying into the Sea of Cortez. Returning from that sea or going north on the river, the lights on the Right, or the Arizona side, would be Red.

There is, however, an exception on Lake Havasu. The Coast Guard has allowed the Lighthouse Club to put “Flashing Amber” lights at Safe Harbors. When a boater is in trouble or having a problem, a “Flashing Amber” light means he or she can find help of some kind where that light is located, such as a phone, a launch ramp, businesses, and/or campers.

These “Flashing Amber” lights can be found at the following:
Know the Light…Save a Life !
Pass the word to your boating friends. Watch the lights. They might save your life.