If your boat has a radio, watch out for an alarming letter from a company calling itself Business Radio Licensing. According to our friends at BoatU.S., the letter says your radio license has been "terminated or cancelled by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)."

The letter also says it will cost $290 in processing fees to get your license reinstated. Failure to do so, the letter warns, "can subject you to fines by the FCC." According to BoatU.S., Business Radio Licensing is not affiliated with the FCC and is not in a position to make threats on behalf of the FCC.

Second, some of the information in the Business Radio Licensing letter may not exactly be true. Recreational vessels are not required to carry VHF radios, radar, LORAN, GPS or EPIRBs and, if they do, FCC licenses are not required in most instances.

Third, owners of recreational vessels are required to obtain radio licenses from the FCC only under specific circumstances, for example, when traveling to or broadcasting in a foreign port (except Canada), if the boat is 65 ft. or longer or if single sideband radios or Inmarsat equipment is being used.

For complete information about radio licensing requirements, visit the FCC's web site, http://wireless.fcc.gov/marine/fctsht14.html.