Petrol

[craighlamb]

I am am looking at buying my first boat in the Merry Fisher / Weekender class of cruiser. Problem I have is most have is most come with petrol outboards and the marina it will be in only has diesel.
At the moment the boat I have runs off a 20hp outboard so the fuel tank is only 12ltr and so is filled up at the petrol station. With the new boat I will need 3-400ltr tanks.
I have phoned all over to try and find a company who can deliver direct to the boat but with no success.

How do you experienced guys sort this out because I cant see a petrol station allowing me to fill 20 x 15/20ltr fuel cans?

 

[lw395]

Mostly we have diesel engines.
But around the solent, there are plenty of places you can fill a petrol boat.
You may have to find our nearest marine petrol pump!

 

[CLB]

If filling that boat is not possible on the water, I think you are not going to enjoy the ownership experience. Gets a diesel, or move to somewhere with on the water petrol.

 

[Praxinoscope]

The last thing I would want to do is (bomb) around in a boat with 3-400 ltr tanks of petrol. (bomb) being the operative word in my opinion.
Look again and find a boat with diesel engines, safer, more economical and far simpler electrical systems to be attacked by salt water.

 

[Momac]

For this reason I very quickly established my first boat had to have a diesel engine. At that time the marina had no petrol which reinforced the decision. That was 10 years ago but even now petrol at the waterside is scarce.
Even if the marina where you keep your boat sells petrol you should consider whether you are able to refuel when travelling further afield.
A friend had a petrol boat but the logistics of refuelling were a nuisance . We had one holiday cruising in company with them that will be forever in our memory as ''the quest for fuel''. Eventually he changed to a diesel engined boat .

 

[lw395]

The last thing I would want to do is (bomb) around in a boat with 3-400 ltr tanks of petrol. (bomb) being the operative word in my opinion.
Look again and find a boat with diesel engines, safer, more economical and far simpler electrical systems to be attacked by salt water.

Lots of people get on quite safely and happily with petrol driven RIBs etc.
A bit of common sense and it's no more dangerous than a petrol car.
The cost of filling a big petrol tank would put me off, but that's just me!

 

[Momac]

The cost of filling a big petrol tank would put me off, but that's just me!

Petrol is more expensive at the waterside at present but that may change.

 

[Praxinoscope]

Lots of people get on quite safely and happily with petrol driven RIBs etc.
A bit of common sense and it's no more dangerous than a petrol car.
The cost of filling a big petrol tank would put me off, but that's just me!

I simply said I would not be happy with 400ltr of petrol on board, how many RIB’s carry tanks that size? If others are happy with large tanks of highly inflamable liquid on board fine they’re welcome, it’s not for me, same as I don’t have gas on board but use a spirit stove for cooking.
Filling it, now we are going to be forced to use ‘white’ diesel rather than red the cost of filling up will surely be roughly similar?

 

[prv]

I simply said I would not be happy with 400ltr of petrol on board, how many RIB’s carry tanks that size?

Most of the bigger ones, I imagine.

If you’re terrified of fire to the extent that you won’t have a proper cooker on your yacht that’s your prerogative and I’ll not try to change your mind, but it shouldn’t be a major concern to someone like the OP buying a perfectly conventional outboard powered motorboat.

The concern for him is that he can’t refuel the blooming thing anywhere

Pete

 

[Antony Collis]

Petrol.....Hmmmm

This is a topic i have debated for the last 10 years since i bought my Bayliner with a 454 liter petrol tank in it.

Most people know a little of the subject but apply that little knowledge to all the topics.

There are many parts to consider,
The buying of petrol,
The transportation of petrol,
The storage of petrol,
The use of petrol.
The petrol containers.

The laws relating to the storage of petrol were written in the 20's when cars were first starting to be used. It only allowed you to keep a few liters in your shed. This used to be a total of 15 liters. One 5 liter plastic can (like you see in the garage) and a 10 liter metal can. These had to be specific to storing petrol and marked with the BS standard and be embossed with the flammable liquid sign. The cans were also intended to be decanted into an end use container (the petrol tank of your car or lawn mower ect)

The 20 liter 'Gerry can' despite being metal was 10 liters oversize and not marked as such and therefore illegal to to petrol in. Just recently the size of metal container has risen to 20 liters and so you can now buy a legal Gerry can and mix it in with all your illegal Gerry cans.

