Honda 150

Hi all,
I have an 8 year old Honda 150 motor on the back of my 18' Boston Whaler Dauntless. I mostly use it to fish off Cape Cod and waterski up here on Lake Champlain. I have the yearly service done diligently at a Honda certified dealer / tech. The last two summers it's had a really hard time pulling me out of the water on a single ski. Before this started, I could get up in 3-5 seconds. Now, I have to drag behind the boat for 20 seconds plus. Same single ski and I haven't changed weight-wise. The mechanic just took it for a water test it to see about my issue and he said it pulled strong all the way to 6,000 RPM's and he didn't notice any issues. I had him water test it last year and he said the same thing and it was the same delay in pulling as the summer before. I'm having him change the fuel filters just in case. I don't think it's water in the hull - I store it out of the water and the hull is in great shape. The boat is from 2002 and the engine is a re-power just before I bought it. Any thoughts? I just know that when I get in the water for the first time to ski, the same thing is going to happen.
Thanks,
Eric

This may be a stretch, but could this be prop related? If you are still pulling 6K RPMs I dont think fuel filters would be the cause. Too loose of a prop can show these symptoms.

In terms of water in the hull, does it sit lower in the water at all?

I hadn’t thought of the prop. I’ll see if my dealer has a different one I can try. The boat sits fine (the same to my eye) in the water. It’s funny, you wouldn’t notice the pulling issue (the mechanic says he cannot replicate it and he’s the one that said it ran up to 6,000 rpms with no issues he could see) unless you were actually pulling. It doesn’t skip or drop rpms, it’s just a lack of power out of the water.

If the prop hasn't been changed from 2 years ago, I doubt that is the problem. However, you could have prop slip where the rubber hub will slip between the splines and the prop hub. Remove the prop and closely inspect there the rubber meets the prop metal and where it meets the spline fitting. If the rubber is raised at either place, then the hub will need a rebuild. Test with a known good hub. Have you tested different trim settings?