Salt water is patient. It does not kill an outboard in one trip; it does it slowly. In Kuwait, where the water is warm, salty and often shallow enough to stir up sand, the difference between an engine that lasts fifteen years and one that dies at five is usually a fifteen-minute routine at the ramp.
Salt dries inside the cooling passages, and once it hardens it restricts flow and traps heat around the cylinder head. Fit the muffs, turn the water on before you start, and let the engine idle for ten to fifteen minutes. Two rules protect the impeller: never run the engine dry, not even for a second, and never flush with high pressure. Normal hose pressure is plenty.
The tell-tale is your engine's pulse. A strong, steady stream means the impeller is moving water; a weak or missing stream means stop. Check it within thirty seconds of starting, then glance at it while running. The overheat alarm sounds only after damage has begun.
Rinse the hull, then the trailer, then the engine, so you do not wash salt back onto clean fibreglass. Watch the axle, springs, brake lines and wiring plug; trailer corrosion starts where the hose never reaches.
Fuel sitting in a tank in Kuwait heat is a slow problem. Ethanol-blended fuel pulls moisture from humid air, and that water ends up in your carburettor or injectors. Use a stabiliser if the boat will sit for weeks, keep the tank topped up to cut condensation, and fit a water-separating filter. If the engine stumbles or dies at idle after a long layoff, suspect fuel before anything electrical, and use ethanol-free fuel where you can find it.
Pull the spark plugs at season's end or when the engine runs rough. Oily or wet plugs mean it is running rich or burning water, so replace them. Lower-unit gear oil is where salt water hides, so drain a little into a clean container: milky oil means water entered through a failed seal. Fix the seal, not just the oil.
Grease every fitting on the tilt tube, steering cable, throttle linkage and prop shaft. Steering that stiffens is usually dried grease, not a broken cable. Battery terminals corrode fast in coastal air, so clean them and keep the battery on a maintenance charger. A dinged prop causes vibration that eats gearbox bearings, so dress even small nicks.
In Kuwait heat, a covered boat with no airflow grows mould and cooks wiring, so loosen the cover or leave vents open, and store the engine tilted down so water drains. Do your own flushing, fuel care, plugs, grease and prop checks. Leave impeller replacement, gear-case resealing and anything electrical to a workshop.
Maintenance and planning are the same habit. The B7R app shows tide times and heights for Shuwaikh and Shuaiba ports, sea state, and a fish guide with seasons and a catch log, plus navigation tools and an SOS emergency button, enough to pick a window that does not punish your engine. It is free on Google Play.
Do the flush tonight, not next weekend. Download the B7R app free from Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.q8dm.b7r