30' Willard in Tow. Looking aft we see the sidelights, all round light, and a cabin light. The call came in at 00:10, a 30' Willard, out of fuel off the South End of Shaw Island. The owner had gone to Bellingham (30 miles away) to save $.75 a gallon on diesel for the 100 gallon tank. By the time he got there, the fuel dock was closed. The forecast for the evening was gale force winds, so he decided return to Friday Harbor. He got within four miles when the engine had finally sipped it's last drop.
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I'm trying to work out the math on this one. Assuming the guy was saving $0.75/gallon on a 100 gallons, the maximum savings would be $75. But then you have to subtract the cost of traveling 60 miles RT to Bellingham. I've been able to gather this boat has a 50 hp Diesel and I estimate it burns 1.75-2.5 gallons/hour at cruising speed. This is a displacement hull with a 27.5' LWL, and most efficient cruise is probably 1.0 to 1.1 * SQRT(LWL) or ~5.7 knots. Therefore the RT would take a little over ten hours and burn between 20 and 25 gallons of fuel.
In order to get any savings from the lower pump price in Bellingham, those 18-25 gallons had to cost less than the $75 he would have saved. With diesel at ~$5.00 gallon, there's no way this trip to save $0.75/gallon saved him money.
Not to mention the expense of having to call Vessel Assist in the middle of the night.
Am I wrong?
Mistermoon,
The only saving grace was that he is a member.
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