A very long day. 6/14

Headed to the ledge and had 1 bull rip through the spread short striking a couple of baits in 160’ Saw a large pod of porpoises and trolled near them. After a couple of passes things went down hill fast with the motor. Lost RPMSs and couldn’t keep it running. Dead in the water 40 NM from the rocks. Pulled the plugs, checked the wires, changed the coil, checked the points. Next came the fuel system. It did sounded like it was starving for fuel. Changed the separator found RTV like substance in some of the holes. I do not use this stuff on the fuel system. Broke loose all the fuel lines looking for a blockage. Went far as I could go with this problem. Time to call Seatow. They couldn’t hear me. The Coast Guard wouldn’t answer. Had a whole bunch of fellow boaters trying to relay the message. I know I can’t remember all those involved but remember some. Thanks to “Lucky Duck”, “Creek Freak”, and “Trinity”. Hope I got that right. Also thanks to Will S. Not sure which boat you were on. And thanks to everyone else I missed. Got back to Remely’s at 0130. More than a 24 hr. day for us. And thanks to Seatow for their professional service. This ride would have cost us $3000 if we were not a member. Oh yea, we caught a few peanuts trying to past the time. :frowning_face::sunglasses: At least we got back safe.

I can relate with that dead in the water feeling. Bright side being everyone got home safe to fish another day.

28.5sportcraft twin evinrude 150 ocean pros

glad you guys are all safe. I had a similar experience in my last boat a few years back. We almost spent the night near Y-73, Tow Boat US finally got our message and brought us in. That’s a helpless feeling, for sure.

Glad you made it back safe,saw sea tow heading out the jetties around 3:00 coming to get you.

OVER BUDGET

You didn’t by chance buy gas in Georgetown last weekend? Both of my engines had similar issues on Thursday and I had to cancel my trip on Saturday and spent most of the weekend getting them running again.

Capt. Paul M. Capps
CAPPATTACK
23 Regulator w/twin 150 Yamahas

No. I gas the boat up at Sam’s gas station. It is the easiest place to get in and out of. Never had a problem before. If I find trash in my tank after I drain it, it will make me re-think my station options.

DixieBoys
Bob & Tim

Glad you finally made it in. Good to know that we have a great community of fellow boaters who are so willing to help out.

Key West 225
Johnson 225 4stroke

www.AutoMart.com

Glad you made it in safe.

Something similar happened to me a few months ago. It was my check valve that was stuck partially closed - minus the tow. I finally figured it out when I’d crack open the filter/separator and I heard the vacuum break. Let us know what the problem was when you get it fixed.

We’re here because were not all there.

Ethanol sux in a boat! [url]http://www.fuel-testers.com/ethanol_outboard_boat_fuel.html[/url]

We all have to learn how to deal with it - but it is bad news in a boat!

Good article …
http://www.boats.com/news-reviews/article/outboard-expert-ethanol
excerpt:

“Ethanol is a fabulous solvent,” said Don Schultz, who retired from Mercury Marine in 2001 after serving 14 years as that company’s leading expert of fuels and lubricants and today is an independent consultant to the marine industry. “So it’s going to dissolve accumulated deposits in the fuel-supply system, and those could end up in a fuel filter or elsewhere in the fuel system if they get past the filter. Ethanol also loves water, it just sucks up moisture. This is not a big problem in the sealed fuel system of a modern car, but most boats have an open-vented fuel tank that breaths and introduces humid air to the fuel tank. This can create the formation of strong organic acids as water combines with ethanol and other elements in the fuel, forming sludge and corrosive compounds.”

Other fuel experts I’ve talked to suspect that ethanol is literally cleaning the fuel-supply line, from the tanker truck to the in-ground storage tank, to your boat’s fuel tank. Deposits of all sorts of nasty stuff then find their way, finally, to your outboard motor, where they can clog the fine filters on fuel injectors, or gum up a carburetor. It could be that, with the passage of time and enough E-10 though the delivery system, this situation will clear up on its own because all of the accumulated varnish and sludge will be rinsed away. But ethanol will always attract water, and that will remain an issue for outboard owners.

If you want to avoid ethanol issues, follow this advice from outboard service experts:

1. If it’s possible in your area, avoid E-10 fuel like the plague. In most states, a pump dispensing E-10 is required by law to the lab

Thanks MackAttack. That is good info. I did notice that the gas at Sams had a sign on the pump that stated the fuel had 10% or less ethanol. I had some doubt as to wheather or not this mattered. This was my third 115 gals put in. Hope to find out just what is going on this weekend. I think I will tear down the carb as well even though it only has two full trips on it.

DixieBoys
Bob & Tim

Glad y’all made it home safely. Already this year I’ve towed in three smaller boats. Eventually (sadly) someone is going to do the same for me! Good to see that there are still a lot of kind people out on the water.

19’ SeaPro, Worst Ever Yammie 115

everyone should consider changing their fuel/water separators to the 10 micron…its a bigger filter size wise but we have had the same problem with the ethanol “cleaning” out the tanks and were getting a lot of crap in the filters…we changed all the filters to the yamaha 10 micron and no more engine problems…

Mike Crouch
Sea Tow Charleston
Sea School Charleston

Does anyone know which brands offer the 10-micron spin-on fuel/water sep/filter?

I do use one of the small glass in-line filters under the cowl on my Yamaha 200, but I think this is much larger than 10 micron …

My Mariner 40 has been acting up some, with new tanks in the McKee - guess tahts ethanol induced as well, as I have no filter on it.

I have 3 stage filtration (Racors) on my diesels in the big boat: 30, 10 and 2 Micron … Ultimately, the micron rating preferred will be a function of fuel quality, operating climates and maintenance schedules.

Thirty-micron (PM) is recommended when the Turbine Series will function as water separator and primary filter.

The ten-micron ™ can be used for primary or secondary/final filtration depending on the engine and/or the application.

The two-micron element (SM) is secondary/final filtration.

Bottom line - we’ll all have to watch out for each other out there!

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Viva-Mahia and Mack-Attack I & II
Take a Fish boating!