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Looking for advice on way to keep a new 17ft whaler with outboard in slip and flushing it after each use. I looked at Etec 90, which has a flushing port on rear to hook up hose, BUT, HOW DO YOU GET TO IT WHEN BOAT IN WATER IN SLIP? Could you reach it from stern of Dauntless 17 or Montauck 170? Are there any outboards that would be more easily flushed while in water?. Boat not purchased yet but would be kept in SF Bay slip in saltwater, not on trailer. Any advice or ideas appreciated.

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95% of owners don't flush their motors when slipped or at a mooring. It is not a terrible thing.

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My Yamaha has the water fitting on the port side of the motor. I can reach it from the boat or standing on the bulkhead while the boat is in the belts.

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Phil T., Really? I thought salt water was the kiss of death for the inside of an aluminum motor and/or outdrive? I once bought a boat with a Volvo sterndrive and saw that the previous owner had spent thousands to fix the rotted innerds of the drive and engine.

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No, it's not quite that bad. Our 2005 Yamaha is in salt water 4 months a year, and has been for 10 years. It gets flushed in the fall when hauled, that's all. If you want to flush it occasionally, great - if not, don't sweat it.

I am guessing the previous owner of your Volvo sterndrive did not keep the anodes clean and replace them when needed - now that does matter, and if you don't have them your motor will get eaten up quickly.

Tim

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The rotted sterndrive was most likely from the zincs not being maintained/changed.

All of my boats all have lived on a mooring for 4 to 6 months a year without issues.

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Maybe you could hook up a short hose from the flush out port up over the transom where you can reach it. You can attach your fresh water flush out hose to the upper end to flush the engine after use. You could use a 90 degree hose connector at the bottom to keep the hose close to the lower unit.

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The port on the engine is to flush the power head. I don't think that you can run your motor on it. When running you need to have the muffs attached to the lower unit.

When I flush I use two hoses - one to the power heard, one to the lower unit via muffs. I also use salt terminator.

Why cant you run while the muffs underwater. Even if some salt water does get in around the muffs it will be better than not flushing at all.

I have a friend who only flushes once a season when he winterizes the boat. I can't imaging doing that. I flush each time.

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Am I missing something here. If I'm counting the numbers indicated on the right to the left of these replies there were 7 or #8 whenI started this repky which would show #9. None of them answered the question as no real info was given by the OP
If the OP has a certain type 17' Whaler i.e. a Montauk 170 with a Merc. 90 on it in a slip with fresh H2O available it seems to me pretty easy. You hook you H2O hose up to the back center of your engine.
Mercury's procedure varies by engine size and series. Smaller and midsize four-stroke outboards use the flush port at the rear of the engine. The engine must be warmed up to open the thermostat and circulate water throughout the engine's cooling passages completely. The engine can be vertical or tilted. Remove the prop, and run in neutral at no more than an idle speed for at least five minutes. The water supply should not be opened more than halfway to regulate water pressure.
If you are saying you can't reach that you can always have an extension on it.
Yes it doesn't flush the pump out as good but it gets thru all the cooling passages.

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I think OP is saying he has water. He just wants to know how to reach the flush port of different engines. On the e-tec that he referenced, the power head flush port is on the aft side of the motor. You would have to climb on top of the power head to get to the port.

On the Yamaha's the port is right above the transom mount, so it is easy to get to while on the vessel.

Whatever outboard you have or plan to get you need to check with your manufacturer as to whether you can run the engine with the hose attached to the flush port and nothing on the lower unit (muffs). Should also check if you can run the engine tilted up with your lower unit out of the water. Like EJO said it is important that the engine is warm to make sure the thermostat is sending water throughout the engine. Warm engines also help salt dissolve which is why the first thing i do when i get back to my house is hook up hoses to both my power heads and run water through them (with engines not running).

There is still the debate as to whether or not you need to flush after each use. I think my Yamaha manual says to do it as part of a winterization. Since I trailer, I do each time I use it.

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You can extend the life of your water impeller and thermostats by flushing but many people replace them every couple years as part of their regular service which pretty much eliminates the issue.

I'm not sure where the flush port is on the Etec but I'm sure I could reach it even if it were in the back. I put Y in my hose so when I'm cleaning the boat I can flush the engine at the same time.