4 hp model.Īfter agonizing over this decision for at least 10 minutes, I went with my gut and sent Helena off for the 4 hp model. 2.5 hp engine, but I was really tempted by the 59 lb. Yamaha - my preferred brand - makes an excellent, 37 lb. The 2.3 hp engine was enough to move the PortaBote along with two people at a stately pace of 4 or 5 knots, but I'd read that a 4 hp engine would get the boat up on a plane, which would greatly increase our speed and range of exploration. I didn't want to get stuck in the Bahamas with a non-working outboard. When it refused to start again in Beaufort, NC, we had enough. And as my uncle Marty used to say, if you are going to have an engine on a boat, it needs to be reliable.

The new carburetor got the dead engine running again, but it wasn't reliable. Rusty old carburetor, and its replacement I'd done my best to keep the Honda going, including replacing its rusty old carburetor. When we bought Petronella, her dingy consisted of an old inflatable that literally held itself together until the very day we arrived in Florida from the Caribbean, and a old Honda 2.3 hp outboard.

Boat crane lift