The Boats & Gear blog is overseen by our Boats & Gear editor, Michael Crowley. It explores new construction projects, electronics, gear and equipment for the commercial fishing industry.
Monday, 11 April 2011
On March 1, 2011, the Coast Guard put out an announcement: “Beware of E15 fuels in boats.”
If you’re like a lot of fishermen who use outboards you should pay attention to this, because you probably get your fuel at the local service station when you gas up the pickup. In most cases that means you have been using a mixture of 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent ethanol, or E10 as that mixture is called.
The benefit of combining ethanol — made from things like sugar cane and corn — with gasoline is that the combined product produces a better burn and thus reduces air emissions.
The E10 combination probably hasn’t been a problem if you have a fairly new outboard, as the more recent models have been tested to run successfully with E10.
But they have not been tested to run on a mixture with 15 percent ethanol, and as of Jan. 21, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency said the use of ethanol in gasoline could be jacked up to 15 percent. It will probably be a couple of years before outboards are tested for E15.
The problem is that ethanol is a solvent, and increasing the mixture by 50 percent could adversely affect an engine’s fuel lines, fuel tanks, pumps, injectors, carburetors, valves, O-rings, and gaskets.
Even assuming E15 doesn’t damage those engine components, if it remains too long in the fuel tank or even the carburetor, you can have the same problem you would have had with E10 — phase separation. That’s when ethanol, which absorbs water and holds it in suspension, takes on too much moisture. Then the ethanol-water mixture drops out of the fuel. It settles on the bottom of the tank and is sucked into the engine.
If the separation takes place in the carburetor, the bowl can corrode. On a 4-stroke the mixture could gum up and corrode the small passages in the carburetor to the extent that the carburetor can’t be repaired.
There is a way to avoid ruining a perfectly good outboard: Buy your outboard fuel at the marina, not the local service station. The EPA waiver allows the use of E15 only with newer cars and lightweight trucks and is not permitted to be used in boats, which is why the Coast Guard recommends you only use gasoline purchased at marinas.
Callifornia crabbing: Here's a fun video shot on the decks of the Majestik while catching Dungeness crab off the coast of northern California.
Over 500 lots of seafood processing equipment formerly owned by Adak Seafood will be sold at auction on Tuesday, June 18, starting at 10 a.m. Hawaiian-Aleutian Daylight Time at the Hilton Garden Inn in Anchorage Alaska.
The equipment is located in a recently updated 250,000 square foot state-of-the-art processing facility in Adak, Alaska. Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Hilco Industrial, which conducts 75 machinery and equipment auctions in a wide range of industries annually, will conduct the auction.
Adak Seafood opened originally as Ada Fisheries in Anchorage in 1986. The facility, updated in 2005, is located on the island of Adak, the southernmost city in Alaska near the western end of the Aleutian Islands. The facility processed cod primarily, as well as halibut, blackcod, crab and pollock, Hilco says.
Alaska fisherman and commercial fisheries activist Kevin Adams was elected chairman at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute board of directors meeting on May 9 in Anchorage.
The governor-appointed board consists of seven members: five seafood processors and two industry representatives actively engaged in commercial fishing. Adams was appointed to fill a harvester seat by Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2004.
With 38 years of fishing experience in Bristol Bay, Adams has long been an active member in the Alaska fishing industry, ASMI says. He has worked for both the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation and the Bering Sea Fisherman's Association, and represents Alaska fishermen on numerous boards.
National Fisherman has been the industry standard for over 50 years. Readers from coast to coast depend on it to stay up to date on news, regulations, fish stocks, to research purchasing decisions and to stay informed of the newest vessel and product technology.
