2 stroke verses 4 stoke outboard? We went for 4 stroke - 2013

Beginning of February 2013 – Barra - Bahia de Navidad - Marina Puerto de la Navidad(Barra Marina)

 When we were in San Diego, CA say six months before we left on the Baja Ha Ha 2012 which was less than a year ago people on the docks would be saying that two strokes were king in Mexico. That we should even go to Arizona and purchase a two stroke because they still sold them there and you could get a good one at a fresh water lake etc. That in Mexico no one knew how to work on four strokes and there were no parts.
Note:
 There is not a problem finding people who can work on 4 strokes. Now there are lots of 4 strokes owned by locals. 
 Also we have never had a problem pulling the Achilles LSI-310E dingy up the beach with our DaNard DingyWheels and Honda 9.9 hp outboard. Now we also have an electric winch for raising the dingy and motor on the Kato Marine Island Davits, (that was for my bad hip) that we use now. It really was not a problem for me before except for my hip needing to be replaced.

Then the usual stuff like they are heavier which, yes they are. And we still get, "I got this four stroke model because it is lighter than your Honda 9.9 hp outboard by 15 lbs." Well that is true. However we have been in Mexico now a little over three months and have not used two gallons of gas out of our tank for the outboard. Just leave out two gallons of gas from filing the (I think five gallon tank) and you have over 15 lbs. and dingy chaps will probably add ten? We have an inflatable floor dinghy so that saves over a hard bottom dinghy on weight. Around and around it goes.

 Anyway I am not sure where that gets you, the fifteen pounds. We still could not lift up an 80 lb motor by hand any more than we can lift a 95 lb motor.  I suppose 15 extra lbs hanging off the stern is an advantage only I am not sure that is where to chop it from. At any rate we like it and that’s what counts.

 When we bought our Honda outboard motor and Achilles dinghy we were about a month out from going on the Baja Ha Ha 2012 and it was money I got from selling my 1991 Jeep Wrangler. I could not get a good consensus on what outboard to buy or in fact dinghy. We liked what we heard about the Achilles and had a used one we liked. We liked what we heard about the Honda outboard motor. We got them both to match the hp with the dinghy. We were told to get the most hp for getting out of the surf on beach landings. Not sure if that is true or not but we did not know so went on the safe side.

As it turns out so far here in the Mexican Riviera(Gold Coast) the pangas seem to have mostly Yamaha Four Strokes.

 There are still some two strokes around but mostly four strokes. The price of gas has gone up so that could be one reason as the four strokes are stingier on gas. We have asked some panga owners why they cover their engines. The cruisers thinking seems to be so no one knows the hp and so will not bother to steel it. The panga owners we spoke to said that they do it because some of them believe the sun will help rot the engine inside the case. So some more of them cover them just in case it is true. It does seem more do not have covers than do though.

 As for cruisers there seems to be no conesus. Lots of two stroke engines of all sizes on two stroke dinghy’s and the same for four strokes. Seems there are 8 – hp motors on dinghy’s rated for 15 etc. It is all over the place.

We still have our 4 hp Mercury two stroke outboard with forward and reverse stashed away on the boat.  We just cannot decide what to do with it so we have not done anything. It runs like a champ so we are keeping it for now.

 Mostly we row when we can. Go figure? It is much quieter and serene. It is more fuel efficient and fun.

If we had it to do over again we would do the same thing, get a Honda 9.9 outboard and an Achilles dingy. We would have gotten the second seat for the dingy though. It would make it more comfortable for the passenger while rowing but not a big deal.

 The Honda outboard gets great ratings and is over-built so there is the weight. It is hopefully the last outboard motor we will buy so we got what we considered the best. We realize this is only our opinion and most outboard brands will be just fine I would think. Especially if you row a lot like we do 😏

 We even found a Honda outboard motor dealer here in Barra-Bahia de Navidad, Mexico!. Debbie and I went there.

 

The shop owner was very helpful and again another nice person.

We got a fresh water wash out adapter for the summer over maintenance.
We bought a fuel filter.
Oil filter
Oil and gear case oil.
He had most items we asked for like spark plugs etc.

There was a 30 hp and 2 hp Honda in the store. The literature seemed out of date but who’s complaining! They had a lot of fishing lures all over the walls.