I was recently shown a copy of an article from one of the sailing
magazines (either Blue Water Sailing or Ocean Navigator) in which they
extolled the virtues of quarter wave antennae for marine ssb radios.
The article made two points: 1. No copper ground was needed and 2. the
antennae, cut in appropriate lengths for each wavelength used, could be
connected the antenna automatic tuner, wrapped around a box and the box
thrown into a cockpit locker with no external aerial whatsoever.

The article indicated that this was an idea from the ARRL manual and a
perfectly acceptable alternative to the usual insulated backstay wire
used on all of the boats I'm aware of which have a SSB radio on board.

The question to this group is whether this is a valid alternative to
the usual copper ground & external antenna setup? What are the
advantages (other than cost and ease of installaton) and the
disadvantages?

Thsnks,

Stan