Actually, you can run a smoker on a boat - at least we do. After spending much of last winter debating the issues with a friend who is really into his bbq (and whose team has won several regional contests), we decided to give the Cobb Grill a shot. It is small, but really works. We've used it many times on the boat to make moink balls and wings. Those take around 1.5 hours and use around 8-10 charcoal briquettes. We did ribs this summer for about five hours, and used around 15 pieces of charcoal. Next on the list is to try a pork shoulder. The two amazing things about the Cobb are how little charcoal it uses, and how the base and sides stay cool to the touch (important for a boat). The only downsides is that it will run too cool if there is much wind, and it isn't that big (good for storage but can only load so much food in it). Highly recommend.