Cycling UK Forum

I'm thinking of catching the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander with my bike for a cycle tour of Spain next week... I was going to fill up my new 500ml plastic Trangia fuel bottle with Meths and store it externally in the bottom cage of the bike. Would this be taken off me at Portsmouth? If so perhaps I should take it empty unused; so no trace of fuel would be detected. I could then try to take a 1 litre bottle of Bio-ethanol fuel separately in a pannier. Though I suspect the fuel bottle would be confiscated.

I cannot imagine why they would, the deck is populated by petrol driven vehicles with huge tanks. I've certainly never been asked if I am carrying any fuel, but I've been using gas for some years now and cannot recall the last time I used a ferry when carrying meths. How would carrying bio-methanol in a pannier be any different - other than subversive?

Is it not possible to purchase the fuel in Spain?

Check the terms and conditions. When we sailed to Guernsey recently (with a car), you weren't allowed anything flammable, not even empty (petrol) fuel canisters. Obviously carrying a full fuel canister would be silly, but I'd not seen that level of restriction before. We've carried an empty canister as a matter of routine when driving, in case of running out of fuel. It only ever got used once, 25 years ago, to rescue my brother-in-law, but I'd never thought of it being an issue till that holiday.

Advice to tourists on here has often been to buy fuel at the other side. Can be a pain if you don't use it all though.

They don't check your bike you will be fine.

As stated above you will be stuffed to next to several hundred fuel filled cars, camper vans and HGV's some of which will be leaking fluids all over the deck.

Ditto, I regularly have a supermarket alcool a Bruler bottle in the underframe bottle cage.
On the ferry back from France I will have several of them in the panniers too.

It is breaking the rules but I imagine that the rules only ever become an issue after something goes wrong. Nobody has ever batted an eye at my fuel bottle.

The ferry from Melbourne Victoria (Australia) to Devonport Tasmania takes all lose fuel bottles, gas canisters, camping stoves from all vehicles (and possibly backpacks too) and puts them in an open cage - open as in a wire frame that vents and open to the air on deck. This means that you can have your camping gear on the other end and the ferry has taken safety measures.
The problem with 'hidden' fuel is that if if fire occurs the hidden fuel may injure a fire fighter who does not expect it. Empty fuel containers are still a problem in that the remaining fumes are flammable, if there are enough of them then they can be explosive.
I would think any ferry expecting customers with these potential problems should take steps to cater for them and minimise the risks.

Never had a problem. Ferries to NL and FR no issue even with red Trangia fuel bottle on the frame.

drossall wrote: ... Advice to tourists on here has often been