5 years is about average life for boat batteries if buying better quality ones. Cheaper ones seem to go out around three years or so.
Keeping the terminals shiny clean and very tight helps a lot.
If the style with caps - keeping water level filled ( distilled water ) adds to the life as well.
Biggest thing that hurts is a battery being drained all the way down. Deep cycles can handle this better then starting type batteries.
Air temperature plays a huge role - a weak battery might do OK in 80* temps. but fail when it gets cold.
I replace mine every 5 years - I make sure to check the manufactered date to get fresh batteries. I've seen batteries over two years old for sale in some stores. Try to deal with a store that turns over the stock often - no sense spending $$$ on old battery.
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