Moving my boat today got me to thinking.... while passing a school bus, I noticed that around here they have white strobes on the roof to help attract attention to the fact that the big yellow vehicle you are about to pass is a school bus. As the taillights on my trailer do little to differentiate my trailer from any other thing on the road, would putting a yellow beacon on my boat's stern (above line of sight for all but semi's) help people be safe around it.. and would it be legal to do so?
Amber is legal in many states - it's usually used by any "slow-moving" vehicle that may be an encumbrance to traffic (e.g. you towing a trailer). Private construction companies use them, as do many trucking companies that have oversize loads, as does private roadside assistance (AAA, State Farm, etc).
Only issue I can think of is that amber is usually used on the front of vehicles with red on the rear (look at your trailer lighting or your car side markers), so you may have to have the ambers on the tow vehicle, not the trailer.
Obviously, the best answer is just to stop at the local police department (or email them - they generally have a Sgt. who is responsible for answering all questions pertaining to legality of things on cars. I emailed about the allowance for windshield banners and got a response back that they are legal to 3" from the top - which is not clearly stated in the statute, but is said in the inspection book).
Can't speak to your area, but around here all sorts of vehicles have flashing amber warning lights. Tow trucks, utility trucks such as road maintenance, phone/ cable / power company trucks. A permit may be required, not sure on that, but it seems any effort to make your load more visible to the rather oblivious driving public would not be frowned upon, provided you aren't using blue strobes. 
Put one of these on the back of the boat or trailer
i had amber strobes on my dually. i only used them while doing things like backing trailers in off the street or towing very large things where i wanted to grab attention and let people know i was going to be going slow or turning wide. also when plowing, but that's pretty standard around here.
Around here, I think it is law that even a private, parking lot plow truck must have a single rooftop amber flashing light.
My only caution to using amber on your trailer is that you do not want to make your load look "oversized" and then draw attention to having a non permitted oversized load. Having no permit or appearing non permitted could draw the wrong attention. FInes can be steep.
US DOT Regs:
https://www.etrailer.com/faq-trailer-lighting-info-and-regulations.aspx
http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/standards/conspicuity/Trlrpstr.html
Wide Load: http://wideloadshipping.com/oversize-load-regulations/
did somebody say "amberlamps"?
I believe the strobe is to locate it under water.
You don't need a permit or anything to have and use Amber strobes in VA. We put them on all our work trucks.
Amber in most states is intended to indicate a hazard. Recovery vehicles are very explicitly allowed in this. I'd argue you're recovering your boat.
As long as you don't go nuts with it, you'll be fine and it'll help. A solid light instead of a strobe might be better.
A solid light would be ok but a strobe or flashing light most likely not. Flashing lights are for hazards. Towing a boat on a trailer is not a hazard and it could be argued that using a flashing light unnecessarily could be a distraction. I don't know if they still are but Jersey Troopers were fairly strict on issues like that even ticketing tow trucks that were using then while they were traveling with a vehicle in tow.
In reply to Kylini:
He's not recovering the boat, he's towing it. If the boat needed to be recovered they could require a licensed recovery company do it and cite him for leaving it on a road to be recovered.
You needed a permit in Connecticut, and had to start at the local PD before you went to the state PD and then the Motor Vehicle department. Then you need to lock the light up because shinny happy people steal them.
HappyAndy wrote: Put one of these on the back of the boat or trailer
Around here, you cannot have those displayed on anything traveling over 25mph....
WOW Really Paul? wrote:HappyAndy wrote: Put one of these on the back of the boat or trailerAround here, you cannot have those displayed on anything traveling over 25mph....
Was just gonna say, I'm pretty sure that's the "slow moving vehicle" sign in Canada.
A solid amber lamp should be legal anywhere. Flashing ones, not so much. In fact 3rd brake light flashers like the ones Porsche and Kia are putting on cars from the factory are technically illegal in some places.
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