Boating Tips:
The largest single cause of powered failure in outboard motors is bad or stale gasoline. Each thirty days that fuel sits in your gas tank unused, it will lose 10 to 15% of its octane. Low octane causes spark knock and piston failure. It also evaporates and turns to varnish in the carbs and plugs the jets. If you run the motor this causes it to run lean and destroy the pistons. Add fuel conditioner to the gas regularly. When it is going to be stored add extra and make sure you run it to get that fuel in the carbs. Try to start and run a few min. every two weeks while being stored

If you are like many of us, because of weather or many other reasons we let our boats sit for long periods of time. If you find it hard to start, sluggish or missing, STOP. Do not continue to run it - take it to your service center and have it checked and these problems taken care of. Adding things to the fuel or squirting them in the motor will not alleviate the problem. The fuel must be pumped out and disposed of and the carbs cleaned and re-built. This may seem expensive but it is nothing compared to a major re-build of the motor.

Along the same vein, PLAN AHEAD. Do not take the boat that has sat for three or four months to ramp with the family for a day on the water unless you have have had it checked and serviced. Those are the people that you see stranded and in need of a tow after sitting on the water for hours. Not a fun way to spend the day.

Like any complex piece of equipment, your boat will run better, be more reliable and a whole lot more fun with regular exercise and maintenance.

Enjoy!!