With the price of fuel skyrocketing and the desire to leave only a wake not an oil slick in the lake, I have been researching boat motors this week.

Pouring through the top four outboard manufacturers websites: Honda, Mercury, Yamaha and Suzuki’s, some companies are touting their commitment to the environment, Honda in particular, while others are still focused on torque.

One thing has become abundantly clear, our old two-stroke Mercury outboard has got to go. While Honda’s website states that their four-stroke engines are 90% cleaner, 50% more fuel efficient, 50% quieter (I have a Honda generator called Lovely, and she’s very quiet) than a typical two-stroke engine, what catches my eye is they do not release any oil directly into the water.

There’s nothing like sitting in the lake behind a sputtering old motor that’s billowing oil and gas exhaust, struggling to go wakeboarding. In fact, I have spent my entire life crouched behind some kind of Merc motor waiting to yell “Hit It!” Next to falling, this is my least favourite part.

Thanks to companies like Honda, Suzuki and Mercury, who offer CARB’s three star rating (see Wednesday’s blog on Green Boating) on practically every one of their motors (exclusion include: Suzuki’s 30, Honda’s EFI motors, and Mercury’s Verado series and the Optimax 150/175/200/225), wakeboarding is about to get a whole lot more enjoyable.

In 1998 Honda introduced an entire line of high performance outboard motors that met the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2006 emission standards. The customer service rep at Suzuki believed they started sometime in 2000.

It’s important to note the newer engines are more likely to have CARB’s three star rating. This is one thing I will definitely be looking for when we start shopping for our new boat and motor.

Ahoy,

Julie

This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 11:57 am and is filed under Boating. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.