Buy, buy, buy!
Geo,If your docking/trailering situation has a dicey-ness factor to it (that is, if cross-breezes, dying breezes make docking/returning to base challenging on occassion), a motor's a good option to consider. The wind once totally died on me on the lake I sail and I ended up alternating paddling/kicking our 170 home-- TWO MILES! I was solo that day and my wife was highly upset at me when she heard I'd left the motor in the car-- my birdlegs were probably tempting the gators, said she. She had a point.Looks like tide's not in play where you sail (IL), but my motor has saved me on the ICW when I have to shoot a bridge while motorsailing. Currents and wind shifts being as unpredictable as they are sometimes-- when accuracy is a must, get a motor.Also, a motor tends to push the boat more straight when draft is limited and the centerboard must be retracted... the motor is able to plow the boat ahead to where you want to go-- as opposed to trying to sail the boat the rest of the way into the slip with that slippery bottomside working against you. The biggest debacle I had before purchasing the motor for my 170 was on the St Johns south of Jacksonville- we were ghosting out of a boat club's canal and somehow the centerboard downhaul line had become fouled around the mainsheet clam cleat swivel and I couldn't loose it fast enough. Just then a big puff hit us from behind and we were being hurled toward the seawall-- sliding sideways for the most part. I had to crash-jibe the boat and hit the other tack, averting a collision with the massive wall. My wife and her friend thought I had that one "planned". Phew!Bottomline: had we had aux. power we could have spilled the sail and moved more easily toward the center of the channel. On motor choice, if you decide to get one, take a look at the Yamaha 2.5 Four Stroke. We have a 2004 model and it's quiet, fuel efficient and has some real torgue for its size. The Honda 2 might be lighter and doesn't require a water pump, but it's probably a good bit noisier than the Yamaha (the Honda's obviously air-cooled through the cowling).Best,Mike G.s/v Lil Sport- Alachua, FL