Why not use normal hand held CB radio's so you can chat from the land and
sea and use the marine radios for the safety point of view when at sea.

Dave

snip

Tom, thanks for the advice. Looks like I'm going to have to sort something
else out for the journey then. One thing springs to
mind....................
my journey will entail travelling from Calais to around Bordeaux, via the
autoroutes. Would a marine radio be likely to interfere with anyone on
that
journey? I'd be using probably 4 watt handhelds. By the way, this group
has
gone really quiet , hasn't it ? Thanks again, and any more advice readily
welcomed.
Clive