Petrol vs Diesel

Lol.

Thing is, on a lot of older American boats or cruisers there isn't much choice of which engine!

You kinda have to choose the boat - the engine is a sort of done deal then
 
Lol.

Thing is, on a lot of older American boats or cruisers there isn't much choice of which engine!

You kinda have to choose the boat - the engine is a sort of done deal then
I agree…far worse if the OP chose for example an open boat and it turned out that he would like to spend weekends on it…than if he chose the wrong fuel which will only ever amount to a minor annoyance
 
There's a lot more to this than 'MPG', you also need to consider the cost of dockside fuel (way more than road prices) plus (as has been said above) availability.

Also you need to consider that the extra money to buy a diesel boat over petrol is not 'spent', it's invested in the boat and you'll get most, or maybe all, back on resale.

There is a really good breakdown of running costs of a 26ft diesel boat , which includes a direct comparison of petrol versus diesel running costs, in this video.

With that size of boat you can use cans from roadside stations I have been doing that for years. Never ever bought marina fuel. Often it is full of rubbish in Mariana’s anyway
 
There's a lot more to this than 'MPG', you also need to consider the cost of dockside fuel (way more than road prices) plus (as has been said above) availability.

Also you need to consider that the extra money to buy a diesel boat over petrol is not 'spent', it's invested in the boat and you'll get most, or maybe all, back on resale.

There is a really good breakdown of running costs of a 26ft diesel boat , which includes a direct comparison of petrol versus diesel running costs, in this video.


Those costs are way over the top he does nothing for himself.
 
I reckon if the boat lives on a trailer it’s a no brainer - go with a petrol outboard.

If the boat is moored somewhere where petrol is easily available dock side - it’s a bit of a wash. The increased servicing costs of a diesel inboard will probably cancel out any fuel savings with a diesel.

If the boat is moored somewhere where petrol is hard to come by dock side - go with diesel; lugging cans out quickly becomes a pita.

If the boat is moored somewhere where you have to take cans to it either way, go with petrol (less messy when you spill some).

I have lugged fuel cans for years you just have to do it right. A clue being that 20 ltr cans is not doing it right. 4 10 ltr actually hold 11 ltrs is the way to go. Most days out in this size of boat will be fine on 44 ltrs plus what was in the tank and a spare 10ltrs on board at all times

its about not being lazy
 
I have lugged fuel cans for years you just have to do it right. A clue being that 20 ltr cans is not doing it right. 4 10 ltr actually hold 11 ltrs is the way to go. Most days out in this size of boat will be fine on 44 ltrs plus what was in the tank and a spare 10ltrs on board at all times

its about not being lazy

I agree about using 10l cans.

However, I have 10 of them and my boat takes 260L to fill. Trust me it quickly becomes an enormous pain.

44 litres would last about an hour and a half of cruising.
 
With that size of boat you can use cans from roadside stations I have been doing that for years. Never ever bought marina fuel. Often it is full of rubbish in Mariana’s anyway
Lugging fuel in cans is an absolute pain in the neck. All very well if you bring the fuel to the boat by car . But how do you do that when you are out for a week or two ? You seem to only use boats for day trips. Even with out S23 we took holidays up to 2 weeks on board . Refuelling from cans was not a good plan as we witnessed by seeing the example of our friends constant quest for petrol.

Those costs are way over the top he does nothing for himself.
Not everyone wants to be hands on with servicing. But I agree DIY servicing saves a tidy sum and you can spread the cost as there is no need to do everything at once.
 
I have lugged fuel cans for years you just have to do it right. A clue being that 20 ltr cans is not doing it right. 4 10 ltr actually hold 11 ltrs is the way to go. Most days out in this size of boat will be fine on 44 ltrs plus what was in the tank and a spare 10ltrs on board at all times

its about not being lazy
44litres and a bit may be fine for your boat and usage of it, but it would last less than one hour cruise for me (in a boat similar size to what the op is asking about), so I dont think you can make such blanket statements.

