Honda introduces environment friendly outboards
While shipments of nuclear waste threaten to cross the Caribbean, not all the region’s environmental news is bad. today in Belize city Honda Motors introduced a radically new typed of outboard engine that the company claims will make all those floating plastic oil bottles a thing of the past. Patrick Jones reports.
Its the kind of technology that, before today, was only a dream for local fishermen.
Santino Castillo – Dealer, Honda Four Stroke Engines
“This is a four stroke engine which requires much more technology than the two stroke engine. The two stroke engine has basically not changed for the last seventy five years while the four stroke is an ongoing improvement.”
An improvement which Castillo says is enough to render the two stroke engines obsolete in the long run and at the same time put a smile on the faces of environmental groups like the Audubon Society.
Santino Castillo
“The four stroke engine number one is called the environmentally friendly engine, in that it burns no oil. It does no mix fuel and oil as two stroke engines. Secondly, it is much more fuel efficient. An engine of type behind me will burn half the amount of fuel that the conventional two stroke engine will burn. Which means that a fisherman that uses five hundred gallons of fuel over a certain period of time will only use two hundred and fifty gallons of that same, during that same time with this engine. Also it is very quiet as you observed when we ran it and it gives out, it has a complete low emission control which lets it… you know… it does not have that exhaust and fumes. As you noticed, we were in here and the fumes outside were actually more than they were in here.”
Despite the hefty price tag, the proprietor of the “Poor Man’s Store” says the Honda Four Stroke engines have been selling like hot Johnny Cakes.
Santino Castillo
“It is because we had so many people who were asking for the engine that we finally decided well let’s go ahead and order them because there is a market for them and without even advertising them we sold eight already. So, yes, that is very important… the environmentally friendly nature of the engine.”
The engines come with a six month warranty and just in case of any difficulties, there is an in-house Honda trained outboard specialist at Santino’s. According to Raymond Matus, fishermen will do well to know that acquiring one of these is well worth the investment.
Raymond Matus – Outboard Specialist
“Well first of all, the four stroke we have five things, we don’t mix the gasoline with the oil, as was shown to you, we have less smoke, we have no oil discharge, it is environmentally friendly and we don’t have any smoke coming out of the emission.”
“A lot of people have asked me this and if you look in here kindly, this water right here is very clean and if it was a two stroke engine this water would probably be black. Like if you had an oil spill or something but if you look in here the water is very much clean.”
Castillo says he will shortly be taking this demonstration on the road to tourist destinations like San Pedro and Placencia as well as the major fishing villages to prove just how environmentally friendly and economical they are. Patrick Jones, for News Five.
At present the four stroke outboards range from 25 to 90 horsepower. according to Castillo, 115 and 130 horsepower models will be introduced in March.
