Boaters without a radio are increasing the risk

PEOPLE are putting themselves at risk by not having VHF radios on boats, according to harbour master Captain Peter Gill.

He said the rescue services had received around 30 emergency calls from mobile phones last year from boaters in difficulty.

But using these instead of VHF radios proved more of a hindrance, he said.

'When people did not have mobile phones, the only thing they could use was VHF,' he said. 'But now people have mobile phones, they do not think they need one. They will not spend the money on something they do not think they need.'

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