If I had to lug jerry cans of petrol to the boat, I'd probably choose to go diesel. But I dont have to lug petrol around, because its available in the marinas near me at the same prices as road petrol, so the availability of fuel is not a factor in what type of engine to choose where I am.
 
I have lugged fuel cans for years you just have to do it right. A clue being that 20 ltr cans is not doing it right. 4 10 ltr actually hold 11 ltrs is the way to go. Most days out in this size of boat will be fine on 44 ltrs plus what was in the tank and a spare 10ltrs on board at all times

its about not being lazy

Isn't there a limit to how much you can legally carry fuel containers in a car? In my experience, if you are towing a boat and filling up at the garage on the way to the slip way worked well for me. I've seen in the marina a neighbour carting around in a trolley several 20litres jerry cans to fill his boat which he admits is a right pain and requires planning e.g. filling up the day before so not to impact time going out the next day, then he is dismayed about the range limitation sometime for his longer trips. He told me he wished he had a diesel. Personally I would stick with Diesel, better range and it is so much easier to refuel and safer, no fumes to worry about.

It has nothing to do with being lazy, more impacting your time afloat.
 
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yep there is a limit on how much fuel you can carry, some garages say only one 10ltr Can, but thats the green plastic can limit.
You can carry 20 ltrs in the red metal cans.. |And if it's been reported correctly, there is not an exclusion on carrying both.
 
There's a specific exemption for leisure use, eg boating:

https://assets.rya.org.uk/assetbank-rya-assets/action/directLinkImage?assetId=47685

You probably need to be a member to access that but I don't imagine that's an issue for many here.

If I read it correctly, as a private user (different regs for commercial) you can carry up to 240l, in containers of up to 60l, however portable containers must be under 10l (plastic), 20l (metal) or 30l (demountable fuel tanks), so the nominal 60l maximum size is probably of limited use to most.

However, any given filling station may have their own view on what regulations they apply and they ar permitted to exercise ther own discretion, so you may struggle to convince then you are either within the law, safe or both. Petrol stations on approaches to major boating centres may be better informed than city centre supermarkets!
 
I'd not seen that one before.. I note the bit about the garage may limit you, and I know all Tescos try to stop you carrying more than 10ltr (or should do that's instructions from head office)
 
I'd not seen that one before.. I note the bit about the garage may limit you, and I know all Tescos try to stop you carrying more than 10ltr (or should do that's instructions from head office)
Indeed, whereas the Riverside filling station in Lochgilphead (by the Crinan canal) appears unphased by people filling rows of jerry cans in the back of a pickup. :-)
 
yep there is a limit on how much fuel you can carry, some garages say only one 10ltr Can, but thats the green plastic can limit.
You can carry 20 ltrs in the red metal cans.. |And if it's been reported correctly, there is not an exclusion on carrying both.
Like others on here, forecourt petrol isn’t an option as my boat will use 40l/hr at full chat and 20/hr at cruise.
 
Like others on here, forecourt petrol isn’t an option as my boat will use 40l/hr at full chat and 20/hr at cruise.

Yes, we understand that. It might or might not be an option for the OP, though, and answers the specific question from Scubadoo above, in relation to his advice thereto...
 
There's a specific exemption for leisure use, eg boating:

https://assets.rya.org.uk/assetbank-rya-assets/action/directLinkImage?assetId=47685

You probably need to be a member to access that but I don't imagine that's an issue for many here.

If I read it correctly, as a private user (different regs for commercial) you can carry up to 240l, in containers of up to 60l, however portable containers must be under 10l (plastic), 20l (metal) or 30l (demountable fuel tanks), so the nominal 60l maximum size is probably of limited use to most.

However, any given filling station may have their own view on what regulations they apply and they ar permitted to exercise ther own discretion, so you may struggle to convince then you are either within the law, safe or both. Petrol stations on approaches to major boating centres may be better informed than city centre supermarkets!

Almost all the petrol stations I visit are pay at pump often with no staff present
 
Where I boat there are several petrol outboard boats and many diesel boats on swing moorings and no petrol or diesel for miles on the water how do you think they fill up some people need to get real and understand about boating away from the solent
 
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