A small tale of mice, men, engines and costs ...

MartynG said:
This was a reason why we bought a diesel engined boat. Lugging fuel in cans is no fun at all.
But I do see the point of outboards as they are apparently easier to service and they are tilted out of the water when the boat is not in use,
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I think smaller petrol outboards are easily unmounted and taken to a dealer for service. Larger outboards less so.
My diesel inboard never gets immersed 😊
 
In the late 80s I ran a 5.3 M RIB as a dive boat and towed it with a V8 Range Rover it had twin 80Hp 2 stroke Yamaha outboards with a big inboard fuel tank under the central seats and two big fuel bags for extended trips. My mate ran a similar set up. We both pulled onto the fuel station near the Heliport at Penzance with empty fuel tanks in the RRs and boats they cut the fuel at £100 and asked us to go inside with a credit card, the fuel bill in 1987/8? was just under £400 I remember it as if it were yesterday.
 
Aja said:
Good luck in fuelling a boat that drinks petrol any where apart from the south coast.

Watched a mobo at Oban transit marina this summer going back and forwards to the nearest petrol station with 25L cans in a marina trolley.
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Seems a shame that no one in the UK invests in fuel docks that are so common everywhere else....
 
It’s a historical problem…back in the day, red diesel priced petrol out of the boat market
 
A place I used to work ran 10m Humber RIBs with twin 350hp outboards. You could hit 50kt in flat water if you didn't have any passengers. According to the dial, that was 120l/hr. Glad I was only driving the thing, not paying the bills.
 
Aja said:
I think smaller petrol outboards are easily unmounted and taken to a dealer for service. Larger outboards less so.
My diesel inboard never gets immersed 😊
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The twin 70HP boat I mentioned above has been quoted £3K to service the engines! It seems they boat has to be lifted to do it. I hope that was an "I really don't want the job" quote.
 
johnalison said:
I think you are right to be stunned, in fact, I am stunned that you are prepared to consume 5L/hr compared to my 2-2.5. :) More seriously, It is hard not to see price and availability of fuel taking a large dent out of powerboat usage and ownerage.
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Johnalison - yes we thought long and hard - having been used to 2-2.5 l/hr on our last boat - and there is the row-away factor too. But the convenience, deck-saloon, space ... I think both of us are still in love with the Rival. Still I do think you're right that there will be a dent in the ownership/use of power boats - though I have seen no sign of it locally. The boat pictured is up for sale and appears to be new. Prices seem to start about £250k ! And as others have pointed out, the cost of berthing and then fuel ... Why do we all do it I wonder ?
 
The first time I filled my Snapdragon at the end of the season, I put about 8 gallons in - change from a tenner. On the other pump was a gin palace who was paying for a ton (quite possibly literally) of fuel. As I left the fuel pontoon, I'm slightly (smugly) ashamed to say, I said, "Thank you very much, see you again next year!" rather louder than I needed to.
 
Stemar said:
The first time I filled my Snapdragon at the end of the season, I put about 8 gallons in - change from a tenner. On the other pump was a gin palace who was paying for a ton (quite possibly literally) of fuel. As I left the fuel pontoon, I'm slightly (smugly) ashamed to say, I said, "Thank you very much, see you again next year!" rather louder than I needed to.
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8 gallons for less than £10😳
 
Fr J Hackett said:
In the late 80s I ran a 5.3 M RIB as a dive boat and towed it with a V8 Range Rover it had twin 80Hp 2 stroke Yamaha outboards with a big inboard fuel tank under the central seats and two big fuel bags for extended trips. My mate ran a similar set up. We both pulled onto the fuel station near the Heliport at Penzance with empty fuel tanks in the RRs and boats they cut the fuel at £100 and asked us to go inside with a credit card, the fuel bill in 1987/8? was just under £400 I remember it as if it were yesterday.
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Here’s us taking on 900 litres aboard our 45’ sailboat. I think it caused some consternation on the forecourt :-)
 

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pragmatist said:
Johnalison - yes we thought long and hard - having been used to 2-2.5 l/hr on our last boat - and there is the row-away factor too. But the convenience, deck-saloon, space ... I think both of us are still in love with the Rival. Still I do think you're right that there will be a dent in the ownership/use of power boats - though I have seen no sign of it locally. The boat pictured is up for sale and appears to be new. Prices seem to start about £250k ! And as others have pointed out, the cost of berthing and then fuel ... Why do we all do it I wonder ?
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Because its an unbeatable activity when it goes well - I don't attempt to cost justify. Leave that for cars, solar panels and double glazing.

I cycle a lot and decades ago "normal" cyclists rode steel bikes costing £500 give or take a few hundred. Now on a club ride or tour many bikes cost in excess of £5000 and electric bikes up to 5 figures.

The world moves on. Just keep doing what you enjoy whatever way you can.
 
I enjoy using my boat and the more folks I can persuade to clamber aboard and share my enjoyment of being able to afford the experience the better, the thought of even asking for my guests to contribute to fuel costs simply does not arise .
If they want to contribute with a bottle of something to drink that's their affair.
Can appreciate that some folks do like to boat alone.
 
pragmatist said:
With current fuel prices at the barge in Dartmouth I make that about £7.50 an hour for us and £186 for the Antares, assuming we don't sail
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My current boat has around £2000 of rope, I know because I replaced all of them. No idea how many hours are on those ropes, but I’m quite certain fuel isn’t the only running cost whether I sail or motor. Add in canvas covers, sails, blocks, clutches, oilskins (motor boats don’t generally require these), boots, I’d be very surprised if we were under £186 an hour other than the fact it takes us 20 hours to get anywhere 😂
And let’s not forget how much cheaper fixed props are than feathering 😱
 
Bajansailor said:
I remember a time in 1988 when I was putting petrol in my Mini Metro - there was a Jaguar on the other side of the pump from me, and while I put in about 5 or 6 GBP to fill it up (from about a 1/4 I think), the Jaguar fill up was ten times that.
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It used to be said that the owners of Rolls Royces had to switch the engine off while refueling because if they didn't, the pump couldn't keep up!
 
Bouba said:
It’s a historical problem…back in the day, red diesel priced petrol out of the boat market
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But back then, 1973,although red was 1p a litre, you didnt have a small diesel on a yacht, or indeed many good reliable useable outboards for a yacht. A small diesel was an air-cooled Lister.
Stuart was your friend. When did Yanmar get going in the leisure market
 
I seem to recall as a youngster older boat owners being surprised at the size of a Volvo diesel in a centaur which although it motored well rarely seemed to need fillling up which was a tedious process involving grating removal etc. I think by 1976 the market had progressed from Stuart’s - they did still have killer starting handles if you wanted exercise I recall . Decompression levers seem to have vanished in recent years though .
 
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