VHF Radio licence

[Sticky Fingers]

Electric scooters run into people and injure them, and run into cars and damage them. What damage are you going to cause by using a vhf without a license?

Well, exactly. I suppose you could (due to lack of knowledge) cause difficulty for S&R for example. But that’s due to stupidity not licensing. But that’s da law.

Like TV licensing maybe…

 

[lustyd]

Electric scooters run into people and injure them, and run into cars and damage them. What damage are you going to cause by using a vhf without a license?

Yes the Daily Mail certainly said that and worked everyone into a frenzy! Interesting how much harsher we are with scooters than cars though. In reality scooters are not a problem at all, it's just a nice diversion from real issues.

 

[lustyd]

Well, exactly. I suppose you could (due to lack of knowledge) cause difficulty for S&R for example. But that’s due to stupidity not licensing. But that’s da law.

We constantly see people interrupting Mayday calls in the Solent, so there's that. We also see people leaving the set on transmit on 16 on a seemingly daily basis. Certainly more real world disruption than 8 year olds on scooters.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

We constantly see people interrupting Mayday calls in the Solent, so there's that. We also see people leaving the set on transmit on 16 on a seemingly daily basis.

Agreed, heard it from time to time. Also people blathering away on irrelevant stuff on Ch16. Or being incapable of raising a coherent mayday when their lives may literally depend on it. Darwin in action.

 

[Mark-1]

I think I had to show my SRC to charter a boat in the UK

I've chartered in the UK without a VHF license. The contract required it so I phoned the hirer who was completely unfazed said to cross that term out of the contract and send it back. There's no legal requirement to carry a radio at all so there couldn't really be a requirement to be qualified to use one. If the VHF was out of order on a charter boat I bet they wouldn't cancel the charter and give you a full refund!

EDIT: Thanks for the correction, LD.

EDIT: I checked mgn280. There's a table in 16.1 that says all coded vessels must have a handheld VHF. Code 0-5 need a fixed VHF. Code 6 does not need fixed. Operators 'should', not 'must' have a license. There's no defintion of fixed so tie your handheld to the boat and you're golden. (Maybe. )
NAVTEX recommended which is laughable in 2023 IMHO!

https://assets.publishing.service.g...ploads/attachment_data/file/905677/mgn280.pdf

 

[lustyd]

I've chartered in the UK without a VHF license. The contract required it so I phoned the hirer who was completely unfazed said to cross that term out of the contract and send it back. There's no legal requirement to carry a radio at all so there couldn't really be a requirement to be qualified to use one. If the VHF was out of order on a charter boat I bet they wouldn't cancel the charter and give you a full refund!

Isn't it a requirement on a coded boat to have a working VHF?

Edit: yes it is, so they'd either refund you or fix it.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I've chartered in the UK without a VHF license. The contract required it so I phoned the hirer who was completely unfazed said to cross that term out of the contract and send it back. There's no legal requirement to carry a radio at all so there couldn't really be a requirement to be qualified to use one. If the VHF was out of order on a charter boat I bet they wouldn't cancel the charter and give you a full refund!

AFAIK all coded charter boats in the uk are required to carry a DSC VHF.

EDIT just read the code. It uses the word ‘should’ not ‘must’. So that may not be correct.

 

[Frogmogman]

This is why the British never got on well in the EU. We love abiding by the rules to the letter. Others shrug their shoulders and carry on.

What nonsense, this is just lazy stereotyping.

In my experience, France are much stricter about this stuff. My wife and I both did our French VHF licences when we bought our boat here. As joint owners we were required to provide ANPR with our operators licences to be able to transfer the MMSI number and installed equipment to our names.

FWIW, we both felt that the one day course we did with Les Glenans was worthwhile. The course was far more in-depth than the one when I did my uk licence back in the early 80s, and as none of the modern technology existed at that time it was useful to get up to speed on DSC etc.

 

[awol]

As others have said the SRC course is worthwhile and a good starter to actually using a radio for marinas etc. and giving confidence if a Mayday is ever needed. Not so sure about £70 to the RYA to sit the exam - seems a bit OTT.

 

[Bobc]

We constantly see people interrupting Mayday calls in the Solent, so there's that. We also see people leaving the set on transmit on 16 on a seemingly daily basis. Certainly more real world disruption than 8 year olds on scooters.

