Fuel, how much do you use.

How much fuel do you use?

  • less that 40

    Votes: 34 15.3%

  • 40 to 80

    Votes: 44 19.8%

  • 80 to 160

    Votes: 48 21.6%

  • 160 to 320

    Votes: 29 13.1%

  • 320 to 640

    Votes: 28 12.6%

  • 640 to 12800

    Votes: 14 6.3%

  • more that 1280!

    Votes: 25 11.3%
  • Total voters
    222
  • Poll closed .
Well I have replied on the basis of litres per annum, which is how I guess the vast majority of coastal sailors would log their consumption.

Last time I filled up at the end of season and about 100 litres went in. I had had to wait for a Fairline to do the same, its owner had to pay for 1,200 litres. Such are the joys of motoring!
 
Or tons

I went on the ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland and burnt about a ton every half hour.

Is this a compulsory vote and is there now a new world order. ? :)
 
maby said:
I assumed that the OP meant "litres per annum" and I've replied in the "80 to 160" bracket. I think we are borderline and may nudge over to the "160 to 320" bracket - depends very much on how cold and long the winter is - a lot of what we purchase goes into the heater...
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+1. Borderline but I think we’re into the higher bracket. Fan heater is cheaper but the diesel heater is nicer
 
I know you said the poll was designed for yachties and stinkies, but posting on the yachtie forum is going to skew the results towards yachts. If this was posted on the MOBO forum, I doubt hardly anyone would tick any box except the last one!
 
On our recent three month cruise we used 850 litres. This included 360 lt for the heater (4 lt per day at low heat) the remainder for the engine at 2.5 to 4 lt per hour depending on sea state and revs. we did motor for a total of eight days. This is a lot of fuel but at 51 south mid winteryoutend to keep moving on a passage.

If we are away cruising we will use on average 1000 to 1500 lt a year and if not then it is down near a 100 lt a year.
 
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We motor up the river Fowey to our winter berth (where shore power is connected) and down again in the spring, I motor in and out of the moorings at Mylor and to and from an anchorage for the last 1/2 mile or so. Otherwise, I only motor when I may miss a tidal gate in very light winds downwind. The boat goes faster under sail than under engine normally. Last season we did a bit of local cruising and a month's cruise to south Brittany and the Isles of Scilly. We used about 60 litres at 1 1/2 litres per hour.
Incidentally, we have no fridge, though we use the Tillerpilot quite a lot, but we have no solar panels and no shore power. The small use of the 2GM20 engine (and a Stirling alternator controller) maintains the two 100 amp hour batteries perfectly well during the season.
 
Tomahawk said:
I am interested from the PoV of exactly how much the extra tax on fuel would actually deliver to the hard pressed exchequer.
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80% of my cruising is to France Belium & the Netherlands.To avoid lugging loads of white fuel about in the UK, I take enough to get me to Boulogne (or wherever) then fill up at the marina fuel filling station there, as well as others along the french coast.
A similar situation arises when i go up the Dutch canals for a few weeks.
I then come back with full tanks & a couple of full reserve cans.
So if I posted the amount of fuel I use then you would get an incorrect result for your info above. Likewise everyone else who are ticking boxes for cruising up the Portuguese coast etc with fuel bought abroad.
 
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What extra tax? Surely we all (?) UK sailors are already paying tax on diesel used for propulsion anyway - it's just that the diesel is red. Or have I missed something?
 
thinwater said:
If this were a school assignment, the poster fails. No units were given, and you NEVER assume.
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I assume you mean the OP ;)

Incidentally, my maths and physics lecturers couldn’t get through a lesson without using “let us assume” multiple times when considering the possible consequences of a potential situation!
 
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dom said:
I assume you mean the OP ;)

Incidentally, my maths and physics lecturers couldn’t get through a lesson without using “let us assume” multiple times when considering the possible consequences of a potential situation!
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My university maths lecturer was incapable of adding two numbers together and reliably getting the right answer - he used to refer to anything that used numbers as "arithmetic" and pointing out that a pocket calculator could do it far better than almost any human. Mathematics, he would explain, was about the behaviour of numbers, not the numbers themselves - and numbers behave the same irrespective of the units.
 
As an aside, we race which means doing reasonably lengthy deliveries, sometimes in adverse winds working to crew and race deadlines. So we use 200-300l per annum.
 
dom said:
I assume you mean the OP ;)

Incidentally, my maths and physics lecturers couldn’t get through a lesson without using “let us assume” multiple times when considering the possible consequences of a potential situation!
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The handful of users who can read noticed that the OP mentioned litres, or at least 'l', in his blurb, and young master savage has blotted his copybook by sticking to the thread.
 
maby said:
My university maths lecturer was incapable of adding two numbers together and reliably getting the right answer - he used to refer to anything that used numbers as "arithmetic" and pointing out that a pocket calculator could do it far better than almost any human. Mathematics, he would explain, was about the behaviour of numbers, not the numbers themselves - and numbers behave the same irrespective of the units.
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But numbers with out units are like the "answer" in a "Hitchhiker's Guide." 42.
 
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