Yes, this is a gas engine boat, and it was always a gas engine boat.
I know a lot of folks on here are pretty adamant about having diesels. I can say several guys have reached out to me on this boat already and decided not to even take a look solely because they have convinced themselves they need a diesel boat. Don't get me wrong, I think there are real benefits for diesels in the right applications, but I think it is overblown and overkill for most recreational boaters. So, here is my experience, FWIW, and why I am glad I don't/didn't have a diesel boat:
1) I bought the boat with the original 1984 motor. I replaced it in 2014. The original Crusader engine made it 30 years! That's a good run for any engine in salt water.
2) The cost of replacing with another Crusader was $14k, all in. Mind you, that wasn't just the engine block - I replaced the entire motor, everything attached to the motor, the shaft, the engine mounts, the exhausts, etc. For comparison, my buddy with a similar-sized downeast boat spent over $40k repowering with a Yanmar diesel that same year. I love my boat, but I could not imagine putting a $40k engine in a 40 year old boat that I could maybe resell for $35k. On the flipside, it made total economic sense to replace the engine on this boat, and I could do so 2-3 more times if I wanted to and STILL come out ahead of my buddy with a diesel from a cost perspective. The reality is if I get 1/2 the years on this engine as I did on my first engine did, I'll be long dead before I would need to do that.
3) I get good fuel numbers with the gas engine. I can run the boat at hull speed of 6-7 knots burning ~2-4 gph. Or, if I want to go faster, I basically burn 1 gph for every knot I go over 7 knots - 10 knots, I'm burning ~10 gph; 11 knots = 11 gph; 12 knots = 12 gph. Often enough the conditions are right and I find myself going 12-13 knots and burning ~11-12 gph. Maybe a diesel is a little better, but I doubt it. I also think the guys with diesels on this Mainship run their boat much slower than I do.
4) Everything about the gas engine is less expensive. Gas is cheaper than diesel. Routine maintenance is cheaper. Repairs (not that I've had any) will be cheaper. Why? Because parts are more plentiful and less expensive than diesel parts - especially if you are trying to keep your 40 year old Perkins or Lehman or Isuzu alive. Also gas mechanics are more plentiful and cheaper than diesel mechanics.
5) I can't speak more highly about the Crusader engine. It just feels bullet proof.
6) The gas engine is quieter, and has less vibration, than the diesel.
If you are running a commercial fishing boat for days at a time, or a ferry, or a tug boat, then absolutely get diesels. But engines wear by the calendar, not the hour, in salt water, and unless you are putting thousands of hours of near continuous use per year on the engine (and paying to maintain that kind of use), I think the choice of gas v. diesel for a recreational boater, or even a coastal cruiser, should be far harder than you see discussed on these boards. The surveyor David Pascoe was a big proponent of gas over diesels in recreational boats (google him I think his website is still up), and given my experience, I think he was 100% right. The use profile of most non-commercial boaters should push more people toward gas engines than it does.
But, people will have their opinions. To me, I don't understand people who look at my boat - clean, updated, well-maintained, with a 6-year old gas engine - and pass on it to go find a 40-year old boat with a 40-year old diesel engine. Especially if you're shopping at my boat's price point!!
