Fuel Deposit

[JonL]

I’m hiring a cruiser is a few weeks – 44ft by 10ft, it’s only 2 years old, so I assume has a modern engine.

 

I’m hiring it on the broads. I’m being asked to leave a £140 fuel deposit.

Now I understand why I’m being asked to do this and it’s now standard practice, but how much diesel should £140 buy?

 

Assuming I cruise for 5 hours a day and keep within all speed limits, how much fuel am I likely to use each day – I know this is a bit of a “how long is a piece of string question” but I want some idea so that when I get back and they say I’ve burnt “x” amount of fuel I can tell if it’s roughly correct.

[Naughty Cal]

The prices the hire yards charge for diesel are quite high. The last time we hired on the Broads a few years ago it was over £1 per litre. You will use around about 2-3 litres per hour of diesel but dont forget you will be using the boat on tidal rivers so at some point will be working the engine hard to push the tides. You cant really compare the diesel cost to that of a narrowboat on a canal.

 

The last time we hired was for two weeks and we used just under 200 litres of fuel. We cruised for about 5 hours each day on average and had to refill the boat midway through the holiday. This was on a 30ftx12ft cruiser with a new nanni diesel (boat had just been rengined and had run 15 hours.)

[GSer]

I was at a hire base when one of their boats came back and the fuel needed topping up to the value of £140 after a weeks cruising.

 

I'd guess the deposit is to cover for hirers pinching fuel from the hire boats maybe

 

Paul

 

 

A litre an hour seems a fair yardstick if the boat is used with some sympathy.

Edited June 27, 2011 by GSer

[Naughty Cal]

I was at a hire base when one of their boats came back and the fuel needed topping up to the value of £140 after a weeks cruising.

 

I'd guess the deposit is to cover for hirers pinching fuel from the hire boats maybe

 

Paul

 

 

A litre an hour seems a fair yardstick if the boat is used with some sympathy.

 

Have you ever seen a hire boat on the Broads used with sympathy

[GSer]

Have you ever seen a hire boat on the Broads used with sympathy

 

 

Actually I am very guilty of not really reading the OP , sorry!!!

 

A broad beam cruiser might indeed drink a fair bit more than 1 ltph

[bottle]

You could always ask their fuel price and if another supply is available and cheaper fill up just before you return the boat.

 

£140 ain't gonner buy you much and of course, I suspect that, the majority will be used for propulsion, so that will be in the region of £1.40 per litre.

 

So 100 litres.

 

At canalboat usage 1.25 litre per hour that's about 112 hours of engine run time.

 

or as in Phylis's boat about ten minutes.

[Naughty Cal]

You could always ask their fuel price and if another supply is available and cheaper fill up just before you return the boat.

 

£140 ain't gonner buy you much and of course, I suspect that, the majority will be used for propulsion, so that will be in the region of £1.40 per litre.

 

So 100 litres.

 

At canalboat usage 1.25 litre per hour that's about 112 hours of engine run time.

 

or as in Phylis's boat about ten minutes.

 

Come on even NC dont have a drink problem quite that bad. At 25 knots 100 litres will last about 4.5 hours in decent conditions.

[Pie Eater]

I’m hiring a cruiser is a few weeks – 44ft by 10ft, it’s only 2 years old, so I assume has a modern engine.

 

I’m hiring it on the broads. I’m being asked to leave a £140 fuel deposit.

Now I understand why I’m being asked to do this and it’s now standard practice, but how much diesel should £140 buy?

 

Assuming I cruise for 5 hours a day and keep within all speed limits, how much fuel am I likely to use each day – I know this is a bit of a “how long is a piece of string question” but I want some idea so that when I get back and they say I’ve burnt “x” amount of fuel I can tell if it’s roughly correct.

We have just completed the 4 counties ring from Lymm and filled up at Thorn Marine on the 11th June - cost £74.63. We filled up again on the way back and it cost £74.10. I'm not sure how many litres that is for as the info is on the boat.

 

Steve

[magpie patrick]

The last time I lent Ripple out our Friends took her from Saul to Aldersley Junction and back, I'd say that was gunning it in a week (okay nine days).

 

They got through £122 of diesel. I would suggest the boatyard you are using is setting a value that you can not realistically exceed

[muddywaters]

When booking a hire boat now the first thing we look for is do they charge a deposit for fuel.

If a hire firm does then we don't use them, which is the reason we stopped using Black Prince.

Going with one of the few hire company's that don't asked for a fuel deposit this year, Anglo Welsh.

Know this is not much use for the OP BTW, as it's not on the Broads.

