vhf - fitted or handheld suitable?

[boatingdave]

OK - you can make anything resonant with enough loading (I passed the RAE back when it was a written paper and there were no calculators) - but that does not make it a good radiator! Naturally resonant antennae at marine band frequencies are inconveniently big to stick on a handie...

So did I (40 years ago) and was a professional radio engineer and aerial rigger for a number of years and the post could have been misleading although no offence was meant in my reply.
As already mentioned by others, compromise depending on the situation. Radios and aerials is a complicated subject. Regarding the OP question, if cost is an issue then there a lot of cheap handhelds out there for close quarters contact and once the decision is made to go further afield than inland waterways (very few folk have VHF on the inland waterways) then a fixed mobile with a decent aerial would be better. In an ideal world it would be beneficial to carry both fixed and portable to cover all circumstances of course. When we were on the upper Thames the VHF was rarely even on but as we are coastal now it's the first thing to be turned on! Horses for courses.