Buying petrol on the inland waterways

[Dave Faulkner]

As I own an outboard powered cruiser which has only a portable tank I wondered if anyone knows if there are any inland waterway maps which indicate where petrol can be obtained. Boat Safety regs seem to limit what can be carried somewhat and for a weeks cruise a refill would be a must.

 

Any thoughts?

[FirstMate]

Hello Dave.

When we had an outboard engine we had to plan our trips well in advance for petrol stops. We found the large supermarkets along the canalside the most reliable. Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda were the most popular in our experience. We went into our local chain, of each of these stores, and picked up a leaflet from customer services, detailing where their stores are nationwide. These leaflets state which stores are 24 hour, which stores sell fuel, which have a pharmacy, etc. They are very useful leaflets. A 20 litre gerry can and a lightweight folding trolly are also useful.

 

Both Nicholson and Pearson guides show petrol on their maps, but of course they quickly become outdated as garages close down, and new ones spring up.

 

We also have a Garmin Nuvi 300 SatNAV which we find useful, especially on "pedestrain" mode, because this shows the canal, and Points of Interest, shops and petrol stations, etc.

 

However, we no longer have a petrol outboard, having changed our boat to a diesel inboard.

 

If you are planning a particular trip let me know, and if we have covered that route I may be able to help you locate fuel.

We covered many miles with an outboard, including Llangollen, Manchester, London - all starting from Staffs and Worc canal.

 

FirstMate.

[Naughty Cal]

As you will no doubt already know most marine outlets only sell diesel. A few sell petrol but really not many. Your best bet is to plan your route around petrol stations and then mark on a map the handy ones for future reference. Assuming your outboard isnt huge you should be able to carry enough fuel to keep you going for a couple of days.

[Gretzky]

There is an option in Google earth to show petrol stations, however the little petrol pump icon is not always placed correctly, zooming in you can usually locate the petrol station and clicking on the icon usually gives the full address and a phone number so you can call when planning to make sure they are still there!

[Naughty Cal]

There is an option in Google earth to show petrol stations, however the little petrol pump icon is not always placed correctly, zooming in you can usually locate the petrol station and clicking on the icon usually gives the full address and a phone number so you can call when planning to make sure they are still there!

 

You should be an expert on this topic

[Lady Muck]

Google petrol station locations UK - there are quite a few price comparison websites which allow you to findfind petrol stations local to you. As previously mentioned, most of the major supermarkets have petrol stations and many are on the canal. We've manged quite well so far on this trip using a combination of all the above 'hunting' methods - we need petrol to run the genny.

[Gretzky]

You should be an expert on this topic

 

Oh yes! and the 400 Ltr tank is full.... at the moment anyway Good thing with my engine is it will sit quite happily at 800 - 1000 rpm burning a couple of ltrs per hour doing 3 mph on a canal not overheating and making hardly any noise or vibration, the guy next but one to us at the marina calls our boat a stealth boat because its so quiet at low revs! Down side is once off canals anything over 2000 rpm and you might as well gun it and burn 40 lph on the plane when you work out the liters per mile! Hang on is that a down side?

[Naughty Cal]

Oh yes! and the 400 Ltr tank is full.... at the moment anyway Good thing with my engine is it will sit quite happily at 800 - 1000 rpm burning a couple of ltrs per hour doing 3 mph on a canal not overheating and making hardly any noise or vibration, the guy next but one to us at the marina calls our boat a stealth boat because its so quiet at low revs! Down side is once off canals anything over 2000 rpm and you might as well gun it and burn 40 lph on the plane when you work out the liters per mile! Hang on is that a down side?

 

No thats the upside

 

Gets you to the pub quicker

[bastonjock]

one other problem that you may face with having to find petrol is that some forecourts will not sell you more than 6 gallons at a time,i stopped in one an the girl on the till was quite firm that she could not sell me 2x 6 gallons,as i had filled up both tanks i asked her which one should i pour back? she relented and told me that in future i would have to fill both tanks at separate garages.

[Gretzky]

one other problem that you may face with having to find petrol is that some forecourts will not sell you more than 6 gallons at a time,i stopped in one an the girl on the till was quite firm that she could not sell me 2x 6 gallons,as i had filled up both tanks i asked her which one should i pour back? she relented and told me that in future i would have to fill both tanks at separate garages.

 

All depends on the garage and there insurance or license not sure which, some will only allow 1 5ltr can and of course if the operator actually knows what they are allowed to sell! I have 4 20 ltr jerry cans, I fill 2 at one garage, go round the corner and fill the other 2! And even that is fun because the law about the cans you can use is wired you are not even supposed to have 20 ltr jerry cans full of petrol! i believe the law says the maximum in 10ltr metal cans but you can have as many as you want up to am maximum of something like 500 ltrs! As long as you don't store them in your house or blah blah blah it goes on and on. But do be careful Petrol can be dangerous stuff on boats, the fumes are heavy and sink, a boat the fumes go straight in the bilge, one spark and bang! If you are running petrol make sure you have a good bilge blower and use it. Take care when refueling, like i said the fumes sink so its not just spills you need to worry about, even with an outboard a slight breeze will blow the fumes inboard and over time the fumes will accumulate.

