I go to Port A every year and I never see a boat powered by a mercury. I do see plenty old omc’s, yamahammer and Honda. Being a freshwater guy I love my black Mercurys. Is there a reason I don’t see them at the coast? I don’t have a thing bad to say about Yamaha just always called them hammers. I have always owned a mercury ever since the 60’s with my 20hp hung on a 24 foot aluminum boat. Since I am now retired I want to take a few bay trips in salt water without having any motor issues. Iam currently running a rebuilt mercury 75 horsepower on my boat and yes it is a two stroke. I have not embraced a four stroke yet. I manually mix my oil and gas because after you rebuild two motors because of oil pump issue you learn something!

Lots of Merc outboards around Port A, just not the old ones from the 80's. Almost every Haynie bay boat down there is running a Pro XS and quite a few larger center consoles running V-rods. As long as you flush it good when you get off the water while the block is still warm you shouldn't have a problem(I head straight over to the Tropical Spray on cutoff road from the fish house). Better yet get some Salt Away and flush with that as well. I've been using Salt Away for a few years and haven't had a single issue. I fish primarily out of Port A and the Bluff, flush with Salt Away every time.

If you ever go to Florida, it seems like all the motors are Yamahas.... I don’t know why.