Fuel

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A2THEK101

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Hi soon to take delivery of a new small powerboat and keen in the future to take a trip to London from Ramsgate and overnight in St Katherine's Dock. I've been checking but petrol seems really hard to come by other than Ramsgate or Chatham and a return trip would be cutting it close. Anything I'm missing here?
 
ambitious trip or what ? :)

Had loads of fun in petrol boats and one way or another managed to extend our trips well beyond the normal fuel range with bit of planning.
It is vital that you know your fuel use, add a bit and then add a bit more for peace of mind.
The lower Thames is a a grim enviroment for small boats (inc mine in that ) virtually nowhere to refuel or run for cover if things break or the weather goes wrong.
Be well prepared to do any leg in one hop.
In your favour, new boat so reliable and suspect you are quick boat and can complete trip pretty quickly.
Pick your day, getting weather right is your primary concern.A good calm day and a wonderful experience.
You really do not want a strong easterly wind going against any ebb tide.You will be forced to slow down extending the misery for you and more importantly your crew.
Anywho....... after probably putting you off completely, couple of other things, LIFEJACKETS and radio, mobile phone as last resort only.
as for refuelling.....remember you will be carrying probably 40l of blimming heavy fuel to boat and possibly filling your boat rocking and rolling about, even on sheltered mooring, imagine doing it at sea !
As CLB has mentioned fuel at St Kats but after that...............
Petrol station about 1/2 mile away from the pier at Gravesend.
Petrol station about 1 mile away from Queenborough ATL.
You will be carrying probably 40l of blimming heavy fuel.
The leg from Sheerness to Ramsgate would be my main concern with nowhere friendly to divert unless dire emergency and does need bit of extra planning especially with regards to which route round coast and North Foreland.
Any other questions just ask, most of this forum done the Thames section in boats of all shapes and sizes.
Ps. Exactly what boat have you bought. ?
 
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Re: ambitious trip or what ? :)

Thanks for this. The boat is a Cap Camarat 7.5wa and has 280l tank. Walking fuel to the boat doesn't seem viable to me. I I did read the range of the boat is approx 165nm at 30 knots but that's from a review so not sure how accurate that may be. I did try and research St. Katherine's Dock but it just suggest the Thames barge which only does diesel - it seems crazy to me? I have got Chatham Marina but that seems like a bit a detour. Top speed is 45 knots but won't be doing that too often!
 
Re: ambitious trip or what ? :)

H,mm need somebody better at sums, but 2 litres per mile seems bit optimistic to me ?
Rule of thumb is that you will want at least 1/3 of a tank left at end of journey for safety and depending on fuel pick up pipe not all of that may be accessible.
That gives with full tank at start of journey about 90 miles duration . Approx 50 miles from St Kats to Sheerness. ? and 50 from Sheerness to Ramsgate.
The Thames barge only does diesel.
Sounds like great trip to me.....and Ramsgate has recently been dredged courtesy of
Rt Hon Chris Grayling.
MP for the well known coastal town of Ewell and industrial wasteland of Epsom.
You might need to watch out for all the ferry traffic...or not in this case.:).
Fuel dock supplies Petrol and Diesel,nearest cheap supermarket petrol in Ramsgate is fair way out of town.
 
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Re: ambitious trip or what ? :)

Other option is to arrange for someone to drive to st Kats to meet you with jerry cans. Beware the congestion charge zone though. You just enter it as you enter st Kats from memory.


What outboard you got. I have some figures for different outboards on different beats. I may have something useful in terms of real life consumption.
 
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Re: ambitious trip or what ? :)

Thanks guys - really helpful. It's a new Yamaha F300 BETX. Various reviews have said they've done some technical bits to the engine to make it more fuel efficient but am aware there's no such thing as fuel efficiency on water! 90 miles seems a bit stingy with a full tank but was aware that all the fuel can't be used. I'm new to boating btw.
 
Re: ambitious trip or what ? :)

After trip down from Teddington might just need top up, difficult to find commercial outfit delivering just 20 gallons or so.
Fuel consumption appears to be as follows
20knots 26 LPH
40 knots 80 LPH.
Assume those figures do not not include, full fuel and water, let alone her junk and the booze :)
 
Re: ambitious trip or what ? :)

oldgit said:
After trip down from Teddington might just need top up, difficult to find commercial outfit delivering just 20 gallons or so.
Fuel consumption appears to be as follows
20knots 26 LPH
40 knots 80 LPH.
Assume those figures do not not include, full fuel and water, let alone her junk and the booze :)
Click to expand...

