So how many of you leave the outboard on your transom while towing and how many of you put it somewhere else? On my long trip (1300 miles) from CA to WA I took the 2.5 hp 4 stroke yamaha (about 38 lbs) off the boat and kept it in the Uhaul, but partly because I didn't want it to get stolen. I am wondering if it would be ok to leave it attached to the transom on shorter day trips around the Puget Sound. The mount is a pretty beefy metal mount (standard now on M17s?) but I don't know how strong or resistant to cracking the fiberglass transom is. Here is a pic of the motor/mount: http://www.skyko.com/Montgomery/08-21-07_1222.jpg Obviously I can toss it in the back of the pickup, but this just adds more time to the setup and risks leaking oil from the 4 stroke. Thanks, Rick