VHF Poll

[Little Bear]

Originally Posted by Misty Blue

Cell Phone coverage around the Lake is now very,very good. So why the VHF?

One word, SAFETY!

Let's try an example...

You are tooling through the Broads and one of the kids says "Dad, why is there water coming out of the bottom of the boat"? Yikes! It just killed the engine! Zoiks!

You can call your marina or towing company on your cell but then they are the only ones around (and they are not around) that know that you are in trouble.

Now...Pick up the VHF and hail on CH-16 Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! and every boater with a VHF on hears you. Law requires that you maintain a CH-16 watch. You now have help on the way that is nearby and prompt.

I had a situation where I was looking for a missing kayaker. I was having trouble finding this person and local calls didn't help. So I reported it to NHMP
on CH-16. Another boater caught the call and led me to the boat.

Cell phones are great, I use them all the time in my business. But VHF is like the fire extinguisher or the PFD. It's there for a rainy day.

Misty Blue

Ditto that. I had a boat fire one year and called in a Mayday. Within 1 minute I had at least 4 boats coming to offer assistance. This would not have been possible with just a cell phone call.