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A dearth of Diesel


Tractor

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A trip from Stratford on Avon to Cropredy, 

Two sites on the Stratford Canal, three sites on the Grand Union, unable to sell diesel.

After a small amount of concern / panic, finally found Calcutt Boats, top of the Stockton Flight, with fuel for sale.

 

Clearly I need to invest in a couple of 'jerry cans' for the future.

 

Why is it difficult to find the stuff?

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1 hour ago, Tractor said:

A trip from Stratford on Avon to Cropredy, 

Two sites on the Stratford Canal, three sites on the Grand Union, unable to sell diesel.

After a small amount of concern / panic, finally found Calcutt Boats, top of the Stockton Flight, with fuel for sale.

 

Clearly I need to invest in a couple of 'jerry cans' for the future.

 

Why is it difficult to find the stuff?

 

Try refilling when the tank drops to say half full. That way you will still have plenty of fuel to get to another boatyard without anxiety.

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15 minutes ago, Tractor said:

Their supply is only for the 'hire fleet', or 'Derv is not for public sale'.

Do you have a decent guide book which shows the boat yards which do sell to the public? Is it simply that the route you took, didn't pass anyone who sold it?

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19 minutes ago, Tractor said:

Their supply is only for the 'hire fleet', or 'Derv is not for public sale'.

Ok - they chooses not to sell it, rather than they are unable to sell it,

That makes sense.

 

With such a low margin and the hassle of Customs & Excise paperwork I don't understand why anywhere sells it at the prices boaters expect.

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1 hour ago, Tractor said:

A trip from Stratford on Avon to Cropredy, 

Two sites on the Stratford Canal, three sites on the Grand Union, unable to sell diesel.

After a small amount of concern / panic, finally found Calcutt Boats, top of the Stockton Flight, with fuel for sale.

 

Clearly I need to invest in a couple of 'jerry cans' for the future.

 

Why is it difficult to find the stuff?

As you have found out there is a dearth of diesel suppliers on that route. 

The only supplies I know of on that route are 

Anglo Welsh at Wooten Wawen, which is a bit early in your trip. 

Then nothing until Calcutt.

 

Calisto (Star class carriers) fuel boat does run routes out from warwick/long Itchington details here

http://canalcarrying.com/wordpress/?page_id=9

 

Info for another day:

 

Around Kingswood Junction the nearest fuel that I know of in each direction

 

Grand Union heading towards napton: Calcut marina

 

Grand Union heading towards solihull/birmingham: Copt Heath Wharf (obtained some there a couple of years ago but needed to phone owner to come out to pump). Would be interested to hear if this is still the case. 

 

Stratford towards Stratford on Avon: Anglo Welsh at Wooton Wawen. 

 

Stratford canal heading towards birmingham: Swallow Cruisers near Hockley Heath. 

 

In 3 of the directions there are quite a few lock to get through before you can obtain diesel. If going to Copt heath wharf then you have to go up the Knowle locks. I always make a point of filling up if I am heading towards Kingswood. 

 

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Also at Calcutt (below the flight) is Ventnor Marina, they sell to the public any day except Wednesday.

 

There's also its sister marina, Wigrams Turn, at Napton Junction. Possibly best to avoid Black Prince turnaround days between 9am and 4pm for that one though, if possible.

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1 hour ago, Lily Rose said:

Also at Calcutt (below the flight) is Ventnor Marina, they sell to the public any day except Wednesday.

 

There's also its sister marina, Wigrams Turn, at Napton Junction. Possibly best to avoid Black Prince turnaround days between 9am and 4pm for that one though, if possible.

That's Saturday at Wigrams. You wont get served unless you ring ahead and ask for service. Diesel available the other 6 days of the week.

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1 minute ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Have Fenny Compton Marina on OP's route stopped selling diesel? their website suggests otherwise ( https://www.thefennymarina.co.uk/fuel-gas-prices ) but I haven't been past since October 2016 so cannot say from personal experience.

They were still selling last year when I came through moving a boat from darn sarf.

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Just now, mrsmelly said:

My bog standard narrowboat tanks hold 60 gallons. I have never come anywhere close to running out. Get yer act together innitt :D

Must say I was thinking that as well. Mine is of course in litres ( :rolleyes:) and holds roughly 160 litres which I burn at about 1 litre per hour of cruising so it takes me, say, 150 hours to run out of fuel. How does OP cope in a car that will run out of fuel in about 10 hours? With the boat I tend to go down to about 60 litres and then refuel, so still have about 50 hours of cruising time left which at 2 miles per hour gives me a range of 100 miles, where in this country are you more than 100 miles from a refuelling point?

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9 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

My bog standard narrowboat tanks hold 60 gallons. I have never come anywhere close to running out. Get yer act together innitt :D

You have no sense of adventure

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I hope Lions on the the North Stratford still sell diesel, they are really nice people.

Fenny Compton used to be pretty good on price but not been there for a few years now.

Try to use diesel boats whenever I can.

 

................Dave

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7 hours ago, dmr said:

I hope Lions on the the North Stratford still sell diesel, they are really nice people.

Fenny Compton used to be pretty good on price but not been there for a few years now.

Try to use diesel boats whenever I can.

 

................Dave

I can’t see that Lyons will have stopped, but neither Lyons nor Fenny Compton are on the route from Stratford to Calcutt.  Is there actually a fuel boat that operates in that area?

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7 hours ago, dmr said:

I hope Lions on the the North Stratford still sell diesel, they are really nice people.

Fenny Compton used to be pretty good on price but not been there for a few years now.

Try to use diesel boats whenever I can.

 

................Dave

Yep, Lyons is still going, they are really nice and they are still selling diesel - I stopped there a week or two ago.  I forget how much they're currently charging but I think it was reasonably competitive and they allow any declaration. I put sent the price info to Bob Draper at diesel.fibrefactory if you want to check how much it was.  I paid a bit over the odds for an air filter I could have waited for and bought cheaper, but I see places like these as a corner shop - use it or lose it. :)

 

Edited by Sea Dog
Removed spare words!
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