Evicted from the marina!

rondds said:
Just out of curiosity...anyone have a problem with dropping in 10 gallons of gasoline at a time (from a red jerry can) if you keep your boat behind your house in calm water? I'm sure that some states have regulations that forbid this - but I'm gauging "outrage" here, not the legality of it. Let's assume for a moment that you put the gas in the right hole, you do all the proper "blower" protocol and you don't start the boat until a couple of days later.

disclaimer: I do not have a waterfront house and do not fuel my boat anywhere but at a sanctioned fuel dock.
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Ok, so I was staying out of this since it involved personal gas cans at a marina. But since you asked about doing this from your waterfront home, well now I'm on topic...

My boat sits on a lift in the back of my house. From my driveway to my boat is about 500 feet. But I'm a cheapskate, and the exercise doesn't hurt. So I lug four 5-gallon gas cans (in two trips) down to the boat per day until it's full. I lower the boat on the lift until the piling nearest the fuel fill is above it. Then I place the can on top and use two siphon hoses (those kinds with the check valve in the bottom) in the tank to quickly siphon the fuel into the tank.

Yes, it is a bit of work and time to do so. And yes I'm very cognizant of the environment and my property and the potential hazards involved. I've never had an issue with fuel spillage, and have installed a whistler in my vent line to tell me when my tank is nearing full. I also think some of you are dramatizing the hazards of filling a boat with your own cans, versus a farm tractor, lawn mower, car, etc. Follow the protocols for each and it is safe.

I figure that last year I saved approximately $300 in fuel costs in the 38 hours I used the boat. That may not seem like a lot to some of you, but that's allowed me to spend $300 on other things. If it weren't for my frugality, I probably would be unable to own the beautiful boat I do!

Tom
 
Gunn said:
Ok, so I was staying out of this since it involved personal gas cans at a marina. But since you asked about doing this from your waterfront home, well now I'm on topic...

My boat sits on a lift in the back of my house. From my driveway to my boat is about 500 feet. But I'm a cheapskate, and the exercise doesn't hurt. So I lug four 5-gallon gas cans (in two trips) down to the boat per day until it's full. I lower the boat on the lift until the piling nearest the fuel fill is above it. Then I place the can on top and use two siphon hoses (those kinds with the check valve in the bottom) in the tank to quickly siphon the fuel into the tank.

Yes, it is a bit of work and time to do so. And yes I'm very cognizant of the environment and my property and the potential hazards involved. I've never had an issue with fuel spillage, and have installed a whistler in my vent line to tell me when my tank is nearing full. I also think some of you are dramatizing the hazards of filling a boat with your own cans, versus a farm tractor, lawn mower, car, etc. Follow the protocols for each and it is safe.

I figure that last year I saved approximately $300 in fuel costs in the 38 hours I used the boat. That may not seem like a lot to some of you, but that's allowed me to spend $300 on other things. If it weren't for my frugality, I probably would be unable to own the beautiful boat I do!

Tom
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How many hours does it take to "lug" all that fuel? What do you make an hour doing it?
 
giff1 said:
I guess for those that fuel thier boats by gas cans when there is a fuel dock have never seen a boat fire.
I have seen a boat catch on fire at the fuel dock. The trained marina staff jumped to action and did their job by the numbers. First all aboard got off the boat. Second the boat was cut loose and kicked away from the dock. Third the fuel emergency shut off button was pushed which also set off an alarm. Forth the alarm notified other marina staff to use the marina work skiff to catch and tow the burning boat away from all docks. The boat fire was extinguish with large fire extinguishers by the marina staff. No one was hurt. The boat was a loss.
The first marina staff to take action was the bikini topped eighteen year old gas dock girl. She was well trained.
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Any pics? Put the boat fire in there too....:lol:
 
RonDDS, no, I wouldn't have ANY problem at all with something like you're doing. If something went haywire and a fire started, it would only be your boat involved and the loss would be only yours (assuming no environmental damage that others suffered from).

What I have a problem with is someone in a marina fueling up his GAS boat from jerry cans or a rollaround gas container. In that situation if something went haywire and a fire started it would likely involve other people's property, as in the marina's docks, his slip neighbors' boats, and potentially all the boats on the dock.

It's especially risky in a covered marina. When the fire starts, it gets real hot real fast. The flames spread up to the underside of the roof and that heat travels down the dock and tends to catch other boats on fire. That is not a pretty sight.

If I found that someone on my dock started a fire because he was trying to save a few bucks by filling his boat with gas from cans, and my boat got damaged from the fire, I'd be VERRRRRRRY PIZZED and he and I would have having a nose-to-nose conversation.

One person's right to endanger their own property is very different from one person endangering the property (or lives) of others because he's trying to save a few dollars. At that point it's time to sell the boat and buy one he can trailer to a gas pump.
 
I'm not going to lie, i've done it.

gas.jpg
 
AH, no one read the fine print!

I don't own a waterfront house - I just wanted to see how people feel about the righteousness of doing this in the privacy of one's own backyard. Thanks for the responses!

