Fuel Usage

[Onthewater]

Can anyone tell me roughly what the average miles covered and fuel usage in a week on the broads? We have just returned from a week on a boat in Norfolk to be met with a nearly £400 fuel bill. 
having spent a week last year in a similar sized boat and covering similar distance and getting a fuel bill of £90 I can’t help but think somethings not quite right. Minimal heating used this year due to mildness and no need to idle engine for power as we had electrical plug in. Interested to know other peoples usage and costs, I am fully aware of different effects of tides and heating etc 

[Puddleduck2]

Depends a lot on speed and use of tides. However, on my Perkins 4107, driving a Collins 35, I averaged about 1/2 gallon an hour. Thats over many seasons of use.

[Meantime]

That doesn't sound right to me. Some back of the fag packet calculations for you.

The highest diesel price I know of on the Broads was Brooms at £2.30 per litre, so worse case £400 would buy you about 173 litres.

My boat which has a typical engine for the Broads does about 2.7 miles to the litre in the Summer, no heater usage. 

So for that kind of money I would have got 467 miles, which is one hell of a mileage for one week.

[andyg]

That's definitely not right, even with the high fuels prices. I always check the fuel before I leave the yard. I've had to get one yard ( I won't mention names ) to top the tank up before i left. The guy put 18ltrs in, quite shocking to be honest. But mistake happen. Our friends have just returned from a week on bright  horizon and covered most of the network, right up to Norwich, Beccles etc. They didn't make good use of tides etc and had an additional 88 pounds to pay ontop of there fuel deposit. Even the guy that re fueled them at richardsons was surprised how much fuel they'd used. 

[Puddleduck2]

Say 5 litres per hour for 5 hours a day for 6 days equals is 150 litres a week. At £2 per litre that would amount to £300.

 

[TFrench89]

That seems incredibly high, we've never used that much on a 2 week break. On Swan Renown in April we used around £250 for a 2 week holiday, price at the time was around £1.70 if I remember correctly. 

[Smoggy]

Due to wind direction and speed my last 2 weeks of boating were spent inland on the southern broads pushing against the tide quite a lot, I topped up at the end and got 80 litres in, that included a 20 knot blast across breydon and back (which probably accounts for half the fuel), that's with 2x 3.6l turbo diesels so £400 for a week on a hire boat is way out.

Could be worse though, back in 2019 we had a fantastic 2 week run and got through 760 litres in total Admittedly we did get down to dover and most east coast rivers in between bar the thames and ore.

[CeePee1952]

37 minutes ago, andyg said:

That's definitely not right, even with the high fuels prices. I always check the fuel before I leave the yard. I've had to get one yard ( I won't mention names ) to top the tank up before i left. The guy put 18ltrs in, quite shocking to be honest. But mistake happen. Our friends have just returned from a week on bright  horizon and covered most of the network, right up to Norwich, Beccles etc. They didn't make good use of tides etc and had an additional 88 pounds to pay ontop of there fuel deposit. Even the guy that re fueled them at richardsons was surprised how much fuel they'd used. 

Ouch!  I've just been working out our times, destinations etc for our week afloat starting 15th Oct 22.  (I'll maybe post them in our holiday blog in the holiday section).  We've chosen the date so that we can get down south and back as we couldn't last year.  Our furthest point will be Beccles yacht station and then returning via Oulton Broad and then Loddon before coming back up north on the Wednesday.  I've planned it so that most of the time we will be with the tide so hopefully our fuel consumption won't be excessive (weather conditions permitting!).  I'll post the final outcome in our holiday blog after the holiday - watch that space!!

Chris

[andyg]

Richardsons have signs up in reception advising people about additional fuel.cost. I'm pretty sure I got a pre arrival email explaining it as well. Bridgecraft have a great system, the fuel is dipped in front of you using the boats fuel dip stick b4 you leave the yard. Its then re fueled again in front of you using the boats dip stick...that's right the boats still have a dip sticks. 

[Chelsea14Ian]

It's worth a phone call to the company. Ask them how they arrived  at that cost of fuel.May help to let them know your journey's if you had heating on etc.

[Gracie]

The same as TFrench89 I've also hired for two weeks at a time and love to cruise a lot, never spent that much on fuel. As has been advised already definitely go back to the company concerned. Something has gone wrong somewhere. Mistakes can and do happen. I hope it's a favourable outcome for you x

[Onthewater]

4 minutes ago, Gracie said:

The same as TFrench89 I've also hired for two weeks at a time and love to cruise a lot, never spent that much on fuel. As has been advised already definitely go back to the company concerned. Something has gone wrong somewhere. Mistakes can and do happen. I hope it's a favourable outcome for you x

I have been back to them and they're being a little bull headed about the affair. quite clearly something isn't right and I've given a full breakdown and explanation and I'm hoping the response I get on here will go some way to supporting my cause. personally I don't think the boat was refuelled prior fully or if at all

[Onthewater]

23 minutes ago, CeePee1952 said:

Ouch!  I've just been working out our times, destinations etc for our week afloat starting 15th Oct 22.  (I'll maybe post them in our holiday blog in the holiday section).  We've chosen the date so that we can get down south and back as we couldn't last year.  Our furthest point will be Beccles yacht station and then returning via Oulton Broad and then Loddon before coming back up north on the Wednesday.  I've planned it so that most of the time we will be with the tide so hopefully our fuel consumption won't be excessive (weather conditions permitting!).  I'll post the final outcome in our holiday blog after the holiday - watch that space!!

