A VHF radio is the one piece of kit on this list that can save your life, and it is also the one most cruisers set up badly. They buy a good fixed set, mount it where they cannot reach it, fit a cheap aerial, never programme the MMSI, and then wonder why they cannot raise anyone when it matters. After a few seasons working my way down the French coast I have a setup I trust, and most of getting it right is cheap or free.
Start with the paperwork, not the radio
Before you spend a penny on hardware, two things have to be in order.
You need a VHF operator's licence (in the UK, the Short Range Certificate) and a ship radio licence for the boat. The SRC course and exam typically cost around 100 to 140 pounds in 2025 and take a day. You cannot legally transmit without it, and a French inspection can ask to see it.
Then you need an MMSI, the nine digit number that is the heart of digital selective calling. It is issued with your ship radio licence and it must be programmed into every DSC set and AIS unit aboard. A fixed DSC radio with no MMSI entered is, in an emergency, just a fancy walkie talkie: press the red distress button and nothing useful happens. Get the MMSI, programme it, and write it on a card by the chart table. This matters even more abroad, because the French coastguard relies on it, and you should understand how to reach the French coastguard on VHF before you need to.
The fixed set: buy DSC, mount it well
Your primary radio is a fixed, mast height, DSC capable set. This is non negotiable for coastal cruising. A 25 watt fixed VHF transmits far further than any handheld because of power and, above all, aerial height.
You do not need to spend a fortune. A solid fixed DSC radio with built in GPS, such as an Icom IC-M330GE, sells in the UK for around 215 to 225 pounds in 2025. Built in GPS matters: DSC sends your position automatically with a distress alert, and a set without its own GPS must be wired to the boat's GPS or it sends a distress with no position, which is close to useless.
Mounting is where people go wrong. The set should be reachable from the helm or with a remote handset at the wheel, because the moment you need it you may be steering in a seaway. If your radio lives at the chart table down below, fit a remote mic in the cockpit. On a small boat I would rather have a modest radio with a cockpit handset than a top end set you have to go below to use.
The aerial does more than the radio
This is the part nobody photographs for the brochure and it matters more than the set. VHF is line of sight, so range is dictated by aerial height. A masthead whip on a 15 metre mast gives you radio range to the horizon and well beyond, easily 30 to 40 nautical miles to a coast station. The same radio with a stern rail aerial at 2 metres might reach 8 to 10 miles on a good day.
Spend on good coaxial cable and a properly soldered or crimped connector at the masthead. A corroded connection up the mast costs you more range than any radio upgrade can buy back, and it is the commonest fault I find on other people's boats. Fit a quality masthead aerial, run decent low loss cable, and weatherproof every joint. That single job does more for your safety than the difference between a cheap and an expensive radio.
A handheld is the backup, not the system
Every boat should carry a handheld VHF, but understand its job. It is your backup if the fixed set or the boat's power dies, and it is what goes in the liferaft or grab bag. It is not your primary radio because its low aerial gives short range.
Buy a floating, DSC capable handheld with its own GPS. A Standard Horizon HX870E, a floating DSC handheld, costs around 190 pounds in the UK in 2025, while an Icom handheld sits in a similar 200 to 240 pound bracket. Programme the same MMSI into it, keep it charged, and treat it as part of your safety kit rather than your daily radio. For tendering ashore and for talking between boats, a handheld is genuinely handy, but do not let it become an excuse to skimp on the fixed installation.
Add AIS sooner rather than later
Strictly speaking AIS is not part of VHF, but it shares the aerial world and it belongs in any modern setup, especially in France. The Channel is one of the busiest stretches of water on earth, and the traffic separation schemes off the French coast are full of ships moving faster than they look. A receive only AIS shows you what is around you; a transponder makes you visible to them.
If you are crossing the Channel or working the busy approaches, an AIS transponder is worth every penny, and understanding how to read AIS in French coastal traffic turns a screen full of triangles into genuine situational awareness. Many fixed VHF sets now include AIS receive built in, which is a cheap way to start.
Knowing the channels is half the kit
The best radio in the world is useless if you do not know who to call and on what. France has its own conventions: ports and marinas work specific channels, the coastguard (CROSS) broadcasts weather and safety on set channels, and the working channel for a marina is not always the one you expect. Before you arrive, get familiar with the VHF channels in France so you are not hunting through the manual while motoring into a strange harbour with a crosswind.
A few phrases of French on the radio go a long way too. Most professionals will switch to English if you ask, but opening in French earns goodwill, and the standard calling procedure is the same everywhere.
Power, fuses and the things that fail at sea
A radio that loses power is no radio at all, and on a small boat the VHF is wired into the same tired electrical system as everything else. Give it a dedicated, clearly labelled fuse, run decent gauge cable straight from the battery or a clean distribution point, and check the connections for corrosion at least once a season, because salt air eats spade terminals behind the chart table where you never look. A handful of green crystals on a negative terminal will quietly drop your transmit power before it kills the set entirely.
Carry a spare in line fuse and a known good handheld with a charged battery, and you have covered the two faults that strand most people: a blown fuse and a flat ship's battery. Test the whole chain before you cross by doing a radio check with another station rather than assuming the set works because the screen lights up. A lit screen tells you the receiver has power; it tells you nothing about whether you are actually transmitting, and the only way to know that is to ask someone to confirm they hear you, ideally from a few miles off.
The setup I would build
Put the money here, in this order. First, the licence and MMSI, because they cost little and unlock everything else. Second, a good masthead aerial and proper cable, the cheapest big gain in range you can buy. Third, a fixed DSC set with built in GPS and a cockpit handset. Fourth, a floating DSC handheld for the grab bag. Fifth, AIS, receive at minimum and a transponder if you cross busy water.
Do that and you have a setup that will reach the French coastguard from well offshore, show you the shipping before it becomes a problem, and keep working when something fails. None of it is exotic, and most of the reliability comes from the unglamorous parts: the aerial, the connectors, and the nine digit number you remembered to programme.