Mike, I remember that pic. Dom's Marina is know for it's outrageous gas prices. Were you sucking on a lit stogie at the time? Did anything blow up? Anyone die? Did you file an environmental impact statement afterwards? Did you send in the appropriate amount of "water gasoline tax" to the great state of NJ? Did you have a boom ready to go in case of spillage? Did you have appropriate fire extinguishers on hand?
 
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Turtlesboat said:
I'm not going to lie, i've done it.

View attachment 24603
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That boat looks big in that pic. At the least DIY fueling with 5gal cans just don't fit the SR image, especially like in the SR Living mag. SR guys shouldn't worry about a thing...just pull out the wallet and get 'er done...tipping generously of course. That leaves more time for stogeys, wine, and pointing pinkys.
 
don't judge unless you've been to this marina.
 
Frank, we are on the same page here. I think we both agree that it can be done but very impractical. Didn’t know you were a farm boy like me. Learn something new every day.:thumbsup:
 
I top off with a couple 2.5 gallon containers whenever I go to the boat. I did not note anything that prohibited this in my marina terms, but I will be going back and re reading them this weekend to be sure.

Our marina gas dock has been closed for 2 years and the nearest is 5 miles away, thats a good enough reason. They re open this summer though so I guess that reason will go away. I also like to use fuel stabilizer since I don't boat a ton and tend to buy 100 gallons at a time for the discount. I sometimes forget to do it when I fill up. Adding it later it is supposedly good to wash it down the hoses with a couple gallons of gas and to mix it in with the rest of the tank as well.
 
Here's a story about filling your boat with with Gerry cans.

Janet & I watched as folks from a boat one dock over ferried their red plastic gas containers in the blue marina dock wagons. It took about 4 trips to bring the cans over from the lot to the boat. Probably about a 15 minute project per trip. (about 1 beer for me, a glass of white for Janet!)

After this stupid project finished, they all got back on the boat. Their celebrations began.

In the morning I noticed a bunch of people crowded around the stern. Turns out, they filled their WATER tank with gas.

Result? Haul out of a Larson 330...new water tank, hoses, etc.

NICE savings!

Pay the marina pump price or find a new hobby. My humble opinion.
 
AMFM3 said:
Here's a story about filling your boat with with Gerry cans.

Janet & I watched as folks from a boat one dock over ferried their red plastic gas containers in the blue marina dock wagons. It took about 4 trips to bring the cans over from the lot to the boat. Probably about a 15 minute project per trip. (about 1 beer for me, a glass of white for Janet!)

After this stupid project finished, they all got back on the boat. Their celebrations began.

In the morning I noticed a bunch of people crowded around the stern. Turns out, they filled their WATER tank with gas.

Result? Haul out of a Larson 330...new water tank, hoses, etc.

NICE savings!

Pay the marina pump price or find a new hobby. My humble opinion.
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Wonder if they tried washing any dishes on the boat or used the transom shower :smt043 wouldn't it be great if they were docked next to you!
 
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Whoa, this thread is really getting testy, but I have to wonder since it is titled “Evicted from the Marina”, did the guy get kicked out for filling his boat with gas, OR was it for a major violation of his Marina contract?

I have so many rules and regulations in my contract, any of which I could be asked to leave the marina for violations of. I have to wonder, especially in this time when marinas are actually losing customers to the economy. Hell in my contract I can’t even bring in some outside technician to work on my boat! Maybe this guy was on the edge from other things in the past and this was the perfect excuse to give him the boot!
 
hack4alivin said:
Whoa, this thread is really getting testy, but I have to wonder since it is titled “Evicted from the Marina”, did the guy get kicked out for filling his boat with gas, OR was it for a major violation of his Marina contract?

I have so many rules and regulations in my contract, any of which I could be asked to leave the marina for violations of. I have to wonder, especially in this time when marinas are actually losing customers to the economy. Hell in my contract I can’t even bring in some outside technician to work on my boat! Maybe this guy was on the edge from other things in the past and this was the perfect excuse to give him the boot!
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Bill, since you pay your marina charges on time and are a good neighbor they'll probably give you a "by" on the first offense or two. :thumbsup:
 
Here's a story about filling your boat with with Gerry cans.
Click to expand...

If you're implying that that screw-up was even remotely related to the fact that these people carted in their own gas, I say HA!!!

There have been many stories about people filling up the rod holders, holding tanks, bilges, etc. at the gas dock. And if you think for one minute the average gas dock boy has any clue what you're doing, or cares for that matter, you're likely mistaken. There are no "full serve" gas stations on the water. They hand you the hose, and go back to the lawn chair and Facebook. They don't know if you take gas or diesel and odds are 2 weeks prior, they were driving a Hyundai Accent with a DOMINOES sign on top.

Stupid and frugal do not necessarily go together.

What Mike didn't tell you was he put all that gas in his diesel boat. Man what a mess that was. And the dock boy at Dom's Marina had no idea what was going on.
 
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