Hondas and their themostat housings

The engine has always been flushed using muffs after every retrieve to the trailer.
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So here is something that sounds easy and simple but depending on your water source you are most likely doing wrong. I was doing to wrong and had a similar problem with my thermostat. So here me out on this. What does a thermostat do? It opens up and allows water to flow into the motor to cool it ONCE IT REACHES A SET TEMP. So here is the problem. I live in the PNW and I am on a well. A 250ft deep well. You can not wash your hands in cold water at my house because its so cold, even in summer, that it hurts. So will my thermostat reach the temp needed to open at idle in my drive way with such cold water??? Well no it does not. I know because if you watch the exhaust port, the prop hub, when I flush the engine you can see if the flow of water increases and gets warmer when and if the thermostat opens. At idle mine does not. So what do I do now, for the last 5 years? I run the motor at about 1500 to 2000 RPM until I see the warmer water and increased flow come out the hub. I let it cycle 4 or 5 times this way. That way I know that the other side of the thermostat was really flushed. Now my thermostat, which I inspect once a year, is salt and corrosion free. Its not some thing I really thought about until that first thermostat failed and saw just how corroded it was. I have 4 power boats and this is my system on all of them. So it all depends on what your water temp is like but here in the PNW where public water comes from cold lakes and wells are deep you might want to check and see if your thermostat is really opening up during a 5 min flush. even at a high idle it takes about 5 to 8 mins for the temp to open it up. I am willing to beat that most people are not really flushing thier motors because of this. So what do you think?
 
Even though I live in Alberta as does my boat, most of my boating hours are in salt water. I am fortunate that my brother-in-law lives on Sproat Lake on Vancouver Island. After each salt water journey (most are about 2 weeks long), I launch the boat in this fresh water lake and go for a few hour cruise. I like doing this as it gives the motors a good flush, helps to wash the salt of other parts of the boat and the trailer as well. I think flushing with muffs on is a good final step, but a few hours or days running at all speeds in a fresh water lake can't be beat.
 
After a long trip in the salt or mooring our boat in salt for a few weeks, I flush the motor through the flush port for half hour and then I run the motor in a 100 gallon stock tank with salt away. I let it run for about a half hour and then let it soak in the salt away tank over night. The next day I will run it again for another half hour and then put it away. Salt away is a good product and anything you can do to remove salt helps.. It is very important when flushing a motor to run it until the thermostats open up so the cooling ducts in cylinder and head are flushed thoroughly.
 
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