Diesel in 2009

[Krusty]

A serious question:
Come October 2008, marinas will presumably clear their tanks and be ready to supply white diesel, but what about those of us who cruise coastlines far from marinas? We sometimes have to resort to power and run down reserves. That may well leave us with the choice of sailing on with low reserves (unseamanlike) or refuelling at a fishing harbour, where it will be red (illegal).
The only other option is to carry ample empty cannisters (where, in a small yacht?!) ; organise transport (in a remote village?!) ; and go to the nearest garage (could be a 50-mile round trip!!)
I have a feeling that this kind of situation, which I flagged up to the RYA during the consultation period, may be why our government did not immediately fall in line with Europe (for once!)
Meantime, are they just sitting on their thumbs and hoping such problems will fade away?
Does anyone know of anything moving in a helpful direction?

 

[colvic987]

We dont know if it will still be red or white yet, they will decide by end of 2008, i personally am looking towards still having red but having to pay a bit more tax on it then go to white.
if we end up with white i am sure we will end up getting it stolen every now and again, due to the cost of the stuff, there's always someone not willing to pay their own way and nick it off others...

So i opt for red with a little more tax to pay, easier to manage i would expect...and less costly to most boat owners..

 

[Birdseye]

Nopt very likely that it will be red - what would the fishermen use? certainly the govt wouldnt even try to get them to pay more tax and you cant have the same diesel being sold at 2 levels of price / tax. Suppose they could try to get the fishermen to pay more and then reclaim, but it would still cause an uproar.

Possibility there might be green diesel like the paddies. But most likely it will be white diesel and a hike to the garage or an even higher price at the quayside. Cant see a real alternative in places like Scotland

 

[colvic987]

But if you are away from the uk and you can only get red then red would be the fuel i would use. i am no more than 50 to 70 nm from my first ports of call both outside the uk. i would use their fuel if i was low, i always try to leave port with a full tank...i could fill up in dublin, or isle of man, both are outside uk duty levels.
Would i have to pay extra duty on the fuel in tank.

if you come back to uk in your car with a full tank of french diesel, would you have to pay extra.. NO. so why would you have to only have a certain type of colour fuel in your tank. I get green in dublin, red in isle of man and uk at the moment, my fuel looks more of a browny colour then red...(Before you say, no its not got the bug)....

 

[Brayman]

I'd heard it was likely to stay red and we would pay more for it as leisure boaters, the commercials will buy the same stuff but at a lower cost.

 

[Tomkat17]

If they don't allow us to use red, I assume marinas who are supplying commercial and private will not invest in more tanks and will only sell to commercial boats, leaving us to fill up cans at the pumps. The best solution would be for private boat owners to fill with red but be charged the extra duty and keep the receipts as proof of duty paid if inspected.

 

[tedbarnes]

[ QUOTE ]
Suppose they could try to get the fishermen to pay more and then reclaim, but it would still cause an uproar.

[/ QUOTE ]

I understand this is to be the policy for fishermen, farmers etc, so the colour won't matter.

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

What about fuel for heating? IIRC that remains taxed at a different rate. At present you will presumably take it from the main tank but what happens later? If the heater also does hot water you will use it quite a lot.