RYA SRC/VHF case studies
RYA SRC/VHF · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The RYA Short Range Certificate (SRC) is the qualification most commonly associated with operating a marine VHF radio fitted with Digital Selective Calling (DSC) on UK-flagged recreational craft. It is aimed at leisure sailors, motor cruisers, anglers, kayakers and small-boat skippers who need to use a VHF set lawfully and, more importantly, competently when something goes wrong. The RYA SRC/VHF case studies are 5 cases and about 3,410 words.
1The menu that sent a distress alert
You are skipper of the 10.5 m motor cruiser Blue Finch, 3.5 nm south-east of St Catherine's Point, making 16 knots eastbound with four adults on board. The fixed DSC VHF was installed last month; the MMSI is programmed and the set is in normal mode.
780 words, about 4 min2Man overboard at night near the shipping lane
You are skipper of the 13 m yacht Kestrel, 18 nm south of the Isle of Wight, close-hauled on starboard in 18 knots of wind and a 1.5 m sea. It is 23:40, dark, visibility 4 nm.
637 words, about 3 min3A berth, a bridge and a radio check
You are skipper of the 12 m motor cruiser Wanderer, approaching an east-coast harbour at 14:20 on a Saturday in July. Harbour control listens on Ch12; the marina office advertises Ch80 for berthing; the lifting bridge control monitors its published working channel, Ch13.
603 words, about 3 min4The expired beacon and the corroded antenna
You are preparing the 11 m yacht Halcyon for a three-week cruise from Falmouth to the Scillies and back, with four crew. During the winter refit you find: a 406 MHz EPIRB in the locker with a battery expiry date of last November; its self-test passes but the registration label still shows the previous owner's name and MMSI; a SART in the grab bag with a test-log entry from two seasons ago; and the masthead VHF antenna has a corroded PL-259 plug with green copper visible and a 2 cm split in the outer coax sheath.
700 words, about 4 min5Chartering abroad: whose licence, whose MMSI?
You hold an RYA SRC certificate. You are joining a 14 m sailing yacht in Greece for a two-week bareboat charter with friends; the yacht is Greek-flagged and has a fixed DSC VHF, an EPIRB and a handheld.
690 words, about 3 min