[Ham-Mac] Recommendations for offshore use?

[PATRICIA H REIFF]

Hi, I'm going to be on a transatlantic cruise ship (well, really just a big yacht)  this fall and want a rig that's reliable and portable, preferably with autotuning built in.  

I'm debating between the new touchscreen Icom 7100 and a SDR like the Flex Radio 3000.  I will be taking along a high-end laptop anyway, but I hear that the Flex doesn't work as well with laptops as it does with a desktop.  I'll probably take both an ATAS 120 and a simple dipole, since I'm not sure how the rigging will be (I do have the captain's permission).  The SDR intrigues me because of its ability to let me find signals but I'm not sure I can learn fast enough before I go in October.  Any recommendations??  (It's a US-flag ship so I won't have to get a new call.. yea!!)

An of course, I prefer to use my Mac laptop but I will also be taking along a windows laptop.

Also, anyone have the callsign database for offline use?  internet will be very expensive so I won't use it much.


...  Dr. Pat  W5TAR