I wonder if it would of helped to put fuel stabilizer in your gas. The place that sold me my Honda 4 stroke recommended that I disconnect the fuel line after running the boat and run all the gas out of the carb to prevent it gumming up. The manual doesn't suggest this and I take the boat out quite often and it's a pain to sit there and wait on the trailer with the motor in the water for it to run out of gas. If someone's waiting for the ramp you can't just sit there either. I've added fuel stabilizer to the gas and hope that will prevent any problems.