Recreation
For recreational boaters, sailors and anglers, having a Digital Selective Calling (DSC) VHF radio aboard to call for emergency help will always be the fastest way to summon assistance from your closest rescuers. That means that going without one can hurt your chances for a safe summer on the water.
Here are three common mistakes boat owners make with DSC-VHF radios and some simple ways to improve safety aboard your boat.
Mistake No. 1: Relying on an old VHF radio to signal that you are in distress
If you are using a VHF radio that was manufactured more than 15 years ago, you’re relying on old technology. There’s probably not a person around that regularly uses a 15-year-old phone, television set or computer.
Today’s DSC-VHF radios have new lifesaving features, most importantly a distress button that can hail a mayday and relay your position to rescue authorities — all at the push of one little red (distress) button on the face of the radio.
BoatUS has some help to set up your new DSC-VHF radio at www.BoatUS.com/SettingUpDSCRadio.
Mistake No. 2: Thinking you don’t need to bother to register a DSC-VHF and get an MMSI number
A Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number is a unique registration number that is assigned to your vessel to be used with the vessel’s DSC-VHF radio. MMSI numbers are issued by organizations including BoatUS which offer the service at no cost to members or for a nominal $25 fee for non-members.
The MMSI must be entered into the radio in order to harness all of its power and lifesaving technology. Registering your radio gives potential rescuers important information about you, your boat and whom to contact in an emergency.
Mistake No. 3: Not reading the owner’s manual that came with your radio and familiarizing yourself with your radio’s features
Your DSC-VHF radio manual contains a ton of great information about the features of your radio and how to install it. If your radio is not properly installed or not connected to your boat’s GPS or chartplotter, you’re shortchanging yourself and perhaps unknowingly putting yourself and your crew in danger if there is a delay in transmission and emergency response.
Digital Selective Calling technology can also make your everyday boating better. In addition to being able to send a distress signal with the press of a button, a DSC-VHF radio can privately hail other DSC-VHF-equipped vessels or groups of boats without tying up VHF channel 16, the distress, safety and calling frequency. It also allows you to ‘ring’ (hail) others if you know their MMSI numbers without them having to monitor a particular channel.
If you haven’t yet purchased a DSC-VHF radio, make it one of your safety-gear equipment priorities this season.
To learn more DSC-VHF radios, take a free online DSC-VHF radio tutorial at www.BoatUS.org/DSC. The course is provided by the 501(c)(3) BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water and funded by BoatUS members.
Here are three common mistakes boat owners make with DSC-VHF radios and some simple ways to improve safety aboard your boat.
Mistake No. 1: Relying on an old VHF radio to signal that you are in distress
If you are using a VHF radio that was manufactured more than 15 years ago, you’re relying on old technology. There’s probably not a person around that regularly uses a 15-year-old phone, television set or computer.
Today’s DSC-VHF radios have new lifesaving features, most importantly a distress button that can hail a mayday and relay your position to rescue authorities — all at the push of one little red (distress) button on the face of the radio.
BoatUS has some help to set up your new DSC-VHF radio at www.BoatUS.com/SettingUpDSCRadio.
Mistake No. 2: Thinking you don’t need to bother to register a DSC-VHF and get an MMSI number
A Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number is a unique registration number that is assigned to your vessel to be used with the vessel’s DSC-VHF radio. MMSI numbers are issued by organizations including BoatUS which offer the service at no cost to members or for a nominal $25 fee for non-members.
The MMSI must be entered into the radio in order to harness all of its power and lifesaving technology. Registering your radio gives potential rescuers important information about you, your boat and whom to contact in an emergency.
Mistake No. 3: Not reading the owner’s manual that came with your radio and familiarizing yourself with your radio’s features
Your DSC-VHF radio manual contains a ton of great information about the features of your radio and how to install it. If your radio is not properly installed or not connected to your boat’s GPS or chartplotter, you’re shortchanging yourself and perhaps unknowingly putting yourself and your crew in danger if there is a delay in transmission and emergency response.
Digital Selective Calling technology can also make your everyday boating better. In addition to being able to send a distress signal with the press of a button, a DSC-VHF radio can privately hail other DSC-VHF-equipped vessels or groups of boats without tying up VHF channel 16, the distress, safety and calling frequency. It also allows you to ‘ring’ (hail) others if you know their MMSI numbers without them having to monitor a particular channel.
If you haven’t yet purchased a DSC-VHF radio, make it one of your safety-gear equipment priorities this season.
To learn more DSC-VHF radios, take a free online DSC-VHF radio tutorial at www.BoatUS.org/DSC. The course is provided by the 501(c)(3) BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water and funded by BoatUS members.
- Details
- Written by: BoatUS Foundation
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – A simple way to save a child’s life is to ensure they have a life jacket when they go boating, sailing or fishing.
But sometimes, it’s not easy to borrow a right-sized life jacket when an infant or young teen comes aboard.
Marinas, boat and fishing clubs, waterfront businesses, organizations or other groups that serve boaters can help by becoming a BoatUS Foundation Life Jacket Loaner site.
Becoming a loaner site is easy by applying at www.BoatUS.org/Life-Jacket-Loaner. There is no cost to set up a loaner site, and there is never a charge to borrow a life jacket.
Approved locations will receive a kit containing 12 child-sized life jackets with sizes from infant to youth, as well as signage and a local publicity kit.
The nonprofit BoatUS Foundation, funded by donations from the more than half-million members of BoatUS, replenishes the supply of jackets as wear and tear takes its toll.
The only task loaner sites have is to track life jacket usage with an easy clipboard sign-out system and provide the foundation with periodic feedback to help keep the life jacket supply in good condition.
The program currently has more than 550 life jacket loaner sites across the US that collectively loan out children’s life jackets more than 140,000 times each year. Since 1997, three children’s lives have been saved by a BoatUS Foundation loaner life jacket.
To learn more, go to www.BoatUS.org/Life-Jacket-Loaner. A short video on how to select a right-sized kid’s life jacket at www.BoatUS.org/Life-Jacket-Loaner/Fit-Video.
But sometimes, it’s not easy to borrow a right-sized life jacket when an infant or young teen comes aboard.
Marinas, boat and fishing clubs, waterfront businesses, organizations or other groups that serve boaters can help by becoming a BoatUS Foundation Life Jacket Loaner site.
Becoming a loaner site is easy by applying at www.BoatUS.org/Life-Jacket-Loaner. There is no cost to set up a loaner site, and there is never a charge to borrow a life jacket.
Approved locations will receive a kit containing 12 child-sized life jackets with sizes from infant to youth, as well as signage and a local publicity kit.
The nonprofit BoatUS Foundation, funded by donations from the more than half-million members of BoatUS, replenishes the supply of jackets as wear and tear takes its toll.
The only task loaner sites have is to track life jacket usage with an easy clipboard sign-out system and provide the foundation with periodic feedback to help keep the life jacket supply in good condition.
The program currently has more than 550 life jacket loaner sites across the US that collectively loan out children’s life jackets more than 140,000 times each year. Since 1997, three children’s lives have been saved by a BoatUS Foundation loaner life jacket.
To learn more, go to www.BoatUS.org/Life-Jacket-Loaner. A short video on how to select a right-sized kid’s life jacket at www.BoatUS.org/Life-Jacket-Loaner/Fit-Video.
- Details
- Written by: BoatUS Foundation
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