read the original post. For weekending and short vacations there is no point to investing in Ham/Marine SSB until needed for that Bahamas cruise. Furthermore, if the Bahamas are the limit of Tom's cruising he may not even need long distance comms then. By that time the options may change.

I have Ham, Marine SSB and an SCS PTC2 modem and depended upon then heavily for comms and weather on ocean passages but I almost never use them for coastal cruising.