Davydine Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 I know that different yards do things in different ways, when my parents used to hire from Brooms, they would fill the fuel tank as part of the handover, so you know it is full before you leave the yard. My experience of hiring from other yards is that they top the tank up when you get back to the yard, so they know how much fuel you have used and charge you accordingly. This is fine in high season when boats will be turned round and out the same day, but out of season, the boat could have been moved around the yard several times and left with the engine running to boost the batteries, so in that case, how do you know the tank is full? Am I overthinking this? thanks, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oddfellow Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Yes, you are overthinking it. Movement around the yard would use negligible amounts and battery charging similarly. BUT, i would never run the engine to charge batteries anyway. Change them or take a charger on board. We're talking about no more than a litre of use here which is about as precise as topping the tank anyway. There will always be small, negligible margins for error but nobody is getting turned over through them. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colino Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Depend on wear you hire from fill up before you take the boat back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorfolkNog Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 That is a bit frowned on - yards make a small margin on the fuel - you would pay more in hire charge otherwise. Besides is it worth the bother? In 40 years hiring I've never been short changed on fuel by any of the yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VetChugger Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 All hire boats used to have a dip stick for the tank. I was always suspicious after this stopped. I once asked the yard, prior to departure, how much they were charging for fuel. Refused to tell me and very sternly insisted I do not even think about filling up prior to return. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colino Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Lots of hires do not me(boat owner} Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxwellian Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Hired from several yards and not notice any discrepancies yet. Generally I go with the tides where possible so use less fuel. The days of ragging it to see everywhere like an overseas tourist have long gone. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Once you've had my fuel bill for a good 2 week run you won't worry about what any hire yard charges you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broads01 Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 It's a fair question Davydine and something I've wondered about in the past. Whenever I've hired from Richardsons, the boat has tended to have the engine running when I first board and so I've turned it off straightaway. Having said that the amount of fuel that's been used is probably negligible. Errors can be made though - years ago I hired from Bees Boats as was and during the trip discovered they'd actually forgotten to refuel after the previous hirer. It was a 2 week trip and yet after a week the tank was almost empty - it turned out the previous hirer had returned the boat unexpectedly early, gone home without waiting for the refuel which had subsequently been overlooked by the boatyard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davydine Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 Thanks everyone, some interesting answers. We are looking at an early season holiday and I think we might be the first hire of the season. I have occasionally popped in to a boatyard if I am driving past and noticed that there is almost always a boat sitting with the engine running and it got me wondering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grendel Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 I would imagine that they would always check and top up for the first hire of the season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorfolkNog Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 48 minutes ago, Davydine said: almost always a boat sitting with the engine running and it got me wondering. Fairly standard practice, I really wouldn't worry, coffee cup full of fuel. Also you don't know if it's being maintained or fuelled up ready to go. Folks are happy enough to run their engines on moorings so I really wouldn't worry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davydine Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 47 minutes ago, NorfolkNog said: Fairly standard practice, I really wouldn't worry, coffee cup full of fuel. Also you don't know if it's being maintained or fuelled up ready to go. Folks are happy enough to run their engines on moorings so I really wouldn't worry. Yeah but my coffee cup is huge! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppy Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 2 hours ago, Davydine said: Thanks everyone, some interesting answers. We are looking at an early season holiday and I think we might be the first hire of the season. I have occasionally popped in to a boatyard if I am driving past and noticed that there is almost always a boat sitting with the engine running and it got me wondering. Engines are often left running to chill down the fridge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davydine Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 1 hour ago, Poppy said: Engines are often left running to chill down the fridge. Good point, hadn't considered that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesey69 Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 Good point. What ever happened to the wooden dipstick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MauriceMynah Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 2 minutes ago, Cheesey69 said: Good point. What ever happened to the wooden dipstick? He got a job as CEO of the BA. ( I kinda owed Peter that one. :-) ) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesey69 Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 6 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said: He got a job as CEO of the BA. ( I kinda owed Peter that one. :-) ) Totally brilliant. Class answer. You win the forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldgregg Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 On 30/06/2020 at 23:12, Broads01 said: Whenever I've hired from Richardsons, the boat has tended to have the engine running when I first board and so I've turned it off straightaway. The trouble with that is you never know how many engine hours she did the previous week. I think like me you tend to do a fair few miles in a week so don't tend to have battery issues, but it's always good to make sure. I have had an issue (not on the Broads) with a boat that clearly hadn't done enough running the week before and it took a good couple of days of cruising to stop the fridge shutting off every night. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grendel Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 14 hours ago, Cheesey69 said: Good point. What ever happened to the wooden dipstick? To get one of those, you need to hire from marthams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobster Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Could the reason you don’t get a wooden dipstick anymore be, due to the fuel tank position in the boat. On the modern boats It may not be possible to dip the tank the old fashioned way. just a thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldBerkshireBoy Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 8 minutes ago, Tobster said: Could the reason you don’t get a wooden dipstick anymore be, due to the fuel tank position in the boat. On the modern boats It may not be possible to dip the tank the old fashioned way. just a thought Just leave it in the tank filler under the cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobster Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 That will only work if the filler is directly above the tank, lots of modern boats have the fuel tank offset from the filler cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclemike Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 7 hours ago, grendel said: To get one of those, you need to hire from marthams. got one on chameleon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldgregg Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 2 hours ago, Tobster said: Could the reason you don’t get a wooden dipstick anymore be, due to the fuel tank position in the boat. On the modern boats It may not be possible to dip the tank the old fashioned way. just a thought I think one of the main reasons is that hirers had a tendency to open the tank clearly marked 'Water' and put the fuel dipstick in there to see how much fuel they had left..... Cue a nice problem for someone to sort out. On a lot of boats, if it's full then you can see diesel in the hose as soon as you remove the filler cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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