Petrol engines,are they so bad

[DavidP]

I hear a lot of comments on gas drinking petrol engines ,but wonder if they are as bad as they say .
I have 1989 twin merc V6 175hp petrol engines, on a 26ft Searay,i spend most of my time fishing on it , so i travel from point A to B and back generally .
The boat is mored on the Itchen and i fish the solent ,so i do about 40 miles round tip ,some longer some shorter, and i seem to do around 10/15 gals a trip travaling about 25/30 mph around 3000 rpm, this seems fine to me .i am told it will do around 45mph ,
i dont fill up at marinas because of the cost , so each time i go down to the boat i fill up with 2, 5 gal petrol cans.
Are my engines brilliant /normal or have i got it wrong somewhere.

Cheers Dave.

 

[hlb]

The seroius costs and problems come in, mainly on bigger heavier boats. Try carrying twenty or thirty, five gallon cans from the garage

Have you sent off Your Stamped. SAE and cheque. Yet.

Haydn

 

[trev]

That seems fairly economical.
I had a Carver with twin Mercruiser petrols of 170hp apiece which did around 16gph at 16 knots - not good for cruising !! but at ten knots this was more than halved and made life bearable. Still only kept the boat for four seasons and moved to diesel for economic and safety reasons - had small fire in engine compartment in Crouch estuary one year, that made my mind up sharpish!!

Trev

 

[byron]

Best thing about filling from cans is the humping down to the boat with them, this is good exercise. Also a cigarette seems to taste nicer when surrounded by pervasive fumes, I also like storing the stuff in my boot from the garage to the boat. There are so many assets its hard to list them all.

ô¿ô
My wife has not given me permission to express any opinion here

 

[ArthurWood]

Sounds pretty economical to me. I make that ~10g/hr. For comparison, my 19ft Wellcraft w/1X165hp Merc does about 8 imp gph at 25mph. My 37ft Sea Ray w/2x7.4l (310hp ea) Mercs does about 24 imp gph at 25mph/3500rpm. At $1.50/US gal and 100-150 hr/yr it does not make economic sense for me to change to diesels, although paying for 200+gal fill-ups is painful.

 

[lanason]

You spoke about taking cans down to "fill er up".
now my boat (when I buy her) will be on a trailer. So the thought of filling er up crossed my mind.
Now will it be OK to take her on the back of the car down to Sainsburys and fill her up on the forecourt. It will be 23 footer so quite big for a trailer. Has anyone tried this and is it allowed. I guess the fuel will be cheaper than a marina - even if it does add more weight to the outfit.

Shame they have self service as in the old days I could say "fill er up please" ----- "no not the car the BOAT !!!"


Don't call me "Sandra"
Cleopatra - yellow hull called Court Jester. Have you seen her ?

 

[coliholic]

Can't see any reason why not Sandra, as long as the petrol goes in proper "approved" containers. Always filled my ski boat up like that. On the way to the slipway, stop at the best priced garage and fill both car and boat. No fun though paying for 60 litres for the car and another 100 for the boat.

 

[hlb]

No problem. I used to take my 22 ft 8ft6 beam 2 ton trailer boat to the garage to fill up. Not Sainsburys though. It would not fit down the isles and sticking it on the check out counter would---. Oh I give up!!.

Have you sent off Your Stamped. SAE and cheque. Yet.

Haydn

 

[sjnewport]

We trail around Sealine 218 and all last year took her into garages wherever we were going,usually last one before launching,thinking about extra weight,and put petrol in her straight from forecourt pump.
Local gargae to home got quite used to us doing it and on holiday at Poole local garage to Cobb's Quay didn't bat an eyelid so obviously happens all the time.
Only thing that sometimes happens if putting in over the limit the pump is set to may have to pay for bill in 2 halves,or even more depending on amount putting in.
Cindy Newport

 

[DavidP]

I use to have a 20ft Draco some years ago ,on a trailer and had no problem filling it up at a petrol station

 

[athew]

My 19' Fletcher hardly ever saw fuel-filling unless it was at the petrol station – dead handy as you could fill the car up and the boat at the same time if you placed yourself in the right spot. But you'll need a very flexible credit card and yes, you may have to pay for it all in two lots . . .

Arrowhawk now up for sale; complete with 200hp petrol AND fuel.

I'm off for a twin diesel, mehearties!