Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

[Texasmark]

We have been serving the fuel issue back and forth again and I have a curiousity for those of you who anchor your boats out in the bay or dock at marina for extended periods of time. Every time I was around such places there may be 100 boats but only a hand full used.

What happens when you can get off, get the folks together and go boating? What are your fuel hygiene mannerisms, problems, lack thereof and all?

Mark

 

[Grub54891]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

If I invite people out for a ride,I don't expect them to pay,if they offer then ok by me.....

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

I keep my pontoon on a 280 slip marina on a 10 HP restricted lake and the people who I call regulars have a spot a few miles up the lake that they maintain by keeping the grass cut and the trash cleaned up and it is a very nice polite bunch with lots of kids and dogs and so on. In my case I have two 6 gal tanks, a main and a reserve and I buy my fuel at the marina as a matter of convenience, I am disabled and lugging gas cans or trying to pour it in a tank while bending over the fence is a sure way to throw my back out. Here in WV your not allowed to fuel your boat while its on the slip and due to fire laws. I was told you can at the gas dock or at the boat ramp or while your out on the lake so I am not sure what others do. I dont have the fuel consumption a lot have so it is not a big issue to me I may use 6 gal on a long day, its my boat so I pay and it isn't all that much. At the beach spot it will hold around 20 boats at any given time and people come and go, we often pull up and let the grand kids swim awhile or just sit and talk or toss lunch or dinner on the grill then go for a ride and that about covers it.

The marina fuel pump has been out of service for 2 months so that's been a bit of a problem. I wont run the ethanol fuels so I have been having to go to a fuel company and buy it then have the marina staff take it out to my boat, the staff has been great in a lot of respects like that, they will even take your battery out of the boat, charge it and put it back if you ask them.

I did manage to clock 164 hours and use 300 plus gal last year, snickers

 

[littlerayray]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

if people i invited offer it depends i would rather they pay for my lunch supper beer then the gas

 

[roscoe]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

I believe Mark is talking about fuel issues, not paying for fuel.

Such as but not limited to:

water in gas
periods of non use which effect fuel
ethanol in fuel
etc.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

yea I just reread the tittle, lol well as the weather breaks and people start trying to fire up the dock queens first off I will be seeing the marina staff stripping off the shrink wraps and lugging battery's back and forth this process goes on for about 5 weeks or so. Then the local boat dealer that owns the marina will keep a tech at the marina who dose nothing but float around on a special little boat and rebuild carbs, change out fuel filters and pump out fuel tanks a very few may get pulled out and worked on in the parking lot or taken to their shop.

Fuel issues seam to be the big thing, I think most people bring their own fuel but dont really have any idea. I know that last year my well mate spend a lot of time dealing with a gummed up carb and he asked my why I never have problems and I loaned him one of my tanks and told him to go out and run his boat for a hour and when he made it back the problem was cured, and yes I add sea foam to ever tank.

 

[Oshkosh1]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

I believe Mark is talking about fuel issues, not paying for fuel.

Such as but not limited to:

water in gas
periods of non use which effect fuel
ethanol in fuel
etc.

My take on it also...
The people I know who keep their boats at a marina use non-eth fuel and don't worry about it. They fill up when they come back in if it's below ? and run it "empty" at the end of the season(which is about 4 months here) then drain whatever's left to put in snowmobiles/atv's etc...

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

I believe Mark is talking about fuel issues, not paying for fuel.

Such as but not limited to:

water in gas
periods of non use which effect fuel
ethanol in fuel
etc.

And the main concern being ethanol. There was another thread started here by the same member but was not marine specific.....

http://forums.iboats.com/non-boatin...-here-we-go-again-but-happened-me-596563.html

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

Seems I can't get in the right department with these. I followed that thread with this question as it has been a curiousity of mine for many years. Having been around boats all my life I have seen many that sit in the water most of the time unused. Most are cabin cruisers with large tanks that don't lend themselves to being pumped out annually. And most are inboards. with auto style engines and carbs and all that.

With all the hooplah around the site on fuel issues, my personal assumption, non factual...reason for the question, is that people never use these boats because they know getting them out and running would be a big PIA.

Thanks for your inputs and looking for a smoking gun out there. Grin.

Mark

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

some people dont own a boat to go out on the water. some people wouldnt have a clue how to get the boat out of the marina. its like a rv thats kept on the same site.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

Father inlaw has his boat in a rack in Sanibel gets used about the same way ours does here. Once every week or so during the winter months then it sits in the rack for 6 months while he is up here for the summer. When the time comes to use it again the next year they pull it out and turn the key to start it. Same thing I do with mine after the 6-7 winter months. Fuel doesn't go bad that fast.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

All I know is on my 280 slip marina the local shop guy will be working 8 hours a day for the next 4 to 6 weeks dealing with boat fuel issues.

 

[OllieC]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

I'm not sure if this makes that big a difference seeing as my 5.0 has a fuel water separator that I change out after my "whopping" 4 month boat season.

Anyway, if I know I'm going to burn through 50 gal in a few days, I'll fill up at the gas station before I drop her in the water which may have 10% ethanol (says it's ok in my Mercruiser manual). After that I use non-ethenol which is at the Marina. So I mix it up a little. Before winter storage, I fill up with non-ethonol and load it up with Sea Foam.

 

[sasto]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

I keep an inboard boat in the marina year 'round. I use nothing but E10, brought to the boat in jerry cans.....been doing this for over 3 years now. There are several boats here that use only non-ethanol fuel. They have fuel issues. I don't. The difference is...Most are liveaboards, and don't leave the dock. I usually run out of fuel about every 2 weeks. They never run out!

 

[JoLin]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

Not sure I understand the gist of this thread. Marinas here are full of boats that stay in from May-October, including mine. Some don't leave the dock very often. When they do, they... fire up and go. I use the fuel dock that's right at the end of my canal. My only beef with the owner is that he staffs it with guys all summer- every other fuel dock around hires cute college girls.

I treat the fuel before the boat goes into winter storage for 6 or 7 months. Then I start it up in the spring.

MH Hawker, I have no idea why so many boats at your marina have fuel problems, but I suspect that most of them are really carb, tuneup and battery problems.

My .02

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

Well, Mark: Some people are not happy unless they have complex rituals in their lives. Gas tank must be filled to brim, fuel must be treated, engine needs to be fogged and periodically de-carbonized , or the whole damn thing will self destruct.

Personally, I never bother. The tank stays at whatever level it was at when the boat went on the trailer. I don't bother winterizing, and after storage, I simply turn the key and go. My one concession is that I will charge the battery before I leave the driveway.

If I had a 40 foot cruiser, I would probably do the same unless the boat demonstrated that it needed some TLC during extended periods of non use.

 

[QC]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

I usually run out of fuel about every 2 weeks

Slow learner

 

[JoLin]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

slow learner

lol!

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

One problem with some marina gas is that it contains water, more than gas station gas, due to (duh) tanks being close to the water and also a longer run from the tank to the pump. They may have an older system.

Also a large boat that has run non-ethanol for years may have a layer or water settled at the bottom of the tank. Accidentally add E10 and the ethanol brings that water into the mix, stopping the boat a few miles out from the fuel dock. Or so I've heard.

 

[sasto]

Re: Fuel Issues with Marina Boats

Slow learner

Got me! Maybe I should have said stated "I fuel up about every 2 weeks".....but I didn't. :facepalm: