marina or forecourt diesel

That's it! Tinpot half-arsed poor excuse for a country! We should have let Napoleon take it to pieces....

No more trips to Bruges, no more hypermarket daytrips to Ostende or Zeebrugge, no more copies of the Tin-Tin stories. No more Belgian Beer - and certainly no more episodes of Poirot!

Another good reason for getting out of the Brussels fatcat-dominated EU......

'Rumph!
 
That's it! Tinpot half-arsed poor excuse for a country! We should have let Napoleon take it to pieces....

No more trips to Bruges, no more hypermarket daytrips to Ostende or Zeebrugge, no more copies of the Tin-Tin stories. No more Belgian Beer - and certainly no more episodes of Poirot!

Another good reason for getting out of the Brussels fatcat-dominated EU......

'Rumph!

Uh, would entering from a non-EU country allow you to use red diesel?
(Must admit, being at the other end of the country, I haven't really been following this one)
 
Uh, would entering from a non-EU country allow you to use red diesel?
(Must admit, being at the other end of the country, I haven't really been following this one)

Even worse... Head NNW from Stornoway for ? Faroe ? with red in your tanks, get nabbed for sailing out with UK with Red bought in UK?? :D

I've never seen any difference between red / white diesel, and mixed freely as available in the Hebrides. Easy to get red gas oil in Barra.. had to walk with cans to buy white at a garage in LochMaddy.. c'est la vie?
 
A number of posters seem to think that filling from cans is not a problem, but certainly on the East Coast there are not many garages that are accessible on foot.

The other consideration is the number of cans. My tank only holds 45 litres, not that big compared to larger yachts, and I tend to fill up when it is convenient and the tank is half full or thereabouts. However even 20 litres is 4 cans and would be a pain to carry to the boat, OK you can make sure you only get say 10 litres at a time, but that means having to find a garage twice as often. I will stick to red from marinas.

I have been to Belgium and am not planning to visit again.

The motor boat I cruise on (a friend's) holds over 9000 litres of fuel. Not really practical to do that in cans!

The generators alone use over 50hp and they run a lot of the time. The price difference is massive!

Simple solution is white diesel for everyone. We all pay full price and claim a rebate from the government on our tax returns.

We have paid the full price so the foreigners cannot complain.
All fuel is white so the foreigners cannot complain.
If they do not like our tax returns we tell them to mind their own business.
 
Why are we clinging on to red diesel? why don't marinas just stock white diesel with low FAME and why don't we tell the EU that our boats will run on slightly pink diesel until the marina tanks are cleared out.

From the PBO article, it looks like HMG has just turned over and exposed its tummy to the EU and this is a weak half hearted attempt not to look too silly.
 
Why are we clinging on to red diesel? why don't marinas just stock white diesel with low FAME and why don't we tell the EU that our boats will run on slightly pink diesel until the marina tanks are cleared out.

From the PBO article, it looks like HMG has just turned over and exposed its tummy to the EU and this is a weak half hearted attempt not to look too silly.

Imho that,is what will happen
 
I am undecided whether to use red diesel from the marina or white diesel from the forecourt.
Just fitted a new engine, new fuel lines and filters and the tank has been cleaned with no traces of red diesel remaining.
The cost of fuel is not a issue its more the convenience of fuelling at my marina.
I keep reading we are in contravention of the EU on fuel duty, and if i do use red again my fuel system will be stained.
Any thoughts would be welcome

The forecourt diesel is always the best it has more traffic than marina diesel and is generally cleaner.
 
The forecourt diesel is always the best it has more traffic than marina diesel and is generally cleaner.

That fits with my experience last year. Only filled up with red once, and a month later that tankful was rife with diesel bug. Nearly caused a minor accident in Stromness.

I reckon I would save less than £50 a year using red instead of white. At my home port it is considerably easier to fill up with white anyway.
 
Even worse... Head NNW from Stornoway for ? Faroe ? with red in your tanks, get nabbed for sailing out with UK with Red bought in UK?? :D

Ah, but is Faroe not outside the EU? Which would mean I'd be OK?
(Incidentally that is actually where I am planning on going this summer.... hmmm....)
 
I can't understand how HMG can be planning to enact a law covering activities outside their jurisdiction! If they allow its sale then they can't expect to tell us what to do with it, or where. It is an untenable situation and should be dealt with properly. White diesel with no FAME should replace red and commercials will unfortunately have to bear the brunt of reclaiming the tax - any other system just doesn't work.

Most of the filling stations I have driven into while this thread has been running have notices forbidding the filling of any can greater than 5 litres, so I'm screwed whatever I do. I also have a 100l tank more than half full of red and that will probably last me another two seasons. Assuming that the "safe" prosecutions of MPs for expenses fraud were the tip of the iceberg, you'd think they could spend our money on a workable tax system as they recognise the loopholes all too well! Not fit for purpose!

Rob.
 
No question at all: while there is all the confusion that our dear Government has generated by making silly Ministerial statements that satisfy no-one (except the Government) (and are due to come into force on All Fool's Day!!!), if your system is clean, then don't contaminate it with red diesel, because if you do and the restrictions on use of red abroad remain (which is likely), it will take you ages to clean out the red.

Fill up with white from garages. It may contain 5% FAME, but most engines seem to run OK on this. Best to get FAME-free if you can, but not likely.

I've just contacted all the marinas on the S & E coasts: none supply white, but all are looking at the situation with baited breath. The big problem for them (and even more for us) will be getting rid of the red if changing to white: the concentration of red dye must be reduced from 9mg/l to less than 0.12mg/l. If I fill up by 400 litre tank with white every time it is half-full, it will take me 8 years of normal use!
 
Most of the filling stations I have driven into while this thread has been running have notices forbidding the filling of any can greater than 5 litres, so I'm screwed whatever I do.

You must go to very different filling stations.

The ones we go to only restrict PETROL to small amounts.

I sometimes fill up half a dozen 10 litre containers with diesel and have never had a problem at the various places used. They include several Tescos, a Shell garage and two small local independents.
 
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