Speaking of saving money...

I've been noting recently a lot of cruising dinghies opting for smaller HP motors...Gas at just around $5 a gallon here in the Caribbean was something of a wake up call to a lot of folks that you really did not have to get from point A to point B and set a speed record in the process. Where the 15HP motor was the standard it looks like the 5HP is coming back into the picture as an "alternative" standard.

I traded in the 15HP for a 5HP when I got the new dinghy a while back and while I am not setting any speed records I am spending about a third of what I was on fuel. Over all I'd say that my added travel time to do errands is an added ten minutes here and there so no great hardship!

Throw in the advantages that it is just so much easier to manhandle a 5HP motor and no one seems to want to steal them at the moment makes it a win/win situation.

Whether the change is going to continue now that gas has come down quite a bit in price remains to be seen but as of yet the 5HP trend seems to be holding...