Boating and Sailing.pdf - Moja ladja

24
Part 1: Getting Started in Boating
in order to protect the more important aluminum and steel parts of the motor. When a
tab becomes severely depleted, it can be replaced by loosening one bolt. Inboards usually
have a similar zinc bolted in place on their shaft, and it, too, must be replaced periodically.
Outboard Motor Brands
For many years, there were only two outboard companies that mattered in the U.S. market.
Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) was the company formed by uniting Evinrude
with Johnson Outboards, creating the largest outboard manufacturer in the world.
Mercury, founded by Carl Kiekhaefer, was the chief competitor. Mercury later spun off a
second company, Mariner, to assist in adding new dealerships. Boat owners were either
OMC people or Merc people. There was no third alternative, although a number of
smaller companies came and went over the years.
In the early 1980s, Japanese manufacturers entered the boating industry in a big way, and
from that point on the U.S. companies were in a serious dogfight. Just as U.S. automakers
were forced to change their thinking and improve their products due to international
competition, the arrival of Yamaha, and later Suzuki and Honda, forced the whole industry
to lift itself up by the boatstraps (er, make that bootstraps).
This V6 outboard from
Mercury puts out 225 horses
but weighs only about 450
pounds. An excellent weightto-horsepower
ratio is the
major advantage of two-cycle
outboards.
(Photo credit: Mercury Marine)
Two Strokes or Four?
Until recent years, there was no choice in outboards—nearly all were two-stroke or twocycle,
and they all burned a small amount of oil as lubricant along with their fuel. They