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The 710 is an
SSB receiver that will work on the ham bands while the 706 is an amateur
radio that will work on the marine HF bands.

So which direction would you go above?

The trade offs are as follows"

HAM
Must have a General Class license.
Must have a radio that will do the ham bands.
email is free, but absolutely no commercial traffic.

Marine SSB
Must have a marine SSB rig.
Musr have a Ships Station License for the rig.
Must have a Restricted Radiotelephone Operators Permit for yourself.
Sailmail is $250/yr but you can do commercial traffic.

I went with both. An ICOM-M710 enabled for the ham bands. And I had
both Winlink (ham email) and Sailmail. The M710 is one of the few rigs that
can do the digital modes, such as PACTOR, at full power.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista