Glad to see you in boat vids again!

Nice, I've had one of those motors for around 20 years, its never failed, pushes my 18 ft 4200 lb gaff cutter along quite happily, same with the RIB that belongs to the big motorboat I had, its a really great little engine.

I've got the same motor on an Oday 19 and I can count on 5 knots. I had the newer 2.2 Honda on a Ranger 24 and that also did the job.

Great little outboard, used one my Sovereign 18 for a summer. Had it out in 2 to 3 ft waves and a head wind of 15ish mph and at about 75 percent throttle it moved the boat along at 2 to 3 mph. Not too bad

Noisy, at least on camera, but it does the job! Boat is looking great. Nice to see there are places like there where you can get out on the water this time of year. We're in a deep freeze up here with tons of snow.

I have the 2.3 and use it on my Hunter 23 and works great.

My own Honda 2hp pushed my Hartley TS16 (360kg's) against 20 knts and rising seas . We made way. Albeit at close to full throttle. However. We made it.

Other that trying to push upriver against a steady 3-5 knot current or trying to steer in a storm, I don't see a problem.

How fast do these boats go under sail?

Sean I have a 5HP but am concerned about bouncing around in Lake Erie lots of weight hanging back there stressing transom so am either reinforcing motor mount or going with 2.3 HP. Also I like your small bottle refill. What was the bottle? M17 SV/“Reef or Madness”

A good funnel will help with spills

I would go with a 15 h.p Mercury 2-stroke, long shaft. You would get 10 -15 knots out of it. It is water cooled too. They are about 100 pounds, not too heavy and you can run an external tank.

Except for the noise..

Sean, I had two Monty 17's for years, that said, here are my pros and cons to using a 2hp anything for that boat - based upon owning the same motor for a long time. I find it a common thread that folks want to go as light as possible with their outboards for small boats. I get that. But... Cons: 1) There are no 2 hp OB's that I know of that have a reverse lever. Maybe I'm wrong? But the Honda does not. This can be a problem when docking or manuvering in a tight spot, or when the wind or tide is against your favor - or, if some moron does something stupid close aboard. The Honda must be physicaly turned at the powerhead by hand, requiring a complete lack of control at the helm if just for a moment or two. 2) They do not have enough torque. A Monty 17 is too heavy for the Honda 2. It's fine once your free and clear, but if you ever need to battle a contrary tide, the time of day, river current - like here - or MOST IMPORTANT: need to slam on the brakes, it will fail. You have to be able to stop the barge. 3) The Honda and some other top brands of 4 strokes, do not idle well, since they have a centrifugal clutch - like a minibike. Stalling at very low speeds is very possible even with a perfectly tuned Honda. It happens. Often, when you least want it to - sometimes while you are struggling to turn the head to reverse. 4) They are among the loudest small engines in the 4 stroke category, and are comparable to 2-strokes, except without the smoke. It's like having a generator or lawn mower hooked to the transom because to make decent speed, you have to run the tiny 2 hp at high RPMs. I had a 3 hp Tohastu 2 stroke that was much quieter - but finnicky. Pros: 1) they are great motors otherwise, but i would use it on a tender. When I had my Monty's, the first one came with a 92 Evinrude 8hp with a sailboat shaft. It was a 74 with the transom cut-out so the tiller was right inside the cockpit. Well worn, but ultra reliable, that motor beat any strong current going up river to the launch, and stopped the boat like a wall - a feature that saved me more than one collision because of weekend warriors. It also had enough torque to pull me free of a mud bank one time. 8hp got me full hull speed, was very quiet at 80% throttle, never cleared the water in a chop and never had the head pooped because it was mounted where it should be, instead of out board on a bracket down low. And, it sipped fuel. Is 73lbs heavy for a 2-cylinder? Maybe, but it never came off the boat after I used it, except to try the Honda a few times out. Finally, I don't recommend ANY outboard for the Monty or any other boat in that size/weight range less than 5hp. At 5hp, they all have reverse gear. That's my experience in Puget Sound, the Islands, Rosario Straits, Juan De Fuca, and Canadian waters.