Newbie heading to Lundy

[SW1]

Hi All,

I’ve had my 5.5m Fjordstar with a Selva dorado 50hp for years, pootling around within spitting distance of the shore. I’m planning a trip to Lundy from Ilfracombe next week, easily my most adventurous trip!!! How much fuel should I take in addition to the 25L main tank? Sorry if this is a silly question!

Cheers, SW

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by SW1

Hi All,

I’ve had my 5.5m Fjordstar with a Selva dorado 50hp for years, pootling around within spitting distance of the shore. I’m planning a trip to Lundy from Ilfracombe next week, easily my most adventurous trip!!! How much fuel should I take in addition to the 25L main tank? Sorry if this is a silly question!

Cheers, SW

TBH the best person to answer that is...you. You know your boat & the fuel consumption. Anyone else can only make educated guesses. Accepted wisdom is 1/3 out, 1/3 back, 1/3 reserve.

[SW1]

Thanks, I get your point. Trouble is Im only used to stopping/starting/wake boarding for hours with kids etc and so have little gauge of distance. I’ve no idea if a full tank in a new-ish 50hp engine will get me 23 miles and back. Tempted to take a second 25L tank to be sure. Thanks for the advice.

[willk]

Pikey has a point, but I see where you are. In theory one tank in nice conditions could see you back with fumes left over. You absolutely need two tanks! 15 miles offshore is a decent hop, pick a REALLY nice day.

[SW1]

Good advice, thank you!

[SW1]

Good advice, thank you!

[jeffstevens763@g]

Take twice as much as you need, very big tides I believe a slow crossing could be on the cards be prepared for the worst case. On my long trips I carry 90ltrs and use 43 the rest goes in the wife’s car at home.

[treerat]

Originally Posted by SW1

I’m planning a trip to Lundy from Ilfracombe next week, easily my most adventurous trip!!! How much fuel should I take in addition to the 25L main tank?

So by my reckoning it's 20 NM in a straight line to the quay from Ilfracombe, personally a straight line is boring and as there is some really interesting coastline and you're probably going to want to explore the island's coast, unless you're just running to the pub! So I'd be working on 25/30nm one way so a 50-60 nm trip.

As others have said you'll have a slightly better view then us on your vessels use based on your driving style /weight on board/ weather etc, but I usually use a L/NM with a sensible size reserve so you're going to need around 75l or so in total as a rough guess.

Originally Posted by SW1

Sorry if this is a silly question!

No such thing, its how we all learn

[treerat]

Hi

You haven't said what days, but looking at the forecast - be prepared for a wet day, both from the wave spray and the rain.

[lakelandterrier]

60NM at 1NM/l plus 30% reserve is 90l.

I calculate how much fuel I use by noting mileage / trip and how much fuel I have used - now have luxury of digital gauges, but before I noted how much I need to top the tank back up to full. I do this every trip to keep clear view on consumption

I know I run on average 0.8l/NM, so plan to at least 0.85l.NM plus 30% reserve.

Better to carry too much than to run out