Belgium - Is it worth going now?

[Colvic Watson]

When we first heard about this earlier this year we changed plans to go to he west country. We normally spend five weeks in Belgium and Holland each summer but we carry 400 litres and have capacity for a further 400 so a fine would break the bank. At 4.20 per litre fine that makes about £3000!

 

[sailorman]

the potential saving will pay for one or two nights i Weymouth then

 

[willpatten]

ok. here me out on this one.
What if we dyed the red diesel a different colour?
What if we dyed it blue.
Then what??

 

[FullCircle]

ok. here me out on this one.
What if we dyed the red diesel a different colour?
What if we dyed it blue.
Then what??

Then it would be purple.

 

[sailorman]

ok. here me out on this one.
What if we dyed the red diesel a different colour?
What if we dyed it blue.
Then what??

Will here is a section of a letter to Burnham Bob from the Belgian Ambassador

the word is Dyed not any particular colour

*Dear Mr Bob
I apologize for the somewhat belated reply to your last email but I
wanted to make sure I had all pertinent information in my possession
before coming back to you.

Although I understand the difficult position you and other British cruisers are in, I have to confirm that Belgium will indeed continue to fine pleasure vessels using dyed diesel.
EU legislation clearly does not allow the use of dyed diesel for
leisure vessels and Member States have to conform to this. It is worth
noting that Belgium also used to allow for an exemption for pleasure
vessels but put an end to it on the 31st of December 2006 in order to be
in conformity with said EU legislation.

 

[Wunja]

Can red diesel be made white again

 

[flipper]

Then it would be purple.

 

[Sixpence]

Then it would be purple.

I like that

 

[Marmalade]

We plan to go - I think they'd have trouble dipping our tank anyway as the filler takes a fairly roundabout route! We've been boarded in Oostende but never asked about fuel - we always have receipts showing that we've paid duty too...

 

[LONG_KEELER]

We plan to go - I think they'd have trouble dipping our tank anyway as the filler takes a fairly roundabout route! We've been boarded in Oostende but never asked about fuel - we always have receipts showing that we've paid duty too...

+1

If nicked, I will apply for the low budget fine.

My tank is only 6 galls .............

 

[Captain Haddock]

Hmmm... I wasn't planning on going till around August. I was thinking of taking a full 10 gallon Jerry can of white diesel and filling up with white during the season and showing the receipts for the season (My fuel tank is only 20 gallons). At least this way I could demonstrate I'm making the effort to comply.

Whether that would win any sympathy or not I don't know.

 

[Colvic Watson]

we always have receipts showing that we've paid duty too...

Unfortunately it seems that it's the possession of dyed fuel that is illegal rather than whether or not you've paid 100% duty on it. Maybe this will persuade HMRC to allow us to buy white at 60/40 split at marinas? But in the meantime Belgium is off limits for us, we may have been lucky but who knows, not worth the risk unless you're lucky enough to have a tank the size of LONG_KEELER's!

 

[nigelm]

How about a sneaky tank , one with the white feeding say yr erberwotsit but only holding a few gallons and using a prominent deck filler and then have yr main engine tank disguised behind a bulkhead and a hidden filler ....
A bit extreme I suppose but I always like the idea of getting one over the establishment

 

[sailorman]

How about a sneaky tank , one with the white feeding say yr erberwotsit but only holding a few gallons and using a prominent deck filler and then have yr main engine tank disguised behind a bulkhead and a hidden filler ....
A bit extreme I suppose but I always like the idea of getting one over the establishment

A the colour in yer sight glass / filter to the engine

 

[nigelm]

A the colour in yer sight glass / filter to the engine

Are u seriously saying the Belgian bizzies check ya filters !!

 

[sailorman]

Are u seriously saying the Belgian bizzies check ya filters !!

you never know

 

[Sixpence]

That's nice of them, do they check your oil level too, and service the engine ?

 

[Koeketiene]

That's nice of them, do they check your oil level too, and service the engine ?

Of course they do - but... you need to get your boat over there.
They don't do house calls

 

[Sixpence]

Git
I'll make it one day but I think Sixpence is a little small to be venturing that far

 

[sailorman]

Git
I'll make it one day but I think Sixpence is a little small to be venturing that far

Frank & Margeret Dye managed it in a Wayfarer