But nobody does anything about it. I've never heard of anyone being fined. I bet all the abusers you speak of have licenses though.

 

[mjcoon]

Yes you were definitely correct, but for some reason this stuff isn't considered as serious as, say, an electric scooter where we come down hard on those 8 year old criminals before they get out of hand

... or even kill each other's Grannies on pavements...

 

[capnsensible]

Who presumably didn't actually have the authority to ask. I certainly wouldn't show my certs to a marina.

The burden of proof will be on them to show that you were operating it for non-emergency purposes which would be a real challenge to show beyond doubt.

Easy tiger. It wasn't the marina staff who asked. It was whoever the authority was at the time going round asking everyone around.

 

[capnsensible]

Who presumably didn't actually have the authority to ask. I certainly wouldn't show my certs to a marina.

The burden of proof will be on them to show that you were operating it for non-emergency purposes which would be a real challenge to show beyond doubt.

Add. There are stacks of marinas I've been in that won't rent you a short stay berth without proof of insurance. And several, not UK where I've needed a recognised skippers licence. Why do people get indignant about this stuff? Yes I know I drifted..

 

[capnsensible]

As others have said the SRC course is worthwhile and a good starter to actually using a radio for marinas etc. and giving confidence if a Mayday is ever needed. Not so sure about £70 to the RYA to sit the exam - seems a bit OTT.

Why is £70 too much? A good portion of that goes to the assessor. Who themselves have to get themselves trained and certified to assess. Bet its not cheap running the RYA..

Something else for the moaners to drip about. You need your VHF licence as a pre req. to sit your Yachtmaster Coastal or Offshore practical exam.

Carry on, nitpickers......

 

[lustyd]

There are stacks of marinas I've been in that won't rent you a short stay berth without proof of insurance. And several, not UK where I've needed a recognised skippers licence. Why do people get indignant about this stuff?

It's fine if the ask is legitimate, it is perfectly reasonable for a marina to want me to be insured while bouncing around their pontoons. It's not indignant to know your rights, and it's not indignant to tell someone to poke it when they overreach.
Unfortunately I'm a GDPR expert so it sort of comes with the territory, although I have spotted, fought, and won some pretty significant battles including preventing a global wireless speaker manufacturer recording and keeping audio from every speaker they sold 24x7. So fine, call it overreach if you want, but I consider it being careful.

Personally I find it odd when people just hand over whatever information is requested. It does explain the huge fraud and identity theft problem though.

 

[lustyd]

Why is £70 too much?

I thought exactly that. Seems quite cheap for a professional's time plus all the training and infrastructure. I'm sure the RYA make some profit there but I don't think it'll be a huge sum.

 

[capnsensible]

It's fine if the ask is legitimate, it is perfectly reasonable for a marina to want me to be insured while bouncing around their pontoons. It's not indignant to know your rights, and it's not indignant to tell someone to poke it when they overreach.
Unfortunately I'm a GDPR expert so it sort of comes with the territory, although I have spotted, fought, and won some pretty significant battles including preventing a global wireless speaker manufacturer recording and keeping audio from every speaker they sold 24x7. So fine, call it overreach if you want, but I consider it being careful.

Personally I find it odd when people just hand over whatever information is requested. It does explain the huge fraud and identity theft problem though.

I googled gdpr. Seems to me that it's great having regulations for the honest, but what about the dishonest? Real question.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

FWIW I thought the fee for the training and exam was money well spent. And it’s chicken feed compared to the overall cost of running a boat.

 

[mjcoon]

I googled gdpr. Seems to me that it's great having regulations for the honest, but what about the dishonest? Real question.

I expect it is like signing the Official Secrets Act (which I have been required to do in the past). It does not make you more trustworthy. It just gives a justification to throw the book at you if found out (which I have not!)...

 

[Mark-1]

Easy tiger. It wasn't the marina staff who asked. It was whoever the authority was at the time going round asking everyone around.

They must have been checking for installation licences not operating licenses, and even then, what are they practically gonna do if you haven't got one to hand? Now they could check online which totally negates the point of asking, whereas back in the day are they really going to go to all the effort of finding if you have an installation license?

I suspect they were looking for something else and just used the radio installation as an excuse to engage people.