Boating | Outboard Motor Oil - Part 4

Bulk Motor Oil Keeps You Prepared

Image.ashxIf there’s any time where I know that I’m not going to be using my boat for a while, I like to make sure that I’m prepared for when I do decided to take it out again. For instance, sometimes the weather is going to be bad for a long period of time or I need to take my boat in for maintenance or something like that.

Regardless of the reason, being prepared relieves me of a lot of stress and makes it a lot easier for me to take my boat out again when I’m ready. This is why I always purchase bulk motor oil and keep a large amount of it properly stored in my garage so that I can get to work on the required maintenance of my boat as soon as I’m ready to take her out again.

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Some Good Advice

boat-shoes-8I have a hard time trusting mechanics in general.  I always think that they are scheming to get more money out of me.  Whenever I take my car into the garage for something, I end up getting something totally unrelated worked on as well because they deemed that it was necessary.  It always costs me whenever I see a mechanic which makes me weary whenever they give me some advice.

I asked a local mechanic about which oil I should use on my outboard engine.  I told him that I usually use Mercury Optimax Oil but I was thinking of using something else.  He told me that as long as I stick to one brand, I should be fine.  If the oil I was using wasn’t causing me any problems, then there was no need to change it.  I was surprised he didn’t try to up-sell me and make me buy the most expensive brand of oil out there.  I was thankful of the truthful answer he gave me.  Why can’t more mechanics be like him?

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Maintenance After Winter

512502Don’t forget to go through the motions when it comes to boat maintenance after the winter season is over! I know that it’s very easy to forget about your boat when the lakes are iced over or when it’s just flat-out too cold to even really go outside, depending on where you live.

You’ve got to make sure everything is running fine when winter is over though because there’s no other time that’s more likely for your boat to break down (or at least mess up in some way) on you. It’s important to make sure that your boat motor oil has been changed and is up to standard before you go out on any journeys on your boat.

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Winter Fishing for Bass

We had our last fishing trip of the year just recently. We caught a decent amount of bass, which was great because we all actually enjoy eating bass. A lot of people are fans of trout and salmon, but they tend to forget that bass is a perfectly edible fish that I think can be quite tasty if it’s prepared correctly.

I stopped off and got some Yamalube oil on our way home because I figured it’d be a good time to do some maintenance on my boat since we were about to hit wintertime and there’s not a whole lot of boating to be done in the winter. It was pretty chilly even here on our last trip, but once winter really kicks off, it’ll be unbearable, unless you’re out to do some ice fishing.

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Scared of Sharks

When I saw Jaws in theaters as a kid, it terrified me. I couldn’t go into any body of water for years; I was always afraid that I’d see a dorsal fin moving towards me and I’d start to hear that music in my head and then I’d be done for. That being said, before Jaws, I used to love the water. I loved boating with my family as a child and I had hoped that someday I’d be able to do it with a family of my own.

Now that I have that family, I’ve had to recognize how irrational my fear of sharks is, so that I can have enjoyable trips out on the water. Considering we typically go out on lakes rather than open ocean, I don’t really have to be afraid of any great whites. But just in case, I load my boat up with Mercury Premium Plus oil, so that if I do see any sharks, I can fly off faster than you can say “Look, there’s a shark!”

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The Hamptons

On the other side of the U.S. is a little beach haven known as the Hamptons. (Obviously, “little beach haven” is an understatement). While celebrities may hide out in their gigantic beach mansions, there are plenty of affordable beach cottages average Joes like me can rent.

When I was in university a bunch of us would pool our money and rent a Hamptons beach cottage for a week. Yes, it could be a bit cramped at night, but we spent most of our days on the water, so it wasn’t too bad. We even rented a boat a few times and serviced the engine with Evinrude XD 50 oil.

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Boating in Wisconsin

The next best boat to resident ratio is found in Wisconsin. For every Cheesehead there are nine boats. Every county has at least four lakes, with Vilas county having an impressive 1,327 (yes, you read that number correctly).

Even during the cold winters there are boat-able locations. One popular destination is the 600-acre Lake Columbia just north of Madison. Warm water from a power plant flows into the lake so it doesn’t freeze over. You don’t have to winterize your boat if you go there; just top off your outboard motor oil and you’re good to go for year round fishing.

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Golf Carts

About ten miles away from our lake house is a country club. It has a pretty decent back nine. A friend of mine, who happens to be a member, invited me to an early tee time a few days ago.

We had a blast shooting the breeze while we played a leisurely game. We even got to ride around in golf carts. As we were turning in our golf carts, I noticed one of the attendants struggling to get one of the carts going. I offered to take a look at the motor for him. All it needed was a little Yamaha oil and a bit of fuel to get going again.

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Best Boating States

Researching places to boat in Florida got me thinking about boating in other states. Every state can boast a few premium fishing holes, but which states are truly boater friendly. I took a look online at an article reprinted from Boating Life magazine to get some ideas.

For instance, did you know that Michigan has one million registered boats? Every resident is no more than 85 miles from one of the four Great Lakes and no more than six miles from a lake or river. There are 1300 government-run public access sites with indexed maps. Sales on Mercury premium plus must be through the roof with all that access to prime boating water.

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Roche Harbor

For those of you who love boating and history, you’ll want to check out Roche Harbor. The highlight of the unincorporated community is the Hotel de Haro. The wrap around porches and meticulous gardens invite you to really soak in the impressive views.

Another unique detail of Roche Harbor is the sunset ritual of playing the U.S. and Canadian anthems. Though the island is part of the United States, it sits right on the border and has a history that is linked with the formerly British Canada. Personally, I think it’s an interesting salute to the island’s history. It’s one of the spectacles I look forward to when I break out my boat motor oil for a day at the harbor.

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Teaching Proper Maintenance

Yesterday, I wrote about teaching my kids pride in ownership. I’ve been reflecting on that topic a bit since then. I’ve tried evaluating how well I’ve instilled those values in my children. Have I driven home the point?

I hope so. Just in case, I think I’ll add boat maintenance to the list of chores they’re responsible for. After all, if they’re more than willing to take the boat out for a spin, then they should be willing to help with its upkeep. Teaching them how to replace XD1 Evinrude ETec outboard motor oil is sure to be a skill they can use throughout their lives.

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Every 100 Hours

Every 100 hours of use, I change out the filter and oil on my WaveRunner VX 1100. The sporty Yamaha WaveRunner has held up very well over the years, due in no small part to my meticulous maintenance. It’s all part of my philosophy of pride in ownership that was instilled in me by my father.

I’m trying to instill the same values in my kids. The next 100 hours will probably be reached this weekend. At that time I’ll insist that my two teenage children assist me with replacing the WaveRunner oil and filter.

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