19/06/2026
The need for a VHF Marine Radio on your vessel.
It is our opinion that a VHF marine radio is an essential item of safety equipment on all boats. A radio on board enables fast direct contact with marine rescue agencies and/or with other boats in your vicinity should assistance be required in the event of an accident or breakdown.
Marine radio provides three avenues of assistance – Weather and Hazard alerts, local safety Log-On and Log-Off, and radio checks.
Many Volunteer Marine Rescue groups around South Australia monitor VHF marine channel 16, This volunteer network is manned by trained volunteers at licenced limited coast marine rescue radio bases.
Such as our Coastal Patrol Radio Base in Yorketown monitors VHF Marine Channel 16.
Log On whenever you’re heading out on the water and Log Off when you return. We’ll stand watch. If you don’t Log Off as planned, our volunteers will start searching for you.
You can always Log On, whether you’re out for a morning’s fishing, a day trip around your local area or cruising along the coastline. And it doesn’t matter if you’re on a tinnie, a cruiser, a yacht, a kayak, a canoe or a jet ski.
When you Log On, our radio operator will ask you for some basic information about your vessel, your destination and contacts.
Tell us:
Your boat registration number
Where you’re leaving from
Where you’re heading
What time you plan to return
The number of people on board
Your mobile phone number
If the fish are biting and you decide to stay out longer, simply call the base on VHF Ch 16 to update your return time.
Remember to Log Off when you’re back at the boat ramp. If you haven’t let us know you’re back safely, we’ll start to look for you. We’ll try calling you first up, just in case you’ve forgotten to Log Off and headed home with your catch. That’s the best outcome. If we get no answer, we’ll step up the response.
What about Mobile Phones?
Don’t bet your life or the safety of your boat and crew on a mobile phone as your first or only means of contact in an emergency. When you are at sea you cannot depend on mobile phone coverage. Remember, when you make a phone call you are talking to just one person. How often do mobile phone calls drop-out in the middle of a call. Most mobiles don’t work well when wet or damp. There are no mobile phone towers at sea.
When you call for help on your marine radio other marine radios will hear your call and there may be another vessel nearby that can help much faster. Do take your mobile with you, but use it as an extra method of communication, not the only method of communication.
Please note legally you Do Need to be qualified to use a VHF Marine Radio.
Further info can be found here: https://www.amc.edu.au/industry/omc
Some Volunteer Marine Rescue groups conduct courses that the General Public can attend to obtain your Short Range Operator Certificate of Proficiency or SROCP (VHF Radio Qualification) such as the SA Sea Rescue Squadron https://sasearescue.org.au/srocp/
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If you’d like to learn more about our Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) group, visit the Coastal Patrol Point Turton Division website: www.coastalpatrol.org
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