Technical Features

In the third of the RYA’s series on how to be a greener powerboat enthusiast,

Sam Jefferson addresses the issue of fuel spillages.

Let’s be honest, it has happened to us all. From personal experience I can shamefully recall fuelling up a particularly large motorboat on the Thames. After standing dutifully by the nozzle for a couple of minutes I got bored and jammed it open. This left me free to wander around doing other important tasks such as drinking coke and sunbathing. Ten minutes later, I returned to find the boat, part of the deck and a large section of the Thames all fully fuelled up.

What did I do? Panic of course. Tearing away from the fuel jetty, I proceeded to fill the Thames with enough Fairy Liquid to host a pretty respectable foam party on a quarter mile stretch of the river. Not only was this extremely embarrassing but it was also extremely bad for the environment. So, given my predicament, was this the right thing to do? I caught up with the experts from the Green Blue Programme to find out . . .