Melandre wrote in message . ..

From an electrical viewpoint, is therre any reason I couldn"t simply
install a regular car deck in my boat?

Yes, but many people do it. Car units don't have marinized
construction (the PCB & elsewhere) for greater reliability in a
"salty" environment. If you aren't a blue-water boater it'll be fine
for a long time in a reasonably protected location. If you are it's
usually a false economy to install any non-marinized electronics. The
actual differences are small but important, though inexpensive in
production versus the typically much higher price.