The majority of that stuff was acquired cheap or free and in the need of repair. Most hams would rather see this old stuff going to good homes where it will be used rather than collecting dust in basements and attics. I do as much of the work as I can but I've had a lot of help from local friends in the hobby. I started out like you. When we took a year cruise I had a ships station license for the marine VHF and an old Icom M-700. I enjoyed meeting folks on the SSB Cruiseheimers Net. Many of them had their ham tickets and were running Pactor, getting on the ham band nets, etc. I'd always been interested in getting into the hobby so I made it a goal when we returned home. At the time I got my ticket they had dropped the CW requirement to 5 wpm. Now they've dropped the CW entirely so a general class license is very easy to pass. The current station onboard is a marine VHF, an Icom-706 and a 2 meter VHF. My wife got her tech class ticket and several of our friends are licensed as well. We find 2 meters very handy and devoid of the foolishness I find so annoying on the marine bands. My wife will take a handheld whenever she goes off in her kayak. There is a linked repeater system that covers most of the Maine coast that we frequently use to stay in contact with our friends. In fact one day I was driving into Portland and chatting with a friend on 2 meters who was anchored in Harbour de Lute, Campobello.