It was suggested that it was in the fuel line, but it wasn’t floating, it had grown on the interior walls. And it took about a half an hour in a heated ultrasonic cleaner to get it out.

As for the "why would a thief put one back" theory, I’d say inside job. We have 30 or so volunteers, virtually all of which are boat people.I only know 6 or 7 of them. And if the perpetrator knew the Foundation had a "guy" who could fix it (me), it could be weirdly justified as some kind of "no harm, no foul" situation. I just know this, this motor looks new, like low hours, always covered, despite it being 17 years old. The first time through the carb, the bowl looked clean. 3 weeks later it had algae.

I’m surprised you all haven’t seen algae in a carb before. One of the things ethanol in gas does is attract water. In even newer carbs, I’ve seen a steel seat for a jet, rusted. Who puts steel inside a carb?