On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 01:10:51 GMT, jeannette
wrote:

Hi all,

Going to Mexico in October and would like to know the definitive
answer on what licenses are needed.
I read somewhere that I need a VHF license for the boat. Is that true?
I know I need something for the Ham radio too. Where do I get it? Can
I do it by mail now or wait till I get to San Diego and cross to
Tijuana?

Thanks,


Jeannette Bristol 32, San Francisco
http://www.eblw.com/contepartiro/contepartiro.html

I have a partial answer for Jeanette and a question for everyone.

Jeanette, I just got the "ship's license" for the VHF, Radar, EPIRB,
and SSB (which I guess technically is a ham radio also although I
won't use it as that). I did it on line on the FCC website. It takes
about 10 minutes and costs $200 for 10 years. Let me know if you can't
find the web page and I'll dig for it again. I got the ship's license
in about a week.

Now, the question: I don't plan to get a ham license because (AFAIK)
they aren't needed for SSB. I will be taking the boat to Mexico and
points south and east. Last time I needed a ship's license was back in
the 80's and at that time it was required for domestic use of VHF. An
operator's license was also required.

I couldn't see anything on the FCC website that said operator licenses
were or were not required for SSB/VHF radio use in a pleasure boat.
Are they?
aa6jh