Preparing Your Outboard for Boating Season

You might be mentally ready to spend hours on the water, boating away. But is your boat physically ready? One of the most important parts of getting ready for boating season is checking out your engine. Of course, we would be happy to do it for you here. We do service work on Yamaha, Honda, Nissan, Johnson and Evinrude outboard engines.  We have two factory trained and certified Yamaha and Honda technicians that work full time. 

But if you are the more do-it-yourself type, here are a few basic steps you should take to ensure your outboard is just as ready for spring as you are.

• Drain and refill your fuel tanks. Even if you put marine fuel treatment in your tank last winter, ethanol collects water over the winter. So, dispose of all fuel over a month old.
• Charge your batteries or replace them if they are more than two years old.
• Replace your fuel filters, lower unit lube and spark plugs.
• Check all steering, throttle, and shift cables and connections to make sure they work smoothly.
• Check the operation of the engine "kill switch". Run the motor and pull on the kill switch cord to make sure the engine dies instantly.

Last, of course, check your owners manual or factory service manual for its recommended service. 

After taking a long break (like over the winter), it's important to gradually introduce your outboard into usage again.



For a two stroke engine:
For the first 10 minutes:  Run engine at lowest possible speed, a fast idle in gear is best.  
For the next 50 minutes:  Do not exceed half throttle or 3000 rpm.  Vary engine speed occasionally.  
For the 2nd hour:  Accelerate onto plane then reduce to 3/4 throttle and vary engine speed occasionally.  
For the 3rd through 10th hour:  Avoid operating at full throttle for more than 5 minutes at a time.  Let the engine cool between full throttle runs.  Vary engine speed occasionally.  
After the first 10 hours:  Operate engine normally. 



For a four stroke engine:
For the 1st hour:  Run @ 2,000 rpm or no more than half throttle.  
For the 2nd hour:  Increase speed to put boat on plane but avoid full throttle, then back off throttle while keeping boat at a planing speed.  
For the next 8 hours of operation:  Avoid continuous full throttle for more than 5 minutes at a time.  
After the first 10 hours:  Operate engine normally.

Is your outboard ready for spring?

Welcoming Regal Boats

We are in our first year of being a Regal Boats dealer, and we have definitely enjoyed getting to know these boats. They're a bit (okay, a lot!) different than our pontoons, but we like having the variety. We think you will too, because if a pontoon isn't your style, then we have great alternatives. 


We thought we'd give you a bit of an introduction to this line of boats as we all learn more about them. The company began in 1969 and has been innovating ever since. We like Regal's FasTrac hull, which was introduced in 1995 (so, obviously it works!). It's engineered with a full-beam step to reduce drag and friction. Learn more about the hull with this video. Some Regal boats also have a power tower, which means you can raise or lower the sports tower with the push of a button - super convenient. Lots of our customers like pontoons because of the amount of seating - well, we're here to tell you that Regal boats have made seating a priority as well. There is a lot of it, and much of it is convertible to fit your needs on a particular day. The company has received many awards for excellence and we're sure it will continue to do so. 




We've got several Regal boats in our showroom right now, but definitely not as many as the company makes. We're most excited about the bowriders and deckboats. 

 

Which Regal are you most interested in learning more about?