 

Remember the most dangerous petrol can is an empty one, because petrol fumes are more volatile than the liquid and an empty can is full of them!

Edited June 4, 2009 by Gretzky

[Naughty Cal]

All depends on the garage and there insurance or license not sure which, some will only allow 1 5ltr can and of course if the operator actually knows what they are allowed to sell! I have 4 20 ltr jerry cans, I fill 2 at one garage, go round the corner and fill the other 2! And even that is fun because the law about the cans you can use is wired you are not even supposed to have 20 ltr jerry cans full of petrol! i believe the law says the maximum in 10ltr metal cans but you can have as many as you want up to am maximum of something like 500 ltrs! As long as you dont store them in your house or blah blah blah it goes on and on. But do be careful Petrol can be dangerous stuff on boats, the fumes are heavy and sink, in most case its not a problem but with boat the fumes go straight in the bilge, one spark and bang! If you are running petrol make sure you have a good bilge blower and use it. Take care when refueling, like i said the fumes sink so its not just spills you need to worry about.

 

Another reason to get a diesel?

[magpie patrick]

Another reason to get a diesel?

 

Probably but there aren't that many diesel outboards for sale! (and the risks are lower with an outboard as the engine is not sitting in the bilge)

[Naughty Cal]

Probably but there aren't that many diesel outboards for sale! (and the risks are lower with an outboard as the engine is not sitting in the bilge)

 

There are some though. Expensive brutes

[mayalld]

Hello Dave.

When we had an outboard engine we had to plan our trips well in advance for petrol stops. We found the large supermarkets along the canalside the most reliable. Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda were the most popular in our experience. We went into our local chain, of each of these stores, and picked up a leaflet from customer services, detailing where their stores are nationwide. These leaflets state which stores are 24 hour, which stores sell fuel, which have a pharmacy, etc. They are very useful leaflets. A 20 litre gerry can and a lightweight folding trolly are also useful.

 

A 20 litre jerry can is actually of no use whatsoever, for the simple reason that it is illegal to dispense perol into them.

 

Portable containers for petrol must be a maximum of 10 litres (if metal) or 5 litres (if plastic), and must be marked with the appropriate safety warnings.

 

The days of filling any old container with petrol are long gone.

[Gretzky]

Probably but there aren't that many diesel outboards for sale! (and the risks are lower with an outboard as the engine is not sitting in the bilge)

 

Biggest danger with an outboard petrol isn't so much the engine but the fuel tank, its either external (to the engine) or too small so you have to carry spare petrol on the boat somewhere.

 

Just know the dangers and never take the stuff for granted.

[Naughty Cal]

A 20 litre jerry can is actually of no use whatsoever, for the simple reason that it is illegal to dispense perol into them.

 

Portable containers for petrol must be a maximum of 10 litres (if metal) or 5 litres (if plastic), and must be marked with the appropriate safety warnings.

 

The days of filling any old container with petrol are long gone.

 

Depends on your petrol station. Some still let you.

[carlt]

From the HSE site:

 

 

How many containers can I fill at a petrol station?

 

Petrol filling stations may have their own internal policy on the types and numbers of containers they are prepared to fill - frequently one or two 5 litre plastic and/or one or two 10 litre metal. This is a decision made by the filling station operator and is not a legal requirement.

 

Petrol filling stations usually have to abide by a licence condition to allow only 'suitable' containers to be filled. This is usually interpreted as metal containers up to a maximum size of 23 litres or plastic containers up to a maximum size of 5 litres. A licence condition has the same effect as a legal requirement. The licence condition does not limit how many containers one customer may fill.

[bastonjock]

so what about all these 25 liter outboard tanks? is it illegal to fill up a 25 liter plastic specially made for the job fuel tanks?

 

as for the diesel vs petrol argument.diesel lost its manin advantage when the gov put the new tax rate on marina fuels overall it now cheaper to run a petrol,if you take into consideration the replacement and servicing costs.However diesel is a safer fuel,but again petrol used correctly is safe,i have an outboard so no probs with bilge blowing and my removable tanks are in a well vented open lasarette

[larrysanders]

Interesting stuff... I've just bought my boat back from St Ives on the Ouse to Sawley marina about 200 plus miles.. I've refuelled unleaded numerous times at Tesco, BP, Shell etc all into a plastic 20 litre can I bought from a boat show. No one said anything or questioned me and I had no idea it was illegal?? I used a little trolley and bungie clip to get it back to the boat. I was just very cautious about refueling and took the cans well away from the boat.

[Lady Muck]

Depends on your petrol station. Some still let you.

 

Reminds me of our trip to Koh Lanta where all the petrol was sold by little girls, from old, reused 2 litre coke bottles, that they had stacked up at the side of the road.

[Dave Faulkner]

Some useful stuff - and such a quick response too!

 

As I really don't want gallons of spare fuel stored on board locating fill ups is the main concern. The Boat Safety regs on carrying on board fuel are quite restrictive ( as for that matter are the regs on acquiring at filling stations as many have pointed out).

 

I looked at some of the jerry can brackets available for land rovers etc but I don't think I have anywhere suitable for fixing and inboard stowage is not ideal.

 

 

 

Thanks for all the good advice - I'll certainly follow up some of these suggestions.

 

regs,

 

Dave