I've been using gels on my boat for years, and overall are pretty happy with them. But I'm wondering if there might be a better alternative than what I have as my starting battery for my 29 HP Perkins...

My engine has always required a heavy dose of glow plug for a quick cold start. Still, my battery seems to lack the sufficient power to really light it up quickly, and it will crank much faster if I parallel it with the house bank... But that's not something I want to have to do as a matter of routine, naturally...

The starter is the same size as the other 3 that comprise my house bank - a West Marine Group 27 rated at 88 AH. But the downside of gels is that they are rated lower in terms of Cold/Marine cranking amperage when compared with other batteries of similar size, and I'm not aware of any 'Starting Batteries' in a gel configuration...

I like the sound of something lighter and more compact - not to mention less costly - such as the Optima... But they require a different charging regimen, and although the difference doesn't sound like much, I'm guessing an Optima or anything else will eventually fail as a result of chronic undercharging in a system configured for gels?

i should mention I'm using a Balmar alternator (my engine uses an alternator Independently Grounded), a Balmar external regulator, the alternator feeds directly to the house bank, and the starting battery is charged via a West Marine Combiner 150. I also have a Xantrex Link 2000 monitor, so both banks are grounded to the shunt, and also a Freedom 1000 charger/inverter that is controlled by the Link 2000...

So, my question is: Does anyone have any suggestions re a starting battery solution that might be compatible with my gels? Any solutions to having the house gels and an Optima or lead acid starting battery receive the proper charging regimen independently ? Or any other way my setup might be improved upon? I like the idea of grounding the starting battery directly to the engine instead of the shunt, but I presume I would lose the ability to monitor the status of that battery with the Link 2000 by doing that, correct? Or, would I still retain the ability to do so, by having the battery sense wire alone connected to the Link?

Thanks in advance for any input on this...