I did the same--hosed off the trailer, hull, and MinnKota the next morning.
I give most attention to the trailer since the frame is not galvanized, and
it needs repainting. Salt won't hurt the fiberglass hull, but I do hose it
off. The MinnKota is a saltwater version and has an all plastic exterior so
it just gets a hose-off and an occasional application of Armor-All. Of
course, it has no waterpump, so there is nothing to be flushed. I haven't
used the Seagull in the past year, but I rarely flushed it and didn't flush
it after the last use (in saltwater), but I probably should have. Flushing
the Seagull requires running it in a barrel of water with the propeller
removed. I've only done that once or twice in the 29 years I've had the
Seagull. I do hose off the exterior and wipe it with WD-40 occasionally.
The 10:1 fuel/oil mixture probably leaves a pretty good coating of oil
inside the combustion chamber but won't help the water passages. Probably
your best bet is to follow Honda's recommendation regarding flushing.
If you flush the outboard in a bucket or barrel, don't run it for long
because the recycled water in the container will quickly heat up and could
cause overheating of the motor. And if you don't have neutral, and leave
the propeller on, your water pump may be sucking air instead of water
because of the turbulence in the barrel.
It's probably a good idea, if you have Bearing Buddys, to pressurize the
hubs just before launch. I have a Spindle-Lube axle and just pump in a
little fresh grease once in a while, which pushes out some of the old
grease. Judy's recommendation to hose off the trailer at the ramp is a good
one too, if there is a facility to do so.
Now that you have me thinking about it, maybe I'll go out and flush the
poor old neglected Seagull.
Harry
P14 #234
Mountain View, CA
>Geoff,
>
>I hosed off the boat and trailer and outboard the next morning. There was
>no hose at the launch ramp, or else I would have given it a quick rinse
>right after we hauled out. Only takes a minute. Many marinas have a hose
>you can use, or at least a tap to which you can attach your own hose.
>
>The new Nissan 5 hp 4-strokes have a hose fitting to flush the motor.
>Some small OB's don't have such a fitting. On our old Evinrude 4 hp, we
>just stuck it in a large plastic bucket (the kind you buy for paint at the
>hardware store)
>
>Fair winds,
>Judy B
>1985 WWP #266 Redwing
>