[Fr. Frank]

If you've got the time to put in regular maintenance, and you don't mind getty oil or grease under your fingernails, the 130/140 Merc I/O on the 20' Seacraft is pretty hard to beat. A friend of mine in Juno has had a 20' Seafari for about 30 years, and consistantly averages about 4.5-5.0 mpg. He repowered in about '86 or '87, and just bought a complete replacement package - same 151 ci 4 cyl. Mercruiser.

For new outboards, I don't have the figures for the 140 Zuke, but the new 130 eTec is incredibly frugal on fuel, as is the new 150 Yammie and Merc 135 Verado.

I have a 90hp Merc Optimax 1.5L 3 cyl.that is adequate for my Seafari. I get about 4.5 mpg average, cruising at 23-24 mph.

For older tech, I really like the 115/130 Yamaha, and any 2.0 litre V6 Merc. The old 2.0 150 Merc may be the most economical V6 2 stroke out there. It surpasses even the new 150 Optimax and the eTec. Cons are the unreliable oil injection, and the massive amounts of smoke it makes at low rpms.

I'm a poor preacher, and I have always preferred outboards, but if I found a 20' with an I/O, I'd probably go that way as a preference, just for economical reasons. Especially considering there is now a 140/150/170 hp bolt-in diesel replacement for the 151ci engine Mercruiser that weighs only 23 lbs more than the original 130/140. 150 hp model burns 5-7 gph at cruise, or about 5-6 mpg.