I mentioned another approach to battery power a couple days ago. Here's verbatim the little piece out of Sail: Dwain Lovett sails his Catalina 22 on Lake Ray Hubbard outside of Dallas. Because he has only occasional need for running lights and even less for cabin lights, he didn't want a standard battery aboard. He points out that " the only way to keep it charged would be via shore power to a float charger," as charging with his 5hp Honda 4 stroke outboard is not an option. Having already had one battery die from infrequent use, he decided to use a portable jump-starter (available at many auto-parts stores). He connects it to his master terminals in place of a 12 volt battery and finds it can power his infrequently used lights. The device comes in a plastic case with a handle and can easily be carried home for recharging. Cost is less than $40. This seems like an ideal solution for me. Anybody see any holes in this? t Tom Smith & Jane Van Winkle Sandpoint, Idaho M15-345, Chukar M17-064, Unnamed -----Original Message----- From: Smith, Tom Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 8:23 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: RE: M_Boats: gel battery I don't have the magazine in front of me right now, but I think in this month's issue of Sail, on the things that work page, someone talks about using one of those emergency starting units as a boat battery. Sorry for the lack of info and context on this, but for those without charging systems and just short term use requirements, this might be of interest. t Tom Smith & Jane Van Winkle Sandpoint, Idaho M15-345, Chukar M17-064, Unnamed -----Original Message----- From: Harvey Wilson [mailto:HarveyWilson@compuserve.com] Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 7:54 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: M_Boats: gel battery Hi.. The Optimas come in 3 varieties...red is starting batteries, the blue is the deep discharge (house batt) Can't remember what the yellow is...maybe a combination?? Do a Google search on Optima and you'll find their website and more info then you want to know about batteries. Oh yes...you _DO_ have a good idea of what your current drain is, (hopefully) ?? I've only used West Marines little gel cell, and charge it after everyuse. Harvey/Ga M-17 Stargazer #294 _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats This message was scanned for viruses!! _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats This message was scanned for viruses!!