fuel prices

[Matt]

Berth holders on a 60/40 split

[JennyMorgan]

Having sold fuel in the past I can fully appreciate Clive's pricing on this one. Doubtless he gets through thousands of litres on turn-around days but then on other days it's a large investment standing still, unlike a roadside garage. Re pumps, expensive or what, both to buy and to service. 

 

Re the comment about stock being dormant in the winter, it used to pay, years ago. Having a full tank cut out evaporation but then we were almost guaranteed a price hike come the budget! 

[kfurbank]

That's where the whole diesel price discussion starts to become very interesting. If they could sell at a competitive price to Goodchilds before having a hire fleet, why can't they now? What's changed apart from the addition of a hire fleet?

[JennyMorgan]

Keith, I suspect that I can see exactly where you are coming from on this one but that aside I do think's Clive's point is relevant, charging less for fuel means charging more for something else. I also suspect that fuel is generally regarded as a lucrative add-on by most hire yards. Having been around Richardsons recently it is abundantly clear that a huge re-investment is going on, the dosh is being well used, better than going to the bank!

[kfurbank]

Peter,

 

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate Clive's explanation of what works for his business model, and as he says they give back in other ways such as free visitor moorings and free water. However looking at the Brooms model, they must have been selling at a profit when they were in competition with Goodchilds, indeed it seems that the lower price is still available if a berth holder, which given the nature of the boats moored there, must still be a relatively high turn over of diesel at a profit, at the lower price. It could be argued that the price needs to be higher for their hire boat pricing model to work!!! Higher fuel prices result in lower parking or hire charges, but what is the trade off for the privateer coming in buying diesel who now has to pay the higher price? I'm not getting free water, visitor moorings or any other subsidised service, so any diesel sold to me is now making an additional 13p per litre pure profit over and above the profit they already make at £1.20 per litre.

[JennyMorgan]

Keith, I believe that Brooms is now owned by what were once called 'asset strippers', I don't expect that they give much away!

[Matt]

Or the £1.33 subsidies the £1.20

[C.Ricko]

my pumps are busy for 2 hours 3 days a week...

I am not going to comment on the fuel prices on some of the other yards mentioned

as I am not really comfortable discussing why some people are able to sell cheaper and 

how others can, (even if i know!)

 

I am more than happy to sell anyone diesel if they want it from me, but am not fussed if they choose to go elsewhere, we give a great, trouble free service and I am sure some other places do too.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Brooms might get through a good few litres but I bet they don't sell as much between now and Easter.

 

 

They will be selling to the syndicate boats, but seeing as there`s only 3 of them in the yard, it`s hardly going to make much difference.

 

I think people have to factor in several things regarding yard prices, although i do think their charges are overly expensive when they quote the 60 / 40 split. However, many years ago I  bought some flourescent lights for Mistral. At the time, i lived in Kingswood near Leeds Castle in Kent, so went to the "Lee Davey" caravan place in Lenham. I bought 2 for around £25.00, but was amazed to find exactly the same units for sale in a chandlers for nearly £30.00, AND THAT WAS FOR EACH ONE.  We all know that boating is an expensive hobby, so it should come as no surprise to find a yard charging over the top for deisel. It`s just another part of boating.

 

Of course, there is an alternative, and that is to buy it from one of the supermarkets and take it to your boat, then apply for a tax return form and claim back 40%.  It will probably be a lot of hassle, but at least you`re going to save a few pounds.

 

One other thing to consider is the fact you`re paying for convenience. Transporting 10 5 gallon jerry cans to and from your boat whenever you want to fill up is laborious and time wasting, just like when you have to buy food to make sanwiches to eat at work, when you can buy a sandwich from the snackwaggon which are always more expensive. Convenience costs due to what makes it convenient.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

I forgot to add,   Whenevr we go to Stalham, most of the time we moor in Clives yard, as the staithe is mostly full. We also fill up with water when we get there, and just before we leave. At NO time have we ever been asked to pay for any water or overnight berthing. We`ve also used their toilet facilities free of charge, which somebody has to clean, and the elecrtricity for lights etc has to be payed for.

 

Having never hired from Clive, i feel we`ve had good service from them, even if we have`nt actually used their services. We did however use their showers in June which were excellent (yes, they do charge, but very little) and had two pumpouts, which were NOT the most expensive on the Broads.

