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Kep: Thanks for your thoughts. After the boat sits for a week after cycling (8 hour fishing trip with 5 hours of engines not running), I get 12.34 volts on one (handles electronics and engine) and 12.43 volts on another (used just for the engine). When I purchased the batteries, they read about 12.68 volts. Water levels are fine--I added a little bit of water a few months ago. My log shows steady deterioration in voltage over 3 years as one would expect. I might try your trickle charge suggestion. If I can get some more time out of the batteries, great. I think you need to get maximum life out of boat parts to keep the financial sanity.
Battery connections are clean and tight. Voltage on boat gauges shows over 14 volts when running.
I don't overnite except at the slip. I would like to go to Catalina, but the weekends are too crowded in the summer. So a deep/starting battery seems suitable.
The advantage of going Costco is that it's only about $100 plus tax for 2 new batteries. I'm going to check the other battery places recommended in this thread. Perhaps a simple multimeter check is not the best way to measure charging power, but it's only 45 gallons of fuel or so to replace the batteries. I'm also stressing a bit as the fish seem to have arrived.
Thanks for all of your replies,
Tom
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