Amps and Volts

[Bushwacker]

Gilley - My old 1975 115 Evinrude that I ran for over 30 years put out a whopping 6 amps, with no voltage regulator!

I guess they figured you couldn't hurt anything with 6 amps, just boil off water, so it was important to use an old style unsealed battery and check electrolyte often. I ran 2 batteries with the simple Guest 1-Both-2-Off switch.
I did install a voltmeter and generally ran on both batteries, switching to #1 or 2 when anchored out overnight. Whenever I had a battery going bad, I did notice that voltage would get up over 14 volts, particularly if I was just running on the weak battery instead of both. Have to be careful not to have switch on "Both" in that situation with engine off because the weak battery will drain the good one! (A battery isolator system will prevent this from happening) Otherwise I never had a problem, but electrical system was fairly simple - only accessories were the VHF and an old Raytheon flasher-recorder, plus the bilge pump and nav lights and a 12V outlet for plug in spotlight. Back when these boats were new, things were a lot simpler and nobody felt the need for a 200 watt stereo, high pressure washdown system or big live bait wells!

Those older smaller motors can be hand cranked; mine even had a starter rope in a little bag snapped to inside of cowling! One tip: if you ever do have a situation where battery has enough juice to engage the bendix gear but won't spin the motor, you can often hand crank it pretty easily if you'll have someone hit the starter just as you pull the rope. Also helps to carry a can of starting fluid (ether).

I know the whole point of your question is to try to stay out of such situations, but it's good to know this stuff if you ever DO get stuck with a weak battery!