It's definitelty all the booze that will affect the mpg :)
 
Re: ambitious trip or what ? :)

Not sure if this is going to help or confuse the situation more...

Last year I took my Sealine S24 with a 4.3 V6 (I believe your outboard is a 4.2 V6) from St Kats to Chatham, via the Red Sands forts. With a bit of poetic license, working off St Kats>Red Sands, then Red Sands to Ramsgate, I reckon your journey would be about 74nm.

Not that we can directly compare engines, but my journey (St Kats to Chatham) consumed 90 litres of petrol over 69nm (tracked in Navionics, tank brimmed again at Chatham). We stuck to speed limits in London then cruised at about 23 kts. We slowed down past Shellhaven due to a chop. I would imagine your new outboard will be a lot more efficient than my 1997 inboard/sterndrive.

I'm positive you'll make the journey to St Kats (as long as you don't pin the throttle!) but it's the availability of fuel at the other end that may hinder you. I would certainly plan a diversion to Chatham on the return leg. You can always stick 40 litres in at St Kats (if you can find a friendly cabbie).
 
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Re: ambitious trip or what ? :)

Lots of talk about Chatham, but, unless its changed, you can get petrol at Gillingham, which is slightly nearer the river mouth and outside of the lock.
 
Re: ambitious trip or what ? :)

I'd like to think I could do Ramsgate to St. Katherines to Chatham but to be safe I'll probably top up at Chatham on the way. Once I've done it once, then I'll have a better feel. Thanks for all the advice. There's a niche on the market for petrol on the Thames. It's crazy that it seems so hard to come by.
 
Re: ambitious trip or what ? :)

CLB said:
What outboard you got. I have some figures for different outboards on different beats. I may have something useful in terms of real life consumption.
Click to expand...

The closest I can come up with is a 7.5WA with a 250hp Yamaha, which will be very similar to your boat.

Its best cruising economy appears to be at around 22 knots where it is using around 1.6 ltr per NM
Its worst economy is at around 8 knots, or above 35 knots, where it is using around 2.2 - 2.4 L per NM

I believe the fuel capacity is 280 litres so you get an absolute endurance of between 175nm at best, and 116nm at worst with zero safety margin. Allow a minimum of 25% for safety and you get an endurance of between 131nm and 87nm. Looks good for a one way trip, but looks like you will have to refuel at some point. You will not be able to run at absolute best economy for the whole trip, so expect a real life trip economy of around 1.9 lpnm and a real life endurance, with 25% safety margin, of about 110nm based on a 250hp motor. Looks like, with a stop at Gillingham/Chatham, it is doable.
 
Re: ambitious trip or what ? :)

CLB said:
The closest I can come up with is a 7.5WA with a 250hp Yamaha, which will be very similar to your boat.

Its best cruising economy appears to be at around 22 knots where it is using around 1.6 ltr per NM
Its worst economy is at around 8 knots, or above 35 knots, where it is using around 2.2 - 2.4 L per NM

I believe the fuel capacity is 280 litres so you get an absolute endurance of between 175nm at best, and 116nm at worst with zero safety margin. Allow a minimum of 25% for safety and you get an endurance of between 131nm and 87nm. Looks good for a one way trip, but looks like you will have to refuel at some point. You will not be able to run at absolute best economy for the whole trip, so expect a real life trip economy of around 1.9 lpnm and a real life endurance, with 25% safety margin, of about 110nm based on a 250hp motor. Looks like, with a stop at Gillingham/Chatham, it is doable.
Click to expand...

That is really helpful - thanks for much for that information!
 
Re: ambitious trip or what ? :)

CLB said:
Lots of talk about Chatham, but, unless its changed, you can get petrol at Gillingham, which is slightly nearer the river mouth and outside of the lock.
Click to expand...

Very true.
Worth noting Gillingham access - to the marina at least- is tidal, whereas Chatham is 24hr. Not sure on the Gillingham fuel pontoon.
 
Sorry one more question, but how do you get to learn how much of the actual fuel you can use in your tank as I do understand you can't use all of it do the the pickup? Is there a very rough guide to this?
 
Re: ambitious trip or what ? :)

CLB said:
Lots of talk about Chatham, but, unless its changed, you can get petrol at Gillingham, which is slightly nearer the river mouth and outside of the lock.
Click to expand...

Totally missed that - Thank you - will check that also
 
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