Looks like I will have to go back on my principle next year though when we go on the Caledonian canal as I notice there are no hire firms on there that don't charge a fuel deposit

[ditchcrawler]

Diesel on the broads has always been a rip off. When it was straight red at the low rate of duty it was almost expensive as road diesel. It was not unknown for yard to charge private boaters one price and hirers another. I have always considered the Broads a rip off and I live there.

[Naughty Cal]

We have just completed the 4 counties ring from Lymm and filled up at Thorn Marine on the 11th June - cost £74.63. We filled up again on the way back and it cost £74.10. I'm not sure how many litres that is for as the info is on the boat.

 

Steve

 

Not really comparabl to the Broads though. The Broads is tidal for its entirity so even in the upper reaches you will still be pushing the tide at times and working the engine harder. Plus the fact that Broads hirers have two speeds. Flat out and moored up, these engines use much more fuel than your average narrowboat.

[RichardH]

When booking a hire boat now the first thing we look for is do they charge a deposit for fuel.

If a hire firm does then we don't use them, which is the reason we stopped using Black Prince.

Going with one of the few hire company's that don't asked for a fuel deposit this year, Anglo Welsh.

Know this is not much use for the OP BTW, as it's not on the Broads.

Looks like I will have to go back on my principle next year though when we go on the Caledonian canal as I notice there are no hire firms on there that don't charge a fuel deposit

 

Or on the Leeds Liverpool

 

It is tempting to charge though - we had a boat use £400 in 3 weeks not so long since. I asked them if they had been far -

 

'not really they said but we did like to leave the heating on all day for the dog'

[tillergirl]

I know we only hire narrowboats but we've never been charged for fuel yet! Not even when we did the Fens 3 years ago. TBH boating is'nt a cheap holiday in the first place without having to add an extra charge for fuel. Its a pity that whilst some firms can "afford" to include diesel in the cost of the hire others seem to think its a Brucie Bonus! Must have an effect on their turnover.................

[Naughty Cal]

I know we only hire narrowboats but we've never been charged for fuel yet! Not even when we did the Fens 3 years ago. TBH boating is'nt a cheap holiday in the first place without having to add an extra charge for fuel. Its a pity that whilst some firms can "afford" to include diesel in the cost of the hire others seem to think its a Brucie Bonus! Must have an effect on their turnover.................

 

Doesnt seem to have any effect on turnover. There will be very few yards that dont charge for fuel. If you read your T&C's it was most likely included in the price of your hire but not a freebie.

 

Was your hire slightly more expensive say than an equivalent boat from a yard that charges a fuel surcharge?

[tillergirl]

Doesnt seem to have any effect on turnover. There will be very few yards that dont charge for fuel. If you read your T&C's it was most likely included in the price of your hire but not a freebie.

 

Was your hire slightly more expensive say than an equivalent boat from a yard that charges a fuel surcharge?

 

Nope - £700 for a week in middle of June - all inclusive. Did'nt even have to leave a damage waiver..............Quote:

 

"No charge for diesel - what you see is what you pay!!"

 

Our only extra was £20 for the dogs.......... for both not each.

Edited June 29, 2011 by tillergirl

[lostnortherner]

I also don't like/refuse to use yards that charge seperately for diesel.

 

Our first hire was an Alvechurch from Wrenbury, and the second, a yellow peril from Rugby. At that time there was no charge for diesel. I was pretty fed up when they changed the policy, and haven't hired from them since. Especially now, when they are so much more expensive than other companies that do include fuel!

 

Since then, I've hired from Silsden, Anglo Welsh (twice) and Rose, and have been perfectly happy with them all.

 

When I'm boating, I'm relaxing, I don't want to be thinking "ooo -we won't go down that arm, as it'll cost an extra fiver of diesel" or whatever. I can see the reasoning for charging, but the thought of it just ruins the holiday for me.

 

Aside - I'm just trying to negotiate release from work for a short notice hire week in 2 weeks (fuel included!)

[Spacebar]

I'm told people often use cheaper red to charge their batteries and just happen to move along at the same time !

[Teadaemon]

Having refuelled rather a lot of hire boats, it's possible to get a fair idea of how they've been driving by how much I put in. For cruisers of about the size the OP mentions, it wouldn't be unusual for them to use 60-70 litres in a week; however if they drive like Phylis, punch the tide across Breydon Water both ways, etc, etc then they could easily use more than 100 litres, my record last year was 166 litres used in one week's hire. Certainly the yard I work for has no problem with hirers filling up somewhere else before they bring the boat back (even in the yard next door, if they so desire). We don't make a profit on fuel, even though the price we charge seems to be very high.