Bridge-to-Bridge radio rules for large yachts

Radio · Power & sail

The Vessel Bridge-to-Bridge Radiotelephone Act covers every power-driven vessel 20 meters (65.6 ft) or longer while navigating, vessels of 100 gross tons or more carrying passengers for hire, towing vessels 26 feet or longer, and dredges. They must keep a VHF watch on channel 13 (33 CFR 26.03, 26.04).

Commonly missed

The power-driven threshold is in meters: 20 m is 65.6 ft. If your boat is close to that, check the deck length end to end (excluding sheer) rather than a rounded brochure LOA (33 CFR 26.02).
On the Great Lakes, covered vessels follow the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes radio agreement instead of parts of this rule (33 CFR 26.09).

Which vessels it covers

Every power-driven vessel of 20 meters (65.6 ft) or over in length while navigating (33 CFR 26.03(a)(1); 33 U.S.C. 1203).
Length is measured end to end over the deck, excluding sheer. "Power-driven" means propelled by machinery, so a sailboat of that length is covered while it is motoring (33 CFR 26.02).
Also covered: vessels of 100 gross tons and up carrying one or more passengers for hire, commercial towing vessels of 26 feet or over, and dredges and floating plant working in or near a channel (33 CFR 26.03(a)).
A recreational boat under 20 meters that is not carrying passengers for hire or towing commercially is not covered.

What it requires

A VHF radiotelephone that can be operated from the navigational bridge (the helm) and can transmit and receive on channel 22A as well as the navigation channel (33 CFR 26.03(b), (d)).
A listening watch on channel 13 (156.650 MHz) kept by the master, the person in charge or the person piloting. On parts of the lower Mississippi the channel is 67 (33 CFR 26.04(d), 26.05; 47 CFR 80.309).
In a Vessel Traffic Service area, a radio on the VTS frequency as well. A single scanning or "dual watch" radio does not count as two radios (33 CFR 26.03(f) and note).
The person keeping the watch must be able to communicate in English (33 CFR 26.07).
Keep the radio working. A breakdown is not a violation in itself, but you must restore it as soon as practicable and allow for its loss when navigating (33 CFR 26.06).

Using channel 13

Use the bridge-to-bridge channel only for information needed for safe navigation, such as passing intentions, and for necessary tests; you may also use it to talk to shore stations about safe navigation (33 CFR 26.04).
On bridge-to-bridge channels a ship may identify itself by name instead of call sign (47 CFR 80.102(c)).

Licensing consequences

Because the Act requires the radio, a covered yacht is a compulsory ship, not a voluntary one, so it needs an FCC ship station licence (47 CFR 80.13(c); FCC).
It must also have aboard an operator holding at least a Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit (47 CFR 80.163).

The rules: 33 CFR 26.02 · 33 CFR 26.03 · 33 CFR 26.04 · 33 CFR 26.05 · 33 CFR 26.06 · 33 CFR 26.07 · 33 CFR 26.09 · 33 U.S.C. 1203 · 47 CFR 80.13 · 47 CFR 80.102 · 47 CFR 80.163 · 47 CFR 80.309

Sources (10)

ecfr.gov · ecfr.gov · law.cornell.edu · navcen.uscg.gov · navcen.uscg.gov · fcc.gov · ecfr.gov · ecfr.gov · ecfr.gov · ecfr.gov

A plain-language summary of federal rules for recreational boats, checked against the rules’ own text and a second source, and written in our own words. It isn’t legal advice. States add rules of their own, and rules change — the links above go to the current official text.