 

As a result, if for any reason we find ourselves in the need to hire a boat on the Northern Broads for any reason (holiday or NBN meets etc), i will be more than happy to hire from them, and i would equally be happy to pay their fuel charges, because the sort of boat i`d be hiring would more than likely be one of their budget fleet, so a few extra pence per litre would be negligable.

[NorfolkNog]

I think Clive is right in that most hire yards will charge out at around 140 ppl – I know that Swancraft certainly do.

 

I think the simple reason is that the yards make a small profit which is built into their business model for hire charges. As Peter mentioned it is swings and roundabouts – if they sold the fuel cheaper or at cost they would have to recoup it in the hire charges so it all evens out in the end.

 

The likes of Goodchilds, Brooms, Horning Marina Services etc mainly sell to private owners and therefore are in a more competitive market but in any event probably make their profits from servicing etc so its probably a good way of attracting custom.

 

However to put it in perspective – I used 90 litres over 2 weeks holiday in the summer. At Goodchilds prices I would have saved 27p per litre or in total just under 25 quid. I don’t think I’d want to bother trundling all the way over to Burgh Castle to save 25 quid! It would be a different story of course if I had a twin engined sea going boat which would cost hundreds to fill up!  

[Matt]

But if you were passing you would have saved enough for a fish and chips takeaway!

[BroadAmbition]

During our Lads week we had three large craft out, 2 x Jewels and 'B.A' of course.

 

Jewel 1 - 112 x Ltrs, Jewel 2 - 100 x Ltrs, thats a combined total of 212 x Ltrs at £1:40 ppl (Herbert Woods) =  £296:80

 

If we had re-fueled at Horning / Boulters say at £1:18 = £250:16 a saving of £46:64 that £46:64 would have nearly paid for nearly half of 'B.A's fuel consumption - 82 x trs = £97:76 at £1:18 ppl

 

We didn't re-fuel the Jewels of course, left that to H.W's but we do shop around when passing where 'B.A' is concerned.

 

Incidentally both Jewels did the same running / distance, 'B.A' did more as she had to come down the Ant / return up to the Ant.  Jewel 1 used slightly more as she was towing the dinghy.  'B.A' is of course more fuel efficeint due to our maintenance and the Beta onboard.  (The Jewels run Perkins 42hp engines where as 'B.A' has a Beta 50hp)

 

 

Griff

[NorfolkNog]

But if you were passing you would have saved enough for a fish and chips takeaway!

Quite possibly but I think the point I was trying to make is that for the once a year hire I'm not too worried about it but if I were lucky enough to have my own boat it might then make a difference as I'd be using a lot more fuel!

[C.Ricko]

seems like I could have had another 5ppl

just goes to show that my customers are not just the best but the luckiest too!

[Viking23]

Buying Petrol on the Broads is another matter, some riverside fuel stations charge over 35p per litre over the normal road service station ones.

No big deal if you only want 10-15 litres, ( can be £5 extra though).. but it can be quite stale, some over 18 months old. So I always blend it with supermarket fuel bought earlier that week, 50/50 into the main outboard tank, or add a fuel additive, which again adds extra cost and with messing around, is it worth it?

So Tesco at Stalham, Morrisons in Norwich, and Roys at Caen Meadow near Wroxham for me. The fuel is fresh, at any time of the year.

Richard

[MauriceMynah]

mine still costs me 25p per litre. If the price of fuel keeps coming down, soon it'll hardly be worth making it

[Timbo]

I'm one of those unfortunate souls that live in an area where for some reason the fuel prices are always high no matter the outlet that I use for fuel in the car. Royal Tudor's fuel consumption is not all that great so the actual pennies difference between supplier is not that noticeable for me.

 

What is noticeable is the service I receive, particularly as I am disabled and more so when I have Uncle Albert with me. As a total newcomer to boating I of course shopped around for services such as fuel and pump out to find the cheapest I could, but I soon found out that okay, I might have saved a few pennies here and there, but the experience of doing so was often fraught and with the 'ole Sea Dog' the simple task of refuelling could be a recipe for disaster with extra lashings of major embarrassment.

 

That was until we visited Richardson's in urgent need of fuel and a pump-out. Feeling unwell myself that day and with Uncle Albert operating on 'warp factor prat', the glamour and excitement of the Broads was wearing a little thin. Now Royal Tudor is still the proud possessor of a good old fashioned 'Thunder-box', which takes a considerable amount of care when being pumped out. To avoid the 'short sharp shower' moving from Shropshire to Norfolk RT's pump out fitting on the deck has to be ignored and the dirty deed be done through the 'Thunder-box' itself.

