Yes, we could really go places with a Honda 50 or 60 HP on a panga. But we often leave our motor on the boat overnight, and lots of other people would like a 60 HP Honda too. If we want to leave a motor that big and expensive on the boat overnight, one of us will need to sleep on the boat. Otherwise, nobody in the group will get a good night's sleep.
Let's look at the small boat options.
Aluminum boats are lighter on fuel/power requirements and easier to beach launch, but also easier to flip if running too fast in a rough sea. The heavier fiberglass pangas, especially the flat-bottomed ones, are more stable. Safety is big in our group.
Our "fleet" consists of two pangas. One is a long, narrow coastal panga that's easily pushed along by a small motor. We plan to put a used 9.9 Yamaha on it in the near future. The boat has a lot of foam in the ribs, and we believe it's nearly unsinkable.
The other panga is a shorter deep V hull that requires more HP to get to the same speed as the coastal panga. We like a bigger motor like 30-40 HP on that one.
Getting back to motors, weight is another consideration. The four-stroke 20 HP Honda I've been looking at is 114 lbs, which approaches the max we'd want to wrestle on and off the boat. With all new motors being four strokes and four strokes being heavier, we're being pushed toward lower HP.
Finally, gas is an issue because it's expensive in Mexico and we're limited in how much we can take down. You get better MPG with smaller motors. And we like to reef-hop and troll.
Such is life at the level we've chosen to play the ocean fishing game. A 27-foot boat with a couple of 90 HP Yamahas and a garage to park it in would eliminate a lot of these concerns, but so far none of us has been inclined to step it up to that level.
