Radio license for bahamas?

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pdecat

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In another thread someone claimed you needed an FCC licenses for the VHF radios and radar to go to Bahamas? Is this an enforced requirement??
 
I have a VHF (obviously), a radar and a SSB (which I only use to receive weather faxes when I can't get WiFi access) and I have never been asked for a license.
 
The issue on that other post was whether the mmsi should be re-registered with the fcc. I thought an MMSI was an MMSI(maritime mobile service identity) which registered with the USGC. I am planning a trip to the bahamas myself this summer and I would be interested if there really is any other registrations we need. Our radar and VHF are not as far as I know registered with the FCC?
 
The half dozen or so times I have been over, I've only been asked two questions:

1. Do I have $300? and

2. Do I have it with me?

There's also nothing in the customs paperwork that mentions it at all. They will want the serial numbers of your firearms and the exact count of ammunition on board.

Ted
 
It's a law, and easily obtained from the fcc website. Just select all of the radio types and ship in the request. The license arrives in a reasonable amount of time. I just did it. The hardest part was navigating the site.
http://coconuttelegraph.net/forums/showthread.php?t=564

http://allaboutboats.blogspot.com/2006/05/fcc-vhf-license-required-for-cruising.html

When I submitted I checked off all radios and that's the way it came. So now I can bring any radio I like without concern. I figure if I show it to them with the rest of the papers it can't hurt.
 
Dan,

I was going to post Sheila's link as that's what I followed (it's a good set of instructions). But you beat me to it!

Bruce, the law says: "If you travel to a foreign port (e.g., Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands), a license is required. Additionally, if you travel to a foreign port, you are required to have an operator permit." (source: http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/index.htm?job=licensing&id=ship_stations)

So you need the $160 license for the vessel/radios, and the $60 license for you (first mate can do without unless they use the radio often...anybody can use a radio in an emergency situation). The first one is good for 10 years. The second is good for life I believe. I'm sure one can get away without it, and I doubt the Bahamian authorities care. It's that call to US authorities you might have to make on your way back when some government employee is in a bad mood and knows you were at a foreign port (since check-in with Custom's is mandatory upon return). It's just one more "tax" to pay to keep "the man" off my back, so I did it.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Ted Williams

The half dozen or so times I have been over, I've only been asked two questions:

1. Do I have $300? and

2. Do I have it with me?

There's also nothing in the customs paperwork that mentions it at all. They will want the serial numbers of your firearms and the exact count of ammunition on board.

Ted

Click to expand...


It's good to have a small boat...I only need $150!

Ted - I just called Bahamian police to check on how much trouble it is to LEGALLY declare a firearm. I was leaning toward packing heat, but if they're going to give me a hard time, I'd reconsider. The Inspector I spoke to actually recommended being armed onboard. I think his quote was something like: "No matter where you are in the world, there are bad people, and things happen like piracy and theft".

I'm trying to get hold of Bahamian Customs to check their view of it, but that's harder than it should be. Have you had any problems with declaring and the local authorities?

(I am bummed a bit though as the Inspector told me not to bring my AK...so I guess I'm stuck with a .357 or a 9mm)
 
And how do you carry it down there without resiprocity at the state level?
 
You don't carry. Firearm is to remain on the vessel.
 
But you are in a vehicle, not a home. I've been concerned about this aspect since the police no longer have to know the laws they enforce. They ask if you have a gun in NY Harbor, and if you say yes, they arrest you. If you lie and they come aboard and find it look out it gets worse.
I recall a story a while ago about a boater that was arrested for merely having a shotgun aboard the boat. I wish I could find the story.
 
Mixman, It has never been a problem and I've never gone there without one or more firearms. The customs form has a place for you to write in the serial numbers of the firearms and amount of ammunition and the customs offers have never mentioned it at all or asked to see them.

Back in the mid-90's I would anchor off the west coast of Bimini when the wind was right. After dark all kinds of craft would go racing by, mostly go-fasts without lights on. While I have never felt threatened, I prefer to have some protection on board. I usually carry a Mossberg marine 12 guage and a 40 cal. automatic.

You must keep them locked up on the boat.
 
Thanks Ted. I've looked at a Mossberg, even saw one in some sort of safety-orange marine kit (it was awesome and I should have bought it!). On a 30' boat, even with the storage room a cat has to offer, I'm limited on the long gun space. I'll have to stick to a handgun (or 3). The AK would have been perfect with it's folding stock, but I already figured that particular item might raise some interest (and the Inspector I spoke to was pretty much clear that's one thing I shouldn't bring :-). I'll get a nice safe from Cheaper Than Dirt in TX which we can also keep our cash in.

Dan - I read an article in Seven Seas Cruising Association's newsletter about some poor fellow in the USVI that got into all kinds of crap for being legally armed. That might be what you're referring to? I mentioned this to the Bahamian official I spoke to. He said "that's there, not here". I'm going to pack and declare. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. And, your NY story will keep me from spending any time or money in NYC. USC (US Code) states that we do have the right to transport our firearms from state to state. If law enforcement there can't respect these rights, then they don't deserve my money.

Call me a freak, but I view it as an unsafe world out there. I prefer to be protected and rely on myself to do so.
 
Note the words:

quote:
Notwithstanding any other provision of any law or any rule or regulation of a State or any political subdivision thereof
Click to expand...


There is always a clause somewhere.... So any state can enact laws that will make it illegal. So much for having federal laws worth anything.
 
But doesn't Code mean that transporting through such an area is legal? It just doesn't override local law for a resident?
 
Kurt; That’s how I read it BUT transporting through is vague. Traveling along shore from NJ to RI would qualify IMO but what happens if somebody decides to stop for a while, say an overnight or a week??
 
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