In this third part of my ongoing blog series about our new Beastmaster Boats Snubby 500 rig, I take a look at some of the accessories we’ve added to the boat. If you’d like to read Part 1, click here, and for Part 2, click here. Batteries are something many people don’t think much about when it comes to setting up a new boat. However, they are vitally important components in a well-equipped rig. My fellow Offroad Adventure Show presenter, Jamie Hazelden from Jamie’s Touring Solutions (JTS) had been waxing lyrical about the new Lead Crystal Batteries, and after checking them out on-line, I could understand why he was so excited! Anyway, to cut a long story short, we ended up fitting two: a dirty big 120 amp hour unit up front to power the MotorGuide Xi5 bow-mounted electric and a smaller 80Ah battery down in the stern for cranking the Yammy and running the sounders, etc. It’s early days yet, to be sure, but so far I’m blown away by the performance of both batteries. The major claims to fame of these state-of-the-art batteries are an extremely long shelf life with a very low discharge rate when stored (you can store them for two years without any top up charging!). They also have the ability to cope with high discharge rates, a very fast re-charging time, and deep discharge capabilities. As a bonus, they’re made to deal with extremely harsh conditions in terms of temperature range, vibration and so on… All-in-all, exactly what the doctor ordered for tough marine use! (Go to the very bottom of this page for a listing of the major advantages of Lead Crystal batteries.) I’ll be sure to keep you up to speed with our observations about these...