Motor boats that have a PETROL fueled engine as their primary means of propulsion, especially motor cruisers, MAY HAVE THEIR APPLICATIONS FOR MOORING AT PRESTON MARINA REFUSED.
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Petrol engined boats are fine for short distances in sheltered waters – but the location of Preston Marina and the nature of the eastern Irish Sea makes petrol powered boats unsuitable for use in this area if going out to sea.
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All ports, marinas and anchorages along our coastline are relatively far apart, meaning reasonably long distance passages are always required. Combine this with the very fast tides with a large tidal range and the fact that our coastline is usually very exposed to prevailing winds this often means rough conditions. Petrol is highly volatile and being shaken around in rough seas for prolonged periods, with a sparky petrol engine (especially inboards) can lead to some pretty frightening consequences.
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For this vital safety reason, no marina on the coastline of north west England sells petrol…this includes the marinas at Preston, Fleetwood, Liverpool, Whitehaven, Maryport and Glasson. *
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The notion of re-fueling with jerry cans is impractical at best, but it is dangerous and in practice is essentially impossible for the quantity of fuel that is required to cover the distances that boating in this area means. A typical modest sized motor cruiser has on average around a 400 litre fuel tank – which would be 20 x 20 litre metal jerry cans. Most petrol stations won’t allow that much petrol to be dispensed into jerry cans – and no marina will allow the transfer of that much fuel out of cans into boats for safety reasons. AND RE-FUELING PETROL BOATS AT SEA FROM CANS IS A HUGE NO NO!!
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In the right boat the Irish Sea is a brilliant area for motor cruising – and Preston Marina is at the heart of it – from here you can easily cruise to North Wales, the Isle Of Man, the Cumbria coast – and beyond to Scotland and Ireland…..but having the right boat (and skills) are absolutely vital!
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If you want to keep a motor boat at Preston Marina, and use it beyond the river and go out to sea then make sure it is a DIESEL powered boat that is designed and equipped for passage making in exposed sea conditions.
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If you already own, or are being tempted to buy an attractive looking petrol powered boat then you MUST also plan to keep it and use it somewhere suitable, for example the Menai Straits and Anglesey, the Llyn Penninsula, the Lake District or the canal network. The marinas at Conwy, Deganwy and Pwlheli are the closest that sell petrol as they are all within much more sheltered areas – (north of here the nearest marinas to buy petrol from a coastal marina are in Scotland on the Firth of Clyde!)
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R.I.B.s and ski boats usually have petrol engines, and, with the right skills and training, many people have great fun with them quite safely here in the river within the 2 – 3 hour period of high tide – and that is fine, they aren’t going far, so are not using anything like as much fuel, and are not getting exposed to the rough offshore conditions.
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We say again, if you want to keep and enjoy a motor boat at Preston Marina, and use it beyond the river and go out to sea then make sure it is a DIESEL powered boat (even better if it has two engines for extra safety) that is designed, well maintained and equipped for passage making in exposed sea conditions. A huge amount of cruising pleasure awaits if you do.
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A typical petrol-powered sports cruiser. A great looking boat, and great fun in the right location – but, sadly, NOT THE COAST OF NORTH WEST ENGLAND.
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(*And even if we did sell petrol here – the much higher cost of the licences, insurance and equipment to sell petrol vs. diesel, combined with our very tiny potential market when compared with supermarkets and their massive buying power, it would mean that, even if we sold petrol at cost price, the price would be very high and people would think it was a rip-off.)