On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:10:22 -0500, DSK wrote:

But hey, if you spend an extra 50$ on some new-age feel-good
doohickey for your fuel system, you could probably save on
some of those 7$ filter elements

Clean filter elements and a built in fuel polishing system are cheap
insurance against an unsheduled shut down in my opinion. Skip has a
sailboat so at least he has redundant propulsion. Judging from the
stories I hear from people almost everyone, sail or power, has
experienced a shutdown at one time or another from dirty fuel. One of
my neighbors with a 40 something motor sailor told me that he and his
wife stopped going to the Bahamas because they lost power everytime
they crossed the gulf stream.

That's the problem with dirty fuel; it almost always hits you in
marginal conditions when you are least prepared to deal with it.