All boats arriving from abroad and staying in Portugal are obliged to pay lights and buoys tax which can be done in the local port captains office, the address is below and a receipt will be issued for the payment of the lights and buoys tax (taxa de farolagem). The documents should be kept with the ship’s papers while in Portuguese waters.

Visiting boats must pay €2 for a 6 month period (this may change from time of publishing so please ask at the port office for up to date prices) They are payable to either a Capitania (maritime authority) or a Delegação Maritima (maritime branch), there is at the least one of these offices in every port in Portugal. After the 6 month period if you have not left Portugal you will be obliged to pay the normal Portuguese tax rate you can get full details of this yearly tax from the Capitania (maritime authority) or look at the official document below. We are sorry it is only in Portuguese.

Please see map for where the Capitania (maritime authority) office is in Faro

 

The VHF radio course is conducted at Nave pegos class room in the yard and leads to the VHF radio license..

Your instructor will be David Punch who is Principal at Allabroad Sailing Academy worked as a marine electronics specialist notably in the Radar Navigation and Communications area. David has been an RYA VHF instructor since 2002 and a holder of the top marine communications qualification available, the GMDSS GOC, since 2005. Very knowledgeable in this field and enthusiastic too, he can deliver the VHF course in an interesting and thorough manner, can advise on all areas of marine communications and answer many technical questions way beyond the standard syllabus if required.

You will be trained on real networked Icom marine radios by one of the most qualified and experience radio communications lecturers in portugal. At the end of the course you will have a thorough knowledge of Digital Selective Calling and general voice procedures required to pass the VHF exam and receive the SRC DSC Radio license required for Yachtmaster candidates. More importantly you will have real practical experience on real radio equipment and not the fiddly unrealistic computer simulators still used by some schools. Also there is a wealth of extra information included in the course and your enthusiastic lecturer will be available for expert advice on matters of maritime communications and electronics.

Benefits

Required for MCA RYA Yachtmaster Coastal & Yachtmaster Offshore.

Required by many charter and flotilla companies.

The correct use of the VHF could help save a life.

Get the most out of your equipment.

Advice on communications equipment requirements could save you money.

Classroom equipment available

Knowledge of channel allocations

Understanding of Simplex and duplex

Ability to calculate ranges based on antennae height

Correct use of Digital Selective Calling

General Operating procedures

How to send Digital distress alerts and Maydays

Procedures for adding new individual and group users

What to do after receiving a mayday

Cancelling false alarms

Use of SARTS EPIRBS Navtex and AIS

Installation and basic testing of VHF equipment

Interfacing GPS to VHF

Minimum Pre-course Experience & Assumed Knowledge

You must know the phonetic alphabet. To test your knowledge with a short and fun quiz, please follow this link to our RYA Interactive page.

Duration

1 day, 0900 until 1730

Certificate

GMDSS Short Range Certificate to Operate

Availability 12 places see Bruce to book