Oil Filter Question

[AaronHartwell]

This past weekend I joined the ranks of proud boat owners! I bought the boat used from a family member who'd taken really good care of it. The engine is a 2001 15 HP 4-stroke Yamaha. I downloaded the manual for the engine and after reading through it I decided that it'd be a good idea to do an oil and lower unit fluid change. I went to my local Yamaha dealer to pick up the oil filter, gasket for the oil drain plug, and everything I'd need for the lower unit fluid change. <br /><br />He was out of the gaskets that go on the oil drain plug but said that they generally re-use them several times. <br /><br />He had two oil filters that his computer said would work with my engine but one was about 1/4 inch longer than the other. He said that there might be an issue with clearance on the longer one and said that I should go with the slightly shorter one to be safe. <br /><br />This evening when I took out the old oil filter I compared it with the filter that they sold me I discovered that it was approximately 1/4 inch shorter than the one that I was replacing. Apparently I should have gone with the longer one.<br /><br />Now my questions:<br /><br />1. Is it generally OK to reuse the gasket on the drain plug one time? This was the engine's first oil change so I know that it's not been reused before.<br /><br />2. Should I worry about the filter being 1/4 inch shorter? Unless I hear that everyone thinks that it's fine, I'll probably worry about it and go back, get the longer one, and replace it. <br /><br />3. If I replace the shorter filter with the longer one, will I have to drain the oil again? The oil filter seems to be higher than the place where I put the oil in so I'm guessing I can take the filter off without draining the oil first. <br /><br />4. Are Yamaha oil filters better than other brands? The one that they sold me was ‘quicksilver’ brand.<br /><br />Thanks in advance!<br /><br />Aaron