What about 2-meter ham radio? I may be wrong but I believe the
license required to operate on 2-meters is the No-Code Technician,
which is very easy to pass. Seems that a small marine VHF sized base
station and maybe a handheld would be just the ticket. In fact, with
a little "skill", they could be used in an emergency on the marine VHF
freqs too. (No lectures please.)