The EPA's decision on E10 versus E15 could come within days, and a national boating organization and many local boat retailers are not supporting it.
"We are very aware of the effects of ethanol fuel. Just the current 10 percent is wreaking havoc on the boat motors," said Tricia Gurr, co-owner of Marine Supply-The Boating Center in Winter Haven. "We service and sell non-ethanol gas at our 717 Sixth St., S.W., location. We recommend 100 percent non-ethanol fuel."
Gurr said that with ethanol being a cleaning agent, fuel bi-products that have attached themselves to the walls of fuel tanks get dispersed throughout the engine, causing failure.
"The manufacturers like Yamaha, Mercury and Evinrude don't want to pay for engine repairs because it's not their fault. It has nothing to do with them," said Gurr "It's a fuel issue. The customer doesn't want to pay for it because they just put gas in it. Then we are in the middle breaking the bad news to them."
The Marine Supply-The Boating Center in Winter Haven does sell non-ethanol fuel for $3.85 per gallon. Although it is not the cheapest alternative, Gurr said it is better than paying for engine repairs.
"We do so much more repairs on engines due to this ethanol problem. As long as they are allowed to still purchase non-ethanol fuel, we'll be fine, but if they do away with non-ethanol fuel, we're in trouble," she said.
Read more at http://www.newschief.com/article/20100929/NEWS/9295034/1021/news01?Title=Ethanol-EPA-fuel-anger-among-local-boaters
