David,

That is pretty interesting, and makes alot of sense. Us guy with the older boats have it even worse, though. My boat has a 55 amp alternator (I think) and that does not help the situation. I find that if I don't AC charge my stereo battery after every trip, after about 8 hours of normal use, there will not be enough current to run the stereo. It will keep cutting on and off trying to power up, and that is pretty annoying.