Cute letter to the editor forwarded by my sister.
Great weekend, 'round the household. Worked Saturday at the marina where I have a part time gig, thanks to a couple nice folks. One of those nice folks even managed to score a couple tickets for my bride and me to see Jimmy Buffet in concert in Raleigh in April. Yea! Love his music, especially that from his concerts, and I've wanted to see him LIVE! but I've never done enough due diligence to make it happen. It should be fun.
Speaking of my wife...she took to the kitchen this weekend. Wow! A great tomato/clam sauce and pasta Saturday night. Yum! And, Sunday...great lunch/dinner in mid afternoon. Pecan enrusted salmon, steamed broccoli and wild rice! Double yum. Kudos to Robie. I think my mother enjoyed the salmon, too. Her plate was spotless.
Ok, enough personal stuff. Other than to say I'll be checking out, with my boss's support, my outboards, as long as it's not too, too cold this week. Gotta correct a little issue with one of those bad boys. Got a report this morning of come nice fish being landed, but they're quite some distance offshore. Long run means the engines gotta be performing flawlessly.
For you fishing types out there, whether serious or just weekend fair weather types: I'll have some news about a tournament coming up in June that almost ANYONE who (saltwater) fishes could win. Ever wanted to enter a tournament but were intimidted by those 30-35 foot, sponsor-wrapped, twin and triple outboard center consoles? Those guys fish for a living, at least many of them. And, though anyone stands a chance of snagging the Big King that'll net $20-40 K in prize money, truthfully speaking, the pros have better odds because they do it all the time.
But. It's doubtful the pros will be spending a couple thousand or more to enter the tournament of which I write. It is designed to be more "family-friendly". Entry fee will be modest, and pretty much everyone stands as much of a chance at winning as anyone else. So, stay tuned for that.
Today, as we have at least a promise of better weather sooner-than-later on the horizon, there are a few things you need to think about. You boaters, in particular. The good old EPA has approved the use of E-15. That's what we first knew as gasohol back in the 1980's. and 90's It's more commonly called Ethanol these days. To most boaters, it's known as something that I won't say here.
Until this latest EPA approval , gasoline distributors could and did load up gas stations with E-10...a concoction containing an AVERAGE of 10-percent alcohol. Boaters suffered. And, they continue to suffer.
Ethanol has some side effects that the EPA doesn't mention a lot. Boat owners, many of us, have learned about those side effects the hard way. The hard way means the expensive way.
Ethanol is a great cleaner. It will clean out the bottom of your gas tanks. All those years of regular gas deposits are broken loose. Kinda like plaque in your arteries. These deposits make their way to your engines. Not a good thing for your carbs, let me tell you.
Ok, so you have a fuel filter or two between your tanks and your carbs, right? The deposits will eventually clog those filters, and your carbs will be gas-less. Result is that you engines will leave you high and dry. Hopefully, you won't be too far from land. Hopefully, the deposits don't slip past your filters into your carbs.
And, that's just the beginning. Old gas lines don't like alcohol-laced gasoline. They tend to break down, and come apart. Again, the particles make their way, eventually, to your carbs. Another bad thing.
And, the fun continues.
Ever notice, after your motor sets up for a month or two, or more, without running, and runs pretty rough when you get it started? A lot of us just thought it was because it was "cold". Well, not totally. Good old ethanol has a shorter shelf-life than good old gasoline-without-ethanol. It begins to break down in the gas tanks when it's not used. ""Beaks down into what?", you ask. Gasoline and alcohol, that's what. Alcohol, you may recall from practical experience or from Mr. Pageant, the high school chemistry teacher, ABSORBS water. Water, being heavier than gas, sinks to the bottom of your gas tanks, and thus the cleaning begins. This water-gas mixture is what you burn (or try to burn) when you first start your motor after it's set up for a while. That's why it runs rough. If it runs at all.
This, of course, is my layman explanation. The mechanics out there have the full details. Pretty technical stuff.
Now, the EPA has approved an INCREASE in the amount of alcohol that distributors can sell. 15%, it is. Of course, there are those who say it burns hotter and is less damaging to the environment. Hotter? Perhaps. How is that going to impact your motors? Are they designed to handle hotter-burning fuel? Rocket engines can handle pretty hot fuel mixtures, but I doubt that your 2000 or earlier model Evinrudes, Johnsons, or Yamahas are going to like it so much. EPA does allow for dealers to carry lower percentage ethanol. Wonder how you'll know if what your neighborhood gas station has in their tanks is, indeed, E-10, E-15, or...as some advertise...""ëthanol free""? Maybe we should all demand ethanol-free fuel, not only for our boats, but for our cars, trucks, lawnmowers, chain saws...you get the idea. Older cars aren't capable of handling ethanol, either. Classic car owners are as unhappy as boaters.
Outboard motor manufacturers warn against the use of ethanol. Mechanics warn of the dangers. If we MUST use it, because guaranteed ethanol-free fuel is either impossible or difficult to find, then we are encouraged to use a fuel stabilizer.
Another expense, this stablizer. For 12-bucks, you can buy an additive that will "treat"128 gallons of ethanol. That means you can add another dime per gallon to the cost of gasoline for your boat. And, I'm sure that you haven't noticed any reduction in the price of gas since ethanol was introduced. I haven't. The fuel additives, I admit, are good. They're not perfect, and they won't extend the useful life of ethanol forever. Gasoline doesn't forever, either. I'm sure you've smelled or heard about stale gas over the years. When it gets old, or stale, it's octane rating goes down. Bad for your engines. But, the stabilizers will reduce the rate of degradation. Bottom line...just use it, as long as we have ethanol.
Interesting that, on the 20-meter ham band (yep, I'm one), I heard some guys in the midwest chatting just last week. They, especially a couple guys in Iowa, are thrilled with ethanol. It means they get to sell more corn. On the internet...you might have seen this...there's a story making the rounds, one that I haven't verified, as yet...that you and I, and all other taxpayers, are actually paying farmers to grow corn destined for the production of ethanol. It's a supplement. If that, indeed, turns out to be the case, I, for one, will be even less happy with our less-than-honorable legislators. You know, the ones we hired to represent us, and to protect our interest. Yeah. Those guys.
By the way, I strongly encourage you to take a sample of the fuel from the bottom of your gas tanks before the summer boating season calls you to "start your engines"". You can do this on outboards easily. Just disconnect the hose that goes into the motor, get a clean "moonshine jar", aka Mason jar, stcik a small screwdriver or nail into the little valve on the fuel line connector, and squeeze your primer bulb, pumping a pint, or so, of gas into the jar. Set it on a shelf for a couple hours, and check for water forming at the bottom of the mix. You can also check for particles or rubber or other "foreign"debris. It either is there, you might want to seriously consider taking your motor to a qualified (not shade tree) mechanic BEFORE you try to start it up. If you find water and/or "stuff" in the jar, you do NOT want it in your motor. If you don't know if water has formed, then it likely hasn't. It's about as obvious as a sunglass-and-trench-coat uniform worn by a secret service agent at a presidential event.
Sorry, Stan (not the man, the one assigned, at times, to the man).
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