how could i install a few simple electrical accessories in a small boat?

hi all. just curious what i would need to do to install a few electrical accessories in my new tinny. all i really want to power is a small radio and an outlet of some sort that i could plug a light or other simple accessory into. i don't have a trolling motor, fish/depth finder or any other electrical devices, and all my outboards are pull start, so the battery would only need to run a radio for short periods and the accessories. thanks for any suggestions.

P.S.
I currently have a marine starting battery, which works great. can it be used or do i need a deep cycle/trolling motor type battery?

Re: how could i install a few simple electrical accessories in a small boat?

I have a small motorcycle type battery that I use to power LED lights that works great. I just wired in a switch so I can turn them on and off... This is all separate from my trolling motor/fish finder deep cycle battery. I have seen people use regular car batteries even for trolling motors without any real issues so you should be fine just finding a decent size battery you want to use. A deep cycle would most likely be better though as it is meant to be drained down and recharged more so than a car battery?

Build a little box and you can mount the battery in it and radio and outlet into it. Shouldn't take up too much room...

Re: how could i install a few simple electrical accessories in a small boat?

thanks jspansel. that's exactly what I had in mind. what sort/gauge wires go from the battery to the devices? do i need a fuse in-line somewhere along the way? got a pic of your seup by any chance? thanks again.

Re: how could i install a few simple electrical accessories in a small boat?

You can purchase battery boxes at WalMart, I think they are called 'power centers'. They hold your main battery and come with fused connections for accessories built into them. I don't have one myself but they look to be well thought out and convenient. Most likely IBoats sells them as well.

Re: how could i install a few simple electrical accessories in a small boat?

gotcha Adjuster. I've seen those before and wondered what they were for. Cool I'll check them out. Thanks y'all.

Re: how could i install a few simple electrical accessories in a small boat?

Here is what I made for my boat. I needed something for navigation lights, cigarette lighter plugs for spotlights, and some other stuff. I bought that little board from Bass Pro and each circuit has a fuse I think.

I built the box out of thin plywood and fiberglass.

Really pretty easy. I thought about just mounting that little board to a battery box instead of running wiring but wanted a little side console for holding shotgun shells and a beer when fishing.

Re: how could i install a few simple electrical accessories in a small boat?

How about a battery booster pack for jump starting cars.
Most of them have a 12v accessary port and some even have 110 volt.
I keep one in my boat in case the battery goes dead.

http://batterybooster.org/

Re: how could i install a few simple electrical accessories in a small boat?

I have since added a master on-off switch and a voltmeter.

Re: how could i install a few simple electrical accessories in a small boat?

I don't know all of your circumstances, but assume you have a small boat since you have a pull start. Here's my take on electronics, from a salt water small boat perspective: avoid them. First, a car battery is a lot of weight. Why not get a portable radio (boom box) that operates off batteries? take it home, recharge the batteries, etc. Use battery (D cell) running lights. I even hooked up a float switch to a D cell bilge pump (note: reliability was not an issue for this particular rig).
If you want to carry a larger battery, look into a rechargeable small battery like for trolling motors, lawn mowers, etc. Somethnig easy to take home and recharge.
The power pack is ideal, too, but consider size and weight.
I'd avoid a lot of wiring, plugs, etc. as they are always succeptible to salt air issues. For safety, you can't beat "hand-held".

Re: how could i install a few simple electrical accessories in a small boat?

you can connect your radio and a light to your marine battery. just run one hot wire to your radio with an inline fuse off of the pos post of your battery and then run a neg line to your radio thats connected to your neg post on battery.
you can do the same for your light.
Just remember to disconnect the wires from battery when done.
This is not the correct way but it would work.