cruising with petrol engine

[Simon clarke]

Without wishing to fuel a safety debate, (pun intended), is it difficult to cruise with a petrol using engine? Is it difficult to get fuel?

Edited January 29, 2014 by Simon clarke

[Grace and Favour]

You will almost certainly need to find roadside garages for petrol - - very very few boatyards sell petrol

[PaulJ]

Alot of the marinas no longer sell petrol and I know cruiser owners that have to fill their tanks using jerry cans/petrol stations. Bit of a bind if you have a 100 gallon tank!

[ditchcrawler]

You will almost certainly need to find roadside garages for petrol - - very very few boatyards sell petrol

Its available on the Thames

[Alan de Enfield]

One of the problems with buying Petrol is that the law states that you cannot store Petrol at home in containers larger than 10 litres (metal) and 5 litres (plastic) to a maximum of 30 litres.

 

Petrol stations do not think 'boat'- only house and the staff have probably been told - No Jerry Cans.

 

We found that on going to Roadside Petrol Stations they would not allow us to fill the 20 litre Jerry Cans as (quote) "it was against the law", the problem is that it is not against the law to fill a 20 litre metal can, but it is against the law to 'store' it in a 20 litre metal can.

 

Its an impossible argument to have on a forecourt.

 

If you are going to be using petrol stations buy yourself a couple of 10 litre 'jerry cans'

[blackrose]

One of the problems with buying Petrol is that the law states that you cannot store Petrol at home in containers larger than 10 litres (metal) and 5 litres (plastic) to a maximum of 30 litres.

 

Petrol stations do not think 'boat'- only house and the staff have probably been told - No Jerry Cans.

 

We found that on going to Roadside Petrol Stations they would not allow us to fill the 20 litre Jerry Cans as (quote) "it was against the law", the problem is that it is not against the law to fill a 20 litre metal can, but it is against the law to 'store' it in a 20 litre metal can.

 

Its an impossible argument to have on a forecourt.

 

If you are going to be using petrol stations buy yourself a couple of 10 litre 'jerry cans'

 

I have been filling 20 litre jerry cans for many years at petrol stations for my outboard and generator and have never once been stopped or questioned about it.

[Neil2]

There's no "law" as such on portable containers, but most filling stations will have a company policy which tends to favour 5 litre plastic containers. If a filling station have a policy against metal containers, there's not a lot you can do.

[MtB]

There's no "law" as such on portable containers, but most filling stations will have a company policy which tends to favour 5 litre plastic containers. If a filling station have a policy against metal containers, there's not a lot you can do.

 

Yes there is.

 

Pick a pump so your car is positioned between the pump and the till, concealing what you're doing. Then they can't see what you're dispensing petrol into.

 

MtB

[David Mack]

 

Yes there is.

 

Pick a pump so your car is positioned between the pump and the till, concealing what you're doing. Then they can't see what you're dispensing petrol into.

 

MtB

My thoughts too, but you can't do this when you are out boating.

[Naughty Cal]

It very much depends where you intend to cruise!

[BenC]

Sainsburys in Apsley won't let you fill more than 2 x 5lt cans. They come out and tell you, when I complained, they stopped the pumps on me!

[Naughty Cal]

Sainsburys in Apsley won't let you fill more than 2 x 5lt cans. They come out and tell you, when I complained, they stopped the pumps on me!

Again it depends on the petrol station.

 

Some friends of ours came to Wells with us on their twin engined petrol cruiser in 2012. There is no petrol sold at Wells Harbour and the nearest petrol station is 11 miles away. They had to book a taxi to take them to the petrol station with their two 20 litre jerry cans to fill them up and do the trip a few times. Luckily the taxi driver was fair with the price and the petrol station owner wasnt funny about them filling up.

[WJM]

I sometimes fill up a very big plastic petrol can for a big outboard engine at a petrol station. I put the can in the boot of my car and park so that the rear of the car cant be seen from the cash desk. So that way I can fill up any quantity I like. To the staff it looks like I am filling the car tank.

Edited January 30, 2014 by WJM

[magictime]

We've cruised for many hundreds of miles with a petrol outboard, its 13 litre fuel tank, two 5 litre cans, and no car. We reckon on needing to refill the cans once per full day's cruising, and there's always a petrol station within walking distance of the canal somewhere along the way. As often as not it's at a supermarket we'd be visiting anyway. If we're cruising somewhere unfamiliar, we tend to get on Google Maps in advance looking for handy petrol stations, and mark them in our Nicholson's guide.

 

So it's perfectly doable even with very little fuel stored on board and no car. Having said that, it is an inconvenience having to plan around getting fuel every day. If we were starting over, I might look for a boat with a diesel engine and a bigger tank

 

Edited to add: one other inconvenience we've encountered is that they won't let you through the Standedge tunnel with a petrol engine. I'm not sure if other tunnels have the same restriction, but this could limit your options for cruising.

Edited January 30, 2014 by magictime