Chris

seems pretty much the route we took. from north to south broads approx 150 miles.. hardly crossing the atlantic!!

good luck..

[andyg]

Probably to late now I would think. I've seen some quite heated arguments at richardsons over fuel costs. The girls behind the counter must get fed up with it. It's always amazes me the amount of people that don't understand its a deposit and you could potentially have additional fuel costs on returning the boat. P

[Lulu]

Umm can the average hire boat fuel tank actually take £400 worth of fuel!?     

[Onthewater]

21 minutes ago, andyg said:

Probably to late now I would think. I've seen some quite heated arguments at richardsons over fuel costs. The girls behind the counter must get fed up with it. It's always amazes me the amount of people that don't understand its a deposit and you could potentially have additional fuel costs on returning the boat. P

Oh I totally understand the deposit scheme just as I also understand the different influences such as tide, heating and thruster use but I'm trying to determine how I did a similar trip last year at a time of year requiring heating and idling for power that I didn't need this year and the fuel was only £90!! looking at each as comparison something doesn't equate

[annv]

Hi Do you know how many hours you ran the engine for?. John

[kpnut]

18 minutes ago, Lulu said:

can the average hire boat fuel tank actually take £400 worth of fuel!?     

Good point Lulu. My ex hire boat might just do it at todays prices but has a large tank. 

[Onthewater]

Just now, annv said:

Hi Do you know how many hours you ran the engine for?. John

150 miles over 31 hours, hardly excessive I'd say over the course of a week

[dnks34]

Bull headed…..I bet I can guess which yard it is…..not that I will openly

[annv]

Hi Have you divided the hours ran by the fuel in Lts used and how much was the cost per Lt. this will help you decide if they made a mistake when they calculated your fuel bill. John

[CambridgeCabby]

£400 for a weeks usage on the Broads is IMHO an almost impossible usage (obviously dependant on what the yard is charging for a litre).

What price are they charging you ?

On our last boat with twin engines we spent two weeks cruising both north and southern rivers often against the tide and when crossing Breydon we were almost flat out both crossings , we used 160litres over those two weeks.

Our current boat , single engined , with a modern 5cylinder Nanni we were afloat for two weeks in August (so didn’t use the heating) again we travelled the length and breath of the southern and northern rivers from Coltishall to Oulton and most points in between usually with the tide and we used just over 80 litres of fuel.

We do keep to within the posted speed limits , and were not using the diesel heating 

[Mouldy]

I was talking to a hirer in McDonalds in Hoveton at the end of our holiday on Royal Commander in 2014.  We’d had about £12 credit from our diesel deposit of £120.  The chap I was talking to had just completed a week on a craft from one of the two big yards in the Wroxham/Hoveton area and confessed that he’d had to pay an additional £115 on top of the £150 deposit he’d already paid.

I can’t remember the price of fuel at the time, but I’m sure that could convert to £400 at todays prices.

Throttle usage is a huge factor in fuel consumption, don’t forget.  Trying to keep travel with the current where possible and keeping the revs down will help massively with economy.

[Onthewater]

45 minutes ago, CambridgeCabby said:

£400 for a weeks usage on the Broads is IMHO an almost impossible usage (obviously dependant on what the yard is charging for a litre).

What price are they charging you ?

On our last boat with twin engines we spent two weeks cruising both north and southern rivers often against the tide and when crossing Breydon we were almost flat out both crossings , we used 160litres over those two weeks.

Our current boat , single engined , with a modern 5cylinder Nanni we were afloat for two weeks in August (so didn’t use the heating) again we travelled the length and breath of the southern and northern rivers from Coltishall to Oulton and most points in between usually with the tide and we used just over 80 litres of fuel.

We do keep to within the posted speed limits , and were not using the diesel heating 

They’re claiming 150miles and 212 litres usage in a week of travel, very little heating and very little idling for power so I personally from the comments so far can’t believe it to be right. 

[Meantime]

1 hour ago, Lulu said:

Umm can the average hire boat fuel tank actually take £400 worth of fuel!?     

An excellent point. 👏 my ex hire boat has a 175 litre tank. If I purchased at the most expensive on the Broads £2.30 per litre it would buy me 173 litres. I'd be returning the boat with 2 litres left. Unless excessively cruising I would think most hire boat tanks should last a 2 week hire.