The seller of the Petrol has responsibility to only sell you petrol in an approved container, so should ask to inspect your Gerry can to see if its Legal.

One thing to note is that i have 3 25 liter plastic petrol cans from the US. They have very official markings on them but are illegal because the markings are not UK standard and also there is actually a law prohibiting the import of petrol cans from outside the EU!! (mine arrived in a import boat)

You also get 'end use tanks' these are petrol containers that are not intended to be decanted into something else. Think of a 25 liter outboard tank. You can happily fill these up but it can confuses the seller who is used to seeing people fill small tanks but not a 25 liter tank so therefore he freaks right out when you pull out a second or third.
Now imagine that you pulled a speed boat to the garage and these tanks were strapped down in the rear of the boat. the seller now feels happier that its 'going in a boat' despite going into the exact same containers. The seller is made totally happy if you put the petrol in through a deck fill, even if it is going into the same containers..

How much is the seller happy to sell you?
ASDA have signs on their pumps stating 'LEGAL NOTICE' each person can only fill 1 5 liter plastic can or 1 10 liter Metal can or a combination. As is stated this is totally wrong and is referring to how much you can keep at home and not how much they are allowed to sell you. Even a Thames marina have a notice stating that they will only sell you 1 plastic can of petrol. But when questioned could not distinguish the difference between a 5 liter plastic petrol can and a 25 liter petrol tank.

In reality the amount of petrol you can buy from a garage is far higher and is governed by the rules surrounding transporting petrol. This says that you can only transport something like 333 liters before needing to have warning signs and symbols displayed on the outside of your vehicle. a demonstration of this is that you can but a petrol bowser (a bunded tank on a trailer) but these are usually only 250 liters. This means you can quite happily hitch this trailer to your car and pull up in ASDA and pump 250 liters into the the top of it. There is a thing that stops you pumping more than 100 liters in one transaction but you can go in and pay and then continue to pump more.

Unfortunately nothing written above will trump the local rules in that specific garage who's attendant has been told not to allow petrol to be sold into anything bigger than a 5 liter can and only 1 or 2 of them.

I usually fill 5 old style Gerry cans by going to a garage that have already given me the wink that they are happy to sell it to me.

All in all these laws and the fake restriction just serve to make life difficult, not just for boat owners but think of all the other people who use petrol, go carters, for instance.
Imagine going to a days go carting at a big international track where people are only allowed to bring 15 liters of petrol with them. This is why the who thing needs a shake up.

 

[Praxinoscope]

Most of the bigger ones, I imagine.

If you’re terrified of fire to the extent that you won’t have a proper cooker on your yacht that’s your prerogative and I’ll not try to change your mind, but it shouldn’t be a major concern to someone like the OP buying a perfectly conventional outboard powered motorboat.

The concern for him is that he can’t refuel the blooming thing anywhere

Pete

I’m not terrified of petrol on board, I do carry a small amount for the tender outboard, I just think that large volumes of petrol and boats just don’t mix well and that diesel is a better option for boats. As for the gas it’s just another hazard, not just fire, on board that can be avoided, so I prefer spirit stoves.
I should add that I have been on board a vessel on fire at sea, fortunately it was extinguished fairly quickly and there were fortunately no serious csualties, but it does make one consider how to minimise risks on ones own boat.

 

[pvb]

Spirit stoves terrify me far more than gas stoves!

 

[Momac]

Spirit stoves terrify me far more than gas stoves!

It is Halloween !

 

[duncan99210]

When we had a mobo it had a 75hp 2 stroke. Inboard tank held 70 litres and we carried another 50l in portable outboard fuel tanks. Going away for a weekend, that meant filling 2 x 20 litre jerrycans plus the two outboard tanks, decanting the jerrycans into the main tank and securing the outboard tanks. No where in the area (Menai Straits) offered dock side petrol apart from Conway marina, which was too far away to make sense (we’d have burnt 40l just getting there....)
It was a pain in the backside but by no means a show stopper. As to having an outboard requiring 300-400 litres at a go, what would stop me is the cost, which was bad enough buying 90 litres at a time. If the op is really chasing after a boat with that sort of fuel requirement, then I’d either be searching for a diesel engined boat or a marina with a petrol pump at the fuel berth.