"Alcohol attracts water like a sponge, and marine engines are surrounded by water all of the time, obviously," Hoevel said. "You're left with contaminated, junk gas."

But boat owners hope they've found an answer in the past few weeks.

Aloha Petroleum last month started selling old-fashioned, 89 octane fuel without ethanol at five O'ahu boat harbors and one on the Big Island.

The volume of fuel is so low that it doesn't jeopardize the state's requirement that 85 percent of all gasoline sold in Hawai'i must be blended with ethanol, Aloha Petroleum officials said.

FUEL SALES DROPPED

Ernie Choy saw fuel sales drop 10 percent over the past year at He'eia Kea Small Boat Harbor in Kane'ohe as "at least 100 people in just our little area" started having engine and fuel tank problems that coincided with the introduction of E10 fuel, Choy said.

"One guy had an $80,000 boat that had the fiberglass fuel tank dissolved because of ethanol," Choy said.

So he started selling fuel additives that are designed to offset the harmful effects of ethanol.

"But a lot of people just stopped taking out their boats," Choy said.

Then on March 1, Choy started buying Aloha Petroleum's ethanol-free gas and fuel sales are bouncing back. In just six weeks, Choy has new customers regularly coming from as far away as Hale'iwa and Mililani to buy fuel.

The state Legislature is also considering a bill that would mandate sales of premium gasoline without ethanol — in addition to premium with ethanol.

But fuel distributors have testified that the requirement would force them to install separate fuel tanks and fuel pumps, which would be too costly.

30 YEARS IN USE

Maria Tome, who helped lead Hawai'i's transition to E10 fuel, said state officials had been looking for problems on the Mainland for years.

Minnesota, for instance, has been using ethanol since 1997 but reported no concerns to Hawai'i officials, said Tome, an alternate energy engineer with the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Then suddenly, Mainland media reports began focusing on problems in the boating industry, Tome said.

"This fuel has been in use for almost 30 years in increasing amounts across the country," Tome said. "We looked at other states' experiences."

Now over the last year in Hawai'i, Tome has heard stories of problems among Hawai'i boat owners.

But officially, the state's fuel hot line and Web site, new-fuel .com, have received only 13 reports of owners needing to make ethanol-based repairs. Two others said they need to dispose of stale or contaminated fuel.

There are no provisions to reimburse owners for repairs blamed on ethanol, Tome said.

BOOMING BUSINESS

On the Mainland, boat owners have gotten much of the attention for ethanol problems. But there are also concerns that some older airplanes — or planes with rubber engine parts — could be vulnerable.

In Kailua, Boy's Fixit Shop has a different problem.

Before the introduction of ethanol into the Islands, Charles "Boy" Kau'i's business was balanced between fixing lawn trimmers, chain saws, lawn mowers and other small-engine repairs.

Now his little shop overflows with ethanol-fueled lawn mowers with clogged carburetors. Kau'i is so busy cleaning lawn mower carburetors that he no longer fixes anything else.

"I'm choke with lawn mowers," he said. "I'm just flooded."

Dan Brinkman of Kane'ohe had a similar problem on a bigger scale with his usually reliable 1974 Ford pickup truck.

"A month after they mandated ethanol, the alcohol in the ethanol started cleaning all the gunk in my fuel system," Brinkman said. "At first, it would sputter once in a while. When 30 years of built-up gunk started flowing through my fuel system, my carburetor shut down and it wouldn't run."

Brinkman bought a case of fuel filters and changed them every two weeks as he tried to clean out his contaminated fuel system. Finally, after eight months and a thorough carburetor cleaning, Brinkman had his pickup running smoothly just in time to begin buying ethanol-free fuel at He'eia Kea Small Boat Harbor, where Brinkman captains the Hawai'i Pacific University research ship Kaholo. The research ship runs on diesel, which is not blended with ethanol.

Then about a month ago, the rubber fuel lines in Brinkman's Weed Whacker suddenly disintegrated, and he suspects the alcohol in the ethanol fuel.

Brinkman replaced the fuel lines and now hopes the ethanol-free gas solves both of his problems permanently.

But he still doesn't know what to do with the old fuel he took out of his truck and Weed Whacker. He has some of it stored in mason jars, where a thick layer of fuel floats atop a layer of ethanol and water.

"I'm all for easing our reliance on fossil fuels," Brinkman said. "I'm all for ethanol because it's supposed to be a good thing. But now people are probably going to dump their contaminated gas on the side of the road in the middle of the night."

Michael Garris also believes in doing his part to help the environment. He's a landscape architect who is accredited in Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design, drives a hybrid vehicle and regularly advises clients on how to recycle and otherwise be "green."

Then the 90-horsepower Yamaha outboard on Garris' 16-foot inflatable rigid inflatable boat suddenly cut out two weeks ago.

FORCED TO PADDLE HOME

Garris was inside Hawai'i Kai Marina and heading home when his engine quit, forcing him to paddle by hand to shore. But he could have easily run into the same problem a few hours before while navigating the at-times treacherous Kaiwi Channel.

"When you go out to sea, you have to have confidence in your engine," Garris said. "I understand that ethanol is a greener solution to relying on fossil fuels. But that doesn't forgive the fact that the state didn't have a public information campaign to tell boaters, who are risking their lives on the ocean. If an engine cuts out on the open ocean, there could be serious consequences."

A neighbor who had similar problems referred Garris to Hoevel, who started the repairs by bleeding Garris' fuel lines of the water-tainted ethanol.

Gallons and gallons of fuel poured out of the fuel lines, and Hoevel captured some of it in a clear plastic bag for Garris to see: A distinct layer of water and tiny bits of engine gunk and metal flakes sat on the bottom, covered by a layer of fuel.

"It was very strange and very disturbing," Garris said. "Just looking at it, I knew it was going to cost a lot of money."

He was right — to the tune of more than $600.

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.