 

Mooring in the yard I explained our need for fuel,water and pump-out...along with RT's peculiarities which foxed the young lad on duty. This however was no bother as he soon fetched a 'little old boy' who knew what the craic was. The 'little old boy' then asked if it 'was all right with us' if he took his time with the job and taught the young lad how to deal with the 'Thunder-box' should he come across another one? Was it 'all right with us'? It was more than all right with us!

 

Of course Uncle Albert immediately started to stick his nose into things,hamper proceedings & my wits were starting to fray.
" Have you got any shopping to do?" asked the Old Boy.
"Yes I'd better get him out of your way." I answered trying to get Uncle Albert to go and sit in the saloon.
"No, he's fine where he is, do you have any shopping to do? Tesco is through there!" said the Old Boy.
So leaving Uncle Albert with some instructions, along the line of 'Sit & Stay' I headed off for some much needed supplies of caffeine, milk, sugar and a newspaper to occupy 'his nibs'.

 

When I returned with the shopping Royal Tudor was pumped out, fuelled up, water tanks full, the floor in the head and cockpit had been mopped and what's more Uncle Albert was sat on a chair on the quay enjoying a cup of tea.

 

On other visits I have rung in advance to let them know we were coming to find someone waiting on the quay to help us. On one occasion we were late but they stayed open for us with someone on the quay looking out in case we had problems.

 

Pump-out... I didn't look at the price, Fuel... Around £1.30 ish, Water Free, Sorting out Uncle Albert & putting the gloss back on the Norfolk Broads...Priceless!

 

Yes, I am on an incredibly tight budget where every penny does count & £10 expenditure on a tin of varnish is a considered purchase, but there are some things that I don't mind paying a few pennies extra for and excellent service, going above and beyond, is one of those.

[Baitrunner]

Crickey Tim were you in advertising? That is a fantastic advert though for good old fashioned service and why would you go anywhere else?

 

For me though, a lower fuel cost would be of more benefit - just my circumstances unfortunately.

 

My winter top up on Monday was just shy of 200 litres, so paying a bit more for a pump out or water fill and less for fuel would be of more benefit to me.

 

I can see how for the average hirer or low fuel user that the advantages you get with free visitor moorings, free water etc would make it worth while paying a bit more for your fuel.

 

I guess we all have different circumstances and  you cant please all of the people all of the time.

[NorfolkNog]

An object lesson in customer relations combined with people skills AND technical expertise (obviously)

Well done Richardsons

[JennyMorgan]

There was a lovely little steam launch out on Oulton Broad a couple of evenings ago. Plenty of natural fuel laying around if you can be bothered to collect it. In this particular instance it struck me as a very pretty way around fuel costs.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

There was a lovely little steam launch out on Oulton Broad a couple of evenings ago. Plenty of natural fuel laying around if you can be bothered to collect it. In this particular instance it struck me as a very pretty way around fuel costs.

 

 

We did something very similar, but nothing to do with boats though.

 

When Karen and i first bought our bungalow, it had a gas fire fitted in front of an open fireplace. We often used to use the gas fire on very cold days, which put up the gas bill horrendously. Then we fitted a log burner which fits straight into an open fire with no modifications or chimney linning  etc. The whole job being done proffesionally cost us a little over £800, but this cost has since been saved because of the free logs we get.

 

I should imagine if you know what you`re doing, a steam power unit on a boat would mean free cruising?. :naughty: .

[C.Ricko]

Good to hear you got sorted, 

the extension piece to pump out the thunder box from inside was known as the   'Donkey D * * k'!

[Timbo]

Good to hear you got sorted, 

the extension piece to pump out the thunder box from inside was known as the   'Donkey D * * k'!

Now I know why Uncle Albert was in such a good mood. After leaving the navy he went to work for International Harvesters at Doncaster, where both his Dad & his brother worked. You see Uncle Albert was named after his Dad and was never happy with the naming method used to differentiate between Richard Senior and Richard Junior. Father was 'Big Dick' and poor old Uncle Albert was 'little Dick'!

 

So...I'm sure you will be bracing yourself for when we steam into the basin next year demanding the mules' wotsit!

[JennyMorgan]

How strange it is to have the auto censor jump in when referring to an abbreviated Richard! Hardly an offensive word.