Thankfully I've never had to call anyone for help, I'm not even sure what the correct way is. There are alot of dead spots out there where a cell is useless, in that case who am I trying to contact(another boater I assume??) How do I call out?and what information does should I give once I get someone on the other end? GPS#, boat name?? How important is it to speak professionely and use radio edit?

Yes I plan on dropping anchor ASPA.

if your calling sum1 for fun we say

exp

bigpete, big pete, big pete, this the the celtic knot ya out there?

if calling for tow boat same thing but a little more. sadly we have had to use this once

tow boat, tow boat, tow boat, this is a 21' power boat ( than state your problem) they will ask you the rest

heres a channel guide

http://wireless.fcc.gov/marine/vhfchanl.html

dude,,,first thing in boating is to know how to call for help on the vhf.:doh:
take a basic boating skills and seamanship coarse with the cg aux. .:doh:

Don't be like the rest of the morons out there and call the cg for radio checks every 5 minutes on channel 16

boatwise.com

See capt rick and he'll get you setup. If you have questions on radios then you got more questions than that...and I highly recommend you do a few classes with these guys.

dear god in heaven....

its so big i cannot even see the sky...

its humming

can anybody hear me... oh my god...

somethings opening... i cant move...

can anybody hear..... .... (all goes silent)

replies come back: whats your problem .... come back... (nothing)

later that day a boat with nobody on board is found drifiting.. :uhuh:

Boatwise is a good org...
First off, remember that Mayday is supposed to be only life or death, dont use it unless you need it. Running out of fuel is not a mayday unless you are in the surfzone and dont have an anchor.

I've never called out randomly looking for help, but it was something silly that happens (like needing a jump) using 16 to put out a general call to a geographic area is probably not a bad idea if there are boats around. Otherwise use a commercial service, thats what ya pay for.

As far as the radio.. several key points...
1. Be courteous; dont step on others talking unless it is an emergency
2. 16 is hailing and distress... dont chat for hours on it about fishing, and use 09 for radio checks... which btw I do every morning when I get to work on the bigger boat..
3. When calling the CG's or SeaTow/SafeSea... be specific, clear and concise.. and know where you are in the world. I.e. a spefic geographic location or lat/long if your electronics are working. Expect to switch up to 22A if you call the CG's and be patient, alot of times multiple stations will call back, so make sure you get the nearest station.
4. If you talk to the same people all the time have a designated channel; so all you have to say is
"f/v Grim, f/v Grim, this is Goose"...
"Grim back to Goose, switch up Tony"...
Then you can call back and chat in relative privacy on some little used frequency
5. Carry a hand-held back-up
6. If you are fishing in a highly commercial area (tankers etc..) keep your radio scanning 13 and 16... You can hear security calls of who's out there and make mental notes of where to avoid and who'll be coming down the channel later. Just dont call the tanker and expect him to move... I laughed outloud when a small sail race of 420's was in the East Passage telling a Car Ship to stay clear of the channel... the 'admiral' of the yacht club should have read the ROTR a bit better....

RIR , great points on procedurem, as always your very helpful to us noobs.

My question on the radio is how to adjust properly. Seemed I had a lot of static when I turned it on. It was to annoying to keep on so i shut it off. Maybe I'm adjusting it wrong.

Any pointers?

Thanks

Adjust the squelch.