Hurricane on the Way: How Your VHF Radio Can Help

One frequent source of confusion to vhf radio users is the number of Coast Guard stations and resources (including aircraft) that may answer any call you make on the radio.

In short, make a call on your vhf radio and your call can be be picked up by as many as four Coast Guard radio watchstanders all at once.

This can be disconcerting and confusing if you're the one making the initial call and if heavy weather is on the way- it's sort of like being talked to by several party guests at once while there's a fire smoldering in the room. They key is stay on the line until the handful watchstanders figure out in whose jurisdiction your call really belongs. Once they've got that sorted out -- as is the case here, when a sailboat responds to a Coast Guard aircraft's announcement of the approach of a heavy storm -- you're in the clear.

In this audio sample, the sailboat caller needs permission to alter his route to inland waters. Problem is, it takes a while for three Coast Guard watchstanders, plus the aircraft, to reduce to one the number of personnel he should listen to.

VHF radio transmissions like the one at the beginning of the audio sample are a common and everyday occurrence on the airwaves. The Coast Guard frequently sends aircraft aloft during the approach of major storms '" hurricanes, gales, and the like. The crew's job is to broadcast heavy weather warnings over as large a swath of water as possible, in the hopes that anyone on the water with a vhf will pick up the warning and take appropriate action.

This can range from heading to port, if feasible, to battening down the hatches, making lines secure, and hoping for the best. At the least, the Coast Guard will start a log on a vessel in the storm's path and unable to avoid what's coming.

What's tricky about storm warnings is that they're typically announced in channel 16 first, as notice that the Coast Guard is going to make a heavy weather warning, also known as a securite ("say-cure-ee-tay") call. To hear the entire broadcast, including details such as windspeeds, etc., one needs to follow the rest of the broadcast on channel 22a.

The reason for the switch is simple. Channel 16 is the Coast Guard's emergency communications channel. Because securite calls announcing heavy weather can get lengthy, the Coast Guard doesn't want to tie up channel 16 to make them. They announce the securite on 16, then transmit the details on 22a to leave 16 open for anyone who needs to make or respond to a mayday call.