White Diesel Paradox

[awol]

White diesel paradox for boaters in Northern Ireland
Not allowed red, can't buy white. Luckily the Irish are resourceful but visiting could be difficult.

 

[Tranona]

Just a dry run for when Nicola gets her way and you rejoin the EU.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Just a dry run for when Nicola gets her way and you rejoin the EU.

I thought they already had.

Nicola Sturgeon orders EU flag to be flown from Scottish government buildings daily

 

[Sandy]

White diesel paradox for boaters in Northern Ireland
Not allowed red, can't buy white. Luckily the Irish are resourceful but visiting could be difficult.

What stops them buying white?

I buy white all the time. Rock up at the pump and fill a Jerry can. Simples.

While the pump is not on the dock I'd prefer the turn over of a garage rather than stale red in a marina, says man who had the diesel bug after filling with red.

 

[awol]

Congratulations! You have manged to divert a topic with real effects on sailors in Northern Ireland into a Nicola Sturgeon thread.

 

[Newboy6458]

Well if you’ve got an agenda to push.....

 

[awol]

What stops them buying white?
I buy white all the time. Rock up at the pump and fill a Jerry can. Simples.
While the pump is not on the dock I'd prefer the turn over of a garage rather than stale red in a marina, says man who had the diesel bug after filling with red.

The boats that will suffer are those whose diesel needs fall between a 25 litre jerry can and a road tanker delivery. Then there is the FAME problem and low sulphur needs, never mind the reluctance to pay road going tax.

 

[Tranona]

Just one of the many problems of managing a border between the EU and third countries and no doubt with goodwill all round a workable solution will be found. As you say the inhabitants of Ireland are a resourceful people.

I have been using white for years and never had any problems. A typical small yacht uses less than 200l a year, often considerably less, so cans from Tesco are no great hardship, and the extra cost small.

 

[ashtead]

Interested to compared the Tesco price with that at say south coast marina (won’t single any particular one) but say Tesco is at 1.25 PL is it much different for a sailing vessel of modest mileage under power? We only felt it when fueling in Cherbourg last summer compared to usual Jersey pit stop. If ASDA started selling marine diesel I’m sure it would be far cheaper ?based on Portsmouth ASDA . My gripe is cost of yellow diesel cans . I guess NI mobo refuel in IoM though?

 

[CapPugwash]

I don't care how much or what colour it is, I don't use very much. Other than accessibility, the big issue for me is the bio-diesal they put in it now, in that it causes diesel bug. I know they put some into red too but not as much. I find it bizarre that the negligible tax gains are worth all this effort.

It dosen't even help the environment either! In fact it puts pressure on the poorest nations food supplies! Complete nonsense.

 

[westhinder]

I don't care how much or what colour it is, I don't use very much. Other than accessibility, the big issue for me is the bio-diesal they put in it now, in that it causes diesel bug. I know they put some into red too but not as much. I find it bizarre that the negligible tax gains are worth all this effort.

It dosen't even help the environment either! In fact it puts pressure on the poorest nations food supplies! Complete nonsense.

All of the yachts on the continent have been using white diesel for years now. If it were that bad, we would have seen a vast increase in diesel bug cases, quod non. This is a non-issue, I think.

 

[CapPugwash]

All of the yachts on the continent have been using white diesel for years now. If it were that bad, we would have seen a vast increase in diesel bug cases, quod non. This is a non-issue, I think.

That is a good point, I would love to see some data on that. Would be a good subject for an article.

 

[madabouttheboat]

What stops them buying white?

I buy white all the time. Rock up at the pump and fill a Jerry can. Simples.

While the pump is not on the dock I'd prefer the turn over of a garage rather than stale red in a marina, says man who had the diesel bug after filling with red.

Fine for a yacht that uses maybe 100 litres a year, but a MoBo might get through that easily in a day. I have had days where I have filled up three times in one day, and my tank is 400+ litres (not that it was completely empty each time, but probbaly got through maybe 600 litres).

