SAILING TIPS Mike Huston


Staying in Touch Via the VHF Radio Still a vital and useful piece of equipment


A VHF radio onboard a boat is not


required safety equipment. However, I would never head out without one. Sure, cell phones are useful, but for reasons we’ll discuss, they cannot substitute for a VHF radio. Perhaps the best example is that you can neither receive nor send a MAYDAY broadcast with a cell phone. It is this ability to communicate quickly and effectively with boats in your vicinity that truly distinguishes a VHF radio from other forms of communication. There are other uses for the radio


that make having one onboard and turned on worthwhile: • Weather reports and special weather broadcasts about things like thunder storms moving into an area.


• Staying in close contact with other boats or shore parties you may be traveling with.


• Monitoring Vessel Traffic so you know when a freighter is about to come around the corner.


• Reporting safety hazards to (or getting reports from) other boaters in the area. The intent of this article is to help


you get the most out of your radio. Here are some of the things I have found to be important and/or helpful:


Access: In most sailboats the main


radio is mounted at the nav station. This means they are hard to hear from the cockpit and someone has to go below to use it. And, for these reasons, the radio


Channel Number 05A 11 12 14 07A 08 10 09 13 16


18A 19A 22A


26A 83 83A 63A 65A 66A 67


68 69 71 72 78A 73 74 77


79A 80A 88A


Common VHF Channels** Use


Port Operations or VTS Commercial


Boater Calling. Commercial and Non-Commercial Intership Navigation Safety (Bridge-to-Bridge)


International Distress, Safety and Calling. Ships required to carry radio, USCG, and most coast stations maintain a listening watch on this channel.


Commercial US Coast Guard Canadian Coast Guard


Port Operations and Commercial Commercial


Non-Commercial Port Operations Commercial


**Please note: this is NOT a complete list, channels not listed are generally not available for public use. For a complete list visit wireless.fcc.gov/marine/vhfchanl.pdf


48° NORTH, OCTOBER 2011 PAGE 34


may not even get turned on. There are two ways to have better access to the radio – a hand-held or a RAM mic (Remote Access Microphone, a unit wired directly to the radio providing controls, microphone and speaker). We have both on our boat. The RAM mic provides convenient access to the main radio from the cockpit and the hand- held plays back-up and can be carried off the boat by the exploratory team. The main advantage of the RAM mic is that it provides access to the full power of the main radio (25 watts) and its antenna. Hand-held units transmit at around 5 watts but have the advantage of being portable. Either one can be purchased for around $200.


Vessel Traffic Services: The VTS


provides tracking and guidance for commercial shipping in a manner similar to what the FAA does for airplanes. The major difference is that the FAA tracks all airplanes and the VTS only tracks large commercial vessels. Those of us in pleasure craft can voluntarily join in the VTS but this should be limited to unusual situations such as fog. Most of the time monitoring the VTS channels can provide very useful information – this is especially true in conditions of limited visibility or when we are approaching a blind corner. Freighters and ferries are fast, so it is best to know when they are in the area and what they are trying to do; monitoring the VTS channel is the best way to do this. Seattle Traffic is our local VTS


provider and they use channel 14 south of Whidbey Island and channel 5 in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and San Juan Islands. Victoria traffic covers much of the area west and north of the San Juan Islands, they use channel 11. As you travel to other areas be sure to get the local VTS channel.


Monitoring and Playing Tag:


Most people leave their radios set to channel 16, which makes sense as it is the hailing channel. But most modern radios are capable of monitoring more than one channel through their scan function. This function allows the user to ‘tag’ several channels wherein the radio will scan all of them, stopping at the first channel that becomes active. This is an important feature that I use


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