MELBOURNE -- A fuel additive designed to be more environmentally friendly is causing concern among the boating industry.
Ethanol is a grain alcohol that is being blended with gasoline, similar to the fuel you fill up your car with at the pump.
The 10 percent additive is overall seen as safe for boat engines, except those built before 1980, when fiberglass gas tanks were used.
Ethanol can eat away at the resin in the fiberglass and damage the engine.
Another issue is the alcohol content of ethanol attracts moisture and puts larger amount of water in tanks.
Dave Cesario, the Melbourne Harbor dockmaster, says he's concerned after his fuel supplier says he heard of at least five boat engines being ruined.
“If the water level is too high, the ethanol absorbs it and it sinks to the bottom of the tank, and that's where your fuel pickups are, and the fuel is more ethanol and water and goes through your carburetor and causing engine problems and blowups,” said Cesario.
Boats are more prone to the ethanol effects than gas because fuel can sit in tanks longer.
Ethanol could be in all boat fuel in Florida by the end of the year.
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