VHF Radios: Everything You Need To Know

VHF Radios: Everything You Need To Know is an online, self-paced course that teaches recreational boaters and cruisers exactly how to use a marine VHF radio: what channel to use, what button to push, and what to say when you hail a marina, call a bridge, reach another boat, or summon help. It is built for the boater who can handle the boat just fine but freezes at the microphone, unsure of the right channel and worried about sounding wrong on Channel 16 while the whole anchorage is listening.

Plenty of resources cover marine-radio regulations or prepare you for a licensing exam. This course does something different and harder to find: it walks you through the calls you actually make, in the words you actually use, so the radio stops being the most intimidating piece of gear aboard and becomes one of the most useful.

It also lets you hear real calls. Built into the lessons are recordings of actual VHF traffic, including a live hail, a cruiser net check-in in the Bahamas, and real NOAA weather broadcasts, so you know what a clear, correct call sounds like before you key the mic yourself.

What You'll Be Able to Do

• Make routine calls without second-guessing: hail a marina for a slip, request a bridge opening, and reach another boat, knowing what to say and what response to expect.
• Handle an emergency before you're in one: understand the difference between Mayday, Pan-Pan, and Sécurité, and know the exact format and information to transmit.
• Pick the right channel every time: when to use Channel 16, when to move to a working channel, and which channels are for hailing, emergencies, weather, and local traffic.
• Use the features that matter: understand and set up DSC and AIS, and know why an MMSI number is central to one-button digital distress.
• Sound calm, clear, and capable: the etiquette, lingo, and common phrases that make you easy to understand without sounding stilted.

What the Course Covers

Nine focused modules take you from the basics through the advanced features of a modern radio. Here is a sampling of what's inside.

Getting started with your radio

• Understanding channels, range, and basic setup
• Holding the mic and speaking so you're understood the first time
• Making routine calls to marinas and bridge tenders

Hailing marinas, bridges, and other boats

• How to initiate a call, what to provide, and what to expect back
• Requesting bridge openings and the timing and etiquette around them
• Hailing on Channel 16, then switching to a working channel to keep 16 clear

Emergency and urgent calls

• Mayday, Pan-Pan, and Sécurité: when each applies and the precise wording for each
• The information to transmit and the common mistakes to avoid under pressure
• How DSC distress alerts work alongside a voice call

Channels, etiquette, and lingo

• Which channels to use and when, including the ones to stay off
• Proper radio procedure and the habits that keep the airwaves clear
• The phonetic alphabet and the phrases that prevent confusion

Advanced features: DSC, AIS, and MMSI

• What Digital Selective Calling does and why it matters for safety
• What AIS shows you and how it works with your radio
• What an MMSI number is, why you need one, and how it ties into DSC

Cruiser nets and marine weather

• What cruiser nets are, how they run, and how to check in
• Finding NOAA weather channels and working forecasts into your routine

Hear Real Calls, Not Just Read About Them

Most radio guidance tells you what to say. This course also lets you listen. Embedded audio clips include a real boat-to-boat and bridge hail, an actual cruiser net check-in from George Town in the Bahamas, and genuine NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts. Hearing the rhythm, the wording, and the pacing of a real call is the fastest way to lose the nerves, and it's something a cheat sheet or a written article can't give you.

Written for US Recreational Boaters

This course is focused on recreational boating in the United States, where most recreational vessels do not need an operator's license to use a VHF. It is not a licensing or certification course and does not grant a license; it is practical, real-world training in how to operate the radio you already have. If you cruise to foreign ports or operate outside US waters, licensing rules differ, so check the requirements that apply where you'll be.

A Course Instead of Piecing It Together

You can find scattered tips across videos, forums, manuals, and one-page cheat sheets. The advantage here is having it organized in one place, in a sensible order, from someone who has actually used a VHF day in and day out while cruising. Instead of hunting for the answer to one question at a time, you get the whole picture, the routine calls and the emergency ones, the etiquette and the equipment, so the pieces connect.

Your Instructor: John Herlig

John Herlig cruised for five years aboard his own 30-foot sailboat, relying on his VHF daily to stay safe, connected, and informed. He is now a delivery captain and an instructor at Cruisers University, with cruising experience along the US East Coast and in the Bahamas, Haiti, and the Caribbean. He teaches in a clear, approachable style aimed at boaters who are starting from "I'm not sure what any of these buttons do."

Format and Access

The course is text-based, written in plain language with helpful photos, plus the embedded audio recordings described above. A written format is easy to skim, search, and return to when a specific situation comes up on the water, which is exactly how many boaters use it. It is online and self-paced, with no schedule or deadlines, and most people work through it in about two hours, then keep it as a reference afterward. You can read it on a phone, tablet, or computer, and you get lifetime access with future updates included at no additional cost.

The course also includes a downloadable, printable radio guide covering the proper way to make a voice emergency call, the phonetic alphabet, and key channels. Many boaters print it and keep it right at the nav station for quick reference.

Who It's For

• New boat owners who feel intimidated every time they look at the VHF
• Sailors, powerboaters, cruisers, and liveaboards who want to make routine and emergency calls with confidence
• Anyone who worries about saying the wrong thing on Channel 16, or who doesn't yet understand DSC, AIS, or MMSI numbers
• Boaters who want the procedure clear in their head before an emergency, not during one

Details

• Format: Online, self-paced, text-based with photos and embedded audio recordings of real calls
• Modules: 9 teaching modules, from radio basics to DSC, AIS, MMSI, cruiser nets, and weather
• Hear real calls: Recordings of an actual hail, a Bahamas cruiser net check-in, and NOAA weather broadcasts
• Topics include: Channel 16 and working channels, hailing marinas and bridges, boat-to-boat calls, Mayday, Pan-Pan, Sécurité, DSC, AIS, MMSI, radio etiquette and lingo, cruiser nets, NOAA weather
• Included resource: Downloadable, printable radio guide to keep at the helm
• Time to complete: About 2 hours, designed to be used as an ongoing reference
• Access: Available immediately, lifetime access, future updates included at no additional cost
• Devices: Phone, tablet, or computer
• Region: Written for US recreational boating; not a licensing or certification course
• Instructor: John Herlig, delivery captain and cruiser, instructor at Cruisers University
• Last updated: April 30, 2026