Jon, any addition of communications on a vessel is better than not having anything at all. Of course, that goes without saying. SatPhone and InMarSat are probably the two most used by cruisers. But, a lot of cruisers carry Single Side Band (SSB) on board. The vast majority of those use the Icom M7xx (M700, M710) or M8xx (M802) radios. Most of these radios carry GMDSS (Distress calling/receiving) which SatPhones and InMarSat might not have. The Icom Marine Radios can be programed to work in the Amateur Radio Bands, and if one is licensed the radio is legal on those bands.
Ham Radio is the next best means of long distance communications. Many cruiser will carry smaller High Frequency radios like Kenwooe, Icom, Yaesu, or other brands. Most will use the back stay of their mast as the antenna. In my case, I have a much smaller boat yet I carry HF on board.
This was my setup not too long ago. The HF radio is a Kenwood TS-50. It is a very popular radio for its size and ease of operation. This radio has fail since and I am replacing it with an Icom IC707. The 707's footprint is larger so I have to remake the "cabinet" to house the radios and GPS. My antenna(s) do not use the backstay. One is an alternate backstay that is not load bearing (have all the parts but not yet installed) and the other is a dipole antenna cut to operate on 14300 KHz.
Forgive me if you already knew all this. Sometimes I just love talking about ham radio and sailing. They are like peanut butter and jelly. Just a perfect match!