White Diesel Availability

[Momac]

Great Britain is what we call that

Yes I know but I wanted to be 100% clear that arrangements in Northern Ireland may be different to the rest of the UK.

 

[NormanS]

I agree that the 60/40 split stuff is a nonsense - why should a yacht owner pay less tax on their fuel than, say, a nurse going to work?

But please explain why you think switching to white diesel would
(A) “solve rip off prices” - many places the 60/40 price at the harbour is cheaper than road diesel prices at the local road fuel station, and other marinas would presumably sim0y add their existing markup to white diesel.
(B) “solve diesel bug issues” - if anything the fact that some marina supplies are currently FAME free, whereas road diesel is not, might make this worse. The causes of “diesel bug” are still a source of debate, sometimes on board issues rather than supply ones, but hard to make a case why a switch to white would do anything other than risk making worse.

Also, the key priority in remote harbours is yachts and commercial / fishing boats being permitted to use the same supply pumps.

The "nurse going to work" is using 100% of his/her fuel to propel their car. Quite a proportion of boat fuel, (accepted by government as 40%) is used for domestic purposes. Seems like a reasonable compromise to me. If you feel otherwise, there is nothing to prevent you from paying the full rate of tax on all your fuel.

 

[Momac]

I agree that the 60/40 split stuff is a nonsense - why should a yacht owner pay less tax on their fuel than, say, a nurse going to work?

The reasons being
(i)The fuel is not for highway use and more importantly
(ii)Some or all of it may be domestic use

But you can pay 100% propulsion duty if that is what you prefer to declare.

 

[lustyd]

solve rip off prices” - many places the 60/40 price at the harbour is cheaper than road diesel prices at the local road fuel station

The only place we saw cheaper 60/40 was Troon, and their diesel was so dirty I assume they empty their oil disposal into it. Everywhere else it was the same or more expensive. Ireland being the exception, both ends the white diesel price at the pontoon was identical to the forecourt so the idea that it’s more expensive to provide is an outright lie. Their throughput is far lower and they don’t serve fishing boats.

solve diesel bug issues” - if anything the fact that some marina supplies are currently FAME free

Ireland was the cleanest diesel we saw other than Sutton Harbour (which was immaculate). It seems red is being used as an excuse for it being dirty and not just bug but actual dirt. FAME free has largely disappeared if you care to check again. None of the south coast marinas claim that any more that I could find.

 

[lustyd]

Yes I know but I wanted to be 100% clear that arrangements in Northern Ireland may be different to the rest of the UK.

How does “Great Britain” not achieve that? No part of Ireland is in Great Britain.
This forum is the ideal place for map pedantry

 

[ylop]

The "nurse going to work" is using 100% of his/her fuel to propel their car. Quite a proportion of boat fuel, (accepted by government as 40%) is used for domestic purposes. Seems like a reasonable compromise to me. If you feel otherwise, there is nothing to prevent you from paying the full rate of tax on all your fuel.

A better comparison might have been: a campervan running heating and electric just as we do...

 

[ylop]

How does “Great Britain” not achieve that? No part of Ireland is in Great Britain.
This forum is the ideal place for map pedantry

But if you want to make sure the audience understand it then Momac's explicit approach might be better. Its not his fault that a lot of people are thick! Even more important since the OP is not British or Irish and quite reasonably might conflate the two because of how we inconsistently project ourselves to the world.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Planning our summer cruise to Scotland I was wondering where I could fill up with white diesel. The plan is to sail there and return via the East coast, visit the Hebrides, Orkney, hopefully Shetland, probably using the Caledonian Canal either outbound or homebound. I realise I will have to use jerrycan and folding bike in a number of places, but it would be nice to know which harbours sell white diesel. Is there any resource to find that out, short of calling individual harbourmasters?

Looks like there are no resources. I checked Visit My Harbour and it just refers to diesel, no differentiation. There are update comments below each harbour description which might help. Worth having the link and reviewing for the actual harbours you want to visit. You could even join and make some updates in the comments on this matter, or at a later date, maybe update this thread and I would add the comments in. Anyway, good luck, it looks like local advise when you arrive would be best.

Free Compehensive UK Harbour Information and For Nav chartpacks : from Visit My Harbour

 

[SaltIre]

The "nurse going to work" is using 100% of his/her fuel to propel their car. Quite a proportion of boat fuel, (accepted by government as 40%) is used for domestic purposes. Seems like a reasonable compromise to me. If you feel otherwise, there is nothing to prevent you from paying the full rate of tax on all your fuel.

Do you think she'll have her heating & electrical stuff turned off while driving?
Edit: I appreciate she may have a big solar panel on the roof to power that, but it seems unlikely.

 

[adamstjohn]

we changed to white diesel 10 yrs ago bought from petrol stations due to the worry of being fined on the continent, Belgium principally, however changed back to fame free diesel from marinas as the white contained contained biofuels which seemed to contribute to diesel bug . our usage is pretty low , maybe 150 ltrs a year.

Thankfully we havent had any problems with Belgium customs despite being boarded a couple of times en route to ostende. i do keep my fingers crossed and appreciate that it is still forbidden in belgium and thankfully there seems to be a degree of pragmatism by customs guys re this.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

we changed to white diesel 10 yrs ago bought from petrol stations due to the worry of being fined on the continent, Belgium principally, however changed back to fame free diesel from marinas as the white contained contained biofuels which seemed to contribute to diesel bug . our usage is pretty low , maybe 150 ltrs a year.

Thankfully we havent had any problems with Belgium customs despite being boarded a couple of times en route to ostende. i do keep my fingers crossed and appreciate that it is still forbidden in belgium and thankfully there seems to be a degree of pragmatism by customs guys re this.

If you are UK based then when you sail to the EU you are under temporary admission rules which allow marked diesel in the boat's permanently fitted tank/s. Even Belgium is respecting this now. The problem is when EU based boats buy marked diesel outside of the EU and return to the EU - in particular Belgium which for years now has got a bee in its bonnet over a trivially small problem and tiny possible loss of revenue. They should concentrate on government corruption for which they have a dismal rating compared to their neighbours, but Joe Public on his boat is an easy target. The established wealthy elite are not.

 

[Supertramp]

I would carry cans for 100 litres on deck and not add any red to my system. Cans on deck are not my favourite thing but I think the alternatives are even messier.

And hope for fair winds.