 

[Sandy]

The boats that will suffer are those whose diesel needs fall between a 25 litre jerry can and a road tanker delivery. Then there is the FAME problem and low sulphur needs, never mind the reluctance to pay road going tax.

Depends on their needs.

As my boat has sails I use about 100 litres a year. This year will be interesting as I am planning to sail around Britain and will let you know my total usage.

The boat is set up with a 100 litre tank plus 50 in jerry cans giving a total range of 70 hours or approx 375 NM. So it might take me three trips to the local fuel station to fill up, but I'd rather do that than fill up from a marina fuel pump where the turn over in a year is less than a week at the local filling station.

Never had a problem with FAME or low sulphur, but the engine is a VP 2002 and will run on just about anything. If I had a modern engine I might get a bit nervous; ahh the price of progress.

Last summer when I looked at fuel on the pontoon the cost was £1.40 per litre, I was buying it at £1.10 from the local supermarket; a no brainer in my book.

 

[Sandy]

Fine for a yacht that uses maybe 100 litres a year, but a MoBo might get through that easily in a day. I have had days where I have filled up three times in one day, and my tank is 400+ litres (not that it was completely empty each time, but probbaly got through maybe 600 litres).

Then the MoBo skipper needs to work out something that works for them! I know that sounds rather harsh, but it is not that difficult. Plan you day, plan your fuel usage and how you are going to refill.

I've seen lots of people stuff 200 ltrs in the dingy, I am not going to ask where or how they got all that fuel, and haul it over to their boat purely because the nearest fuel pontoon was 20 NM away and if you wanted to refuel after 1700 hrs you needed to wait until 0900 hrs the following morning and no doubt be charged for the pleasure of an overnight stay.

 

[madabouttheboat]

Then the MoBo skipper needs to work out something that works for them! I know that sounds rather harsh, but it is not that difficult. Plan you day, plan your fuel usage and how you are going to refill.

I've seen lots of people stuff 200 ltrs in the dingy, I am not going to ask where or how they got all that fuel, and haul it over to their boat purely because the nearest fuel pontoon was 20 NM away and if you wanted to refuel after 1700 hrs you needed to wait until 0900 hrs the following morning and no doubt be charged for the pleasure of an overnight stay.

That's not harsh, and it is difficult. In fact in many cases it's impossible. You simply cannot fill a moderately sized MoBo on a daily, or even regular, basis using cans. No amount of planning will help if the fuel is simply not on the waterside. Filling once a year with 200 litres from cans is a huge faff, but possibly workable if that's your only option. But regularly, not a hope. 200 litres is 8 x 25 litre cans. Bearing in mind that the mobo in my example was 28ft long. The same journey in a 40 footer could easily have taken twice as much fuel. You seriously think filling up with 1200 litres from cans in a single day is doable? That's 48 x 25litre cans and circa 1.1 tons of fuel.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

I have cruised a few out of the way places and seen small tanker lorries fill up visiting cruising boats.
I have no idea how much it costs to do that though. I would expect a bit more than domestic deliveries of heating oil.

 

[dunedin]

I have cruised a few out of the way places and seen small tanker lorries fill up visiting cruising boats.
I have no idea how much it costs to do that though. I would expect a bit more than domestic deliveries of heating oil.

But do small tankers deliver white diesel (as now needed to supply boats in NI)?
Plenty of tankers deliver red heating diesel, but presumably could not be used for white.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

But do small tankers deliver white diesel (as now needed to supply boats in NI)?
Plenty of tankers deliver red heating diesel, but presumably could not be used for white.

Good point.

This website talks about 'baby' tankers and sells white in mainland Britain.

Might be worth giving a ring to get an idea of costs etc.

Fuel Delivery - Fuel Delivered Anywhere In The UK | Crown Oil

 

[TernVI]

I don't care how much or what colour it is, I don't use very much. Other than accessibility, the big issue for me is the bio-diesal they put in it now, in that it causes diesel bug. I...

White doesn't cause diesel bug, crap design of yacht tanks and allowing water to collect in the tank causes diesel bug.
It happened just as much with red.