Nothing beats a SSB for staying in communications with others while away from home. You can use a cell phone but you only talk to one person at a time but only sometimes. To talk to the cruising community or a cruising friend that's not in the same local area (10 miles) you need an SSB. Nothing else does it. An SSB is also very useful for sending and receiving emails to family and even for sending low res photos. There are just too many times your out of other communications.

Of course, an SSB setup is very expensive costing $3,000.00 or more when finished. Since money is always an issue the alternative is an SSB receiver only. You can't talk but you can listen to weather reports, nets and Chris Parker's rundown on your area. I believe ou could purchase for a used Icom 710 and Pactor for about a thousand.

OK, there are many that want to be out of communications when cruising. Not using it is one thing. Not even having the option of communicating is a bad idea. We really love our SSB and wouldn't cruise without one if it's at all possible.