Gary Hagstrom's great note triggered some additional thoughts: <SNIP> 1-What you are willing to spend for a boat has a great impact on your choices. Are you looking to go for a low purchase price and go used or buy new and pay more. The choice to buy a cruising-ready boat vs. a "fixer-upper" is probably more of an issue for those with mechanical, electrical, electronic, plumbing and woodworking skills, and knowledge of ABYC boat codes, because they're the one's who will be most tempted to undertake the retrofit as a DIY project. It's certainly an issue if you want the boat to be ready to go as soon as you purchase it. The tradeoff is that fitting up a boat that is not cruise-ready will delay your ability to cast off and cruise. How long depends on the amount of fit up that needs to be done. In today's buyer's market, the cost of retrofitting will combine with the purchase price to cost as much as buying a cruise-ready boat. This will definitely be the case if you contract the work to a boatyard where the final cost of a retrofit includes lots of expensive labor hours. Make no mistake, skills or not, it's tiring and frustrating to fit up a boat. We bought Sanctuary as a fixer-upper. I would probably not make that choice again. <SNIP> 4-I am an advocate of a large house battery bank with a large auxiliary alternator on the main engine to charge the batteries. Agreed. The most efficient way to charge batteries is with the main engine when under way during the day. We use about 100 aHr overnight (refrigeration, space and nav lighting, computer and TV/DVR) in summer months. We use maybe 150 to 200 aHr overnight in months with longer hours of darkness. We have 6 x 230 aHr, 6V flooded wet cells that make up a 690 aHr, 12V house bank. We adhere to the 50% discharge rule. For our AC loads, we have a Magnum 2KW inverter/charger. We also use a Magnum battery monitor to keep track of our battery bank state-of-charge. I consider the battery monitor to be an absolutely essential piece of safety equipment. <SNIP> 10-Have two heads. When one fails it is not such a crisis. Make no mistake, it's a crisis when the black water system goes offline!!! Nothing but TP - NOTHING - goes into the toilet that hasn't been eaten first. <SNIP> 14-Use a combo microwave/convection oven in the galley. Use whatever type of electric burner you like for the indoors. LPG can be a quite nasty cooking source inside when it is cold and damp outside. It makes a great deal of moisture when it burns. 15-Don't be afraid of using electricity for your inside cooking. Much like Microwave or coffee/tea making is a high load for a short period of time or can be low loads like a crockpot for alonger period of time but can be easily managed without having to run a genset everytime you cook. Crockpots are great! Electric blankets/electric throws are great for fall and spring cool nights. But, high discharge loads (microwave, cooktop elements), drop the 20-hour capacity of a battery bank by as much as 20~25% because of Peukert's Law and the impact of inverter efficiency (inefficiency). High discharge rates also accelerate natural battery deterioration like sulfation and plate surface etching/erosion. It's a good practice to avoid even transient high discharge loads; or at least, allow them for the shortest possible duration. (Coffee makers are, of course, always exempt from all physical laws). Run the genset if you need to for cooking and/or space heating. It's much easier on the batteries. We cook with propane. We get a full year from a single 20# cylinder of propane. When convenient, it's better to refill a propane tank than buy an exchange, because the exchange tanks are only filled to 17#, not the full 20#. Jim Peg and Jim Healy aboard Sanctuary Currently at Charlotte Harbor, Punta Gorda, FL Monk 36 Hull #132 MMSI #367042570 AGLCA #3767 MTOA #3436