Useful tips for using your VHF around Nantucket.
1. Keep the watch
16 · 9 · 13- Guard 16. Keep listening whenever the radio is on and you are not communicating.
- Hail recreational boats on 9. Once answered, agree on a non-commercial working channel and move there.
- Monitor 13 in the entrance channel. It is bridge-to-bridge navigation safety; use it only for short passing or collision-avoidance traffic with ferries and other ships.
2. Set the radio up
USA modeConfirm USA mode before departure. U.S. channel 22A/1022 receives Coast Guard broadcasts on 157.100 MHz. International channel 22 receives on 161.700 MHz, so INT mode can leave those U.S. broadcasts silent.
- Turn squelch down until you hear static.
- Raise it only until the static just stops. Higher squelch can hide weak calls.
- Use 1 W for nearby routine calls; move to 25 W only when range is needed. Channel 13 traffic is short-range and brief.
3. Check the radio
DSC testDo not ask the Coast Guard for a voice check. The silent DSC test is the preferred check; a voice check with another boater happens on channel 9 — never 16.
- Store the USCG coast-station group identity 003669999 in DSC memory.
- Select Test Call in the DSC menu, select that USCG identity, then transmit.
- Look for the automatic acknowledgment and the responding station’s nine-digit identity.
Never send a DSC distress alert as a test. Follow your radio manufacturer’s manual; menu names vary.
Asking for a voice check — on channel 9, keep it short:
- “Radio check, radio check — this is [YOUR VESSEL], Nantucket Harbor, over.”
- Wait; if no answer after a couple of tries, try again later or from clear of obstructions rather than repeating continuously.
Answering someone else’s — any boater may respond; be the one who does:
- “[Calling vessel], this is [YOUR VESSEL] — read you loud and clear in [your location], out.”
- Report what you actually hear: “loud and clear”, “weak but readable”, or “weak, unreadable” — the location matters because reception ten miles away says more than reception at the next slip.
4. MAYDAY — voice distress
16The following USCG VHF MAYDAY procedure is reproduced verbatim. Tune to channel 16:
- Make sure radio is on and tuned to Channel 16.
- Distress signal “MAYDAY” spoken three times.
- The words “THIS IS” spoken once.
- Name of vessel in distress spoken three times and the call sign or boat registration number, spoken once.
- Repeat “MAYDAY” and name of vessel, spoken once.
- Give the position of vessel by latitude or longitude or by bearing (true or magnetic, state which) and the distance to a well-known landmark, such as a navigational aid or small island, or in any terms that will assist a responding station in locating the vessel in distress. Include any information on vessel movement such as course, speed, and destination.
- Number of persons onboard.
- Nature of distress (e.g., sinking, fire).
- Kind of assistance desired.
- Any other information that might facilitate rescue, such as length or tonnage of vessel, number of persons needing medical attention, hull color, cabin, masks, etc.
- The word “OVER”.
5. Arriving Nantucket
at Brant Point68Nantucket MooringsCall approaching Brant Point for a mooring assignment.
11Nantucket Boat BasinCall for the dockmaster and slip assignment.
14Harbormaster / Town PierCall for Town Pier, water, or pump-out service.
6. Brant Point fog signal
MRASSIn reduced visibility: select channel 83A / 157.175 MHz and key the microphone five times consecutively. The Brant Point horn activates for 45 minutes.
The Light List identifies Brant Point Light as LLNR 15205 and lists a horn pattern of one blast every 10 seconds.
7. Ferries, assistance & weather
13 · 16 · WX1- Ferries: use channel 13 only for bridge-to-bridge passing and collision-avoidance communication. Keep it short.
- Non-distress assistance: TowBoatUS says to hail “TowBoatUS” on 16; the responding operator moves the call to a working channel. Sea Tow’s local availability and contact method can change — check the operator directly.
- Weather: select WX1, 162.550 MHz, for NOAA station KEC73 serving Nantucket. Some receivers number weather memories differently, so use the frequency when in doubt.
Hand-compiled, verified 2026-07-13 · procedures change — confirm against official sources · not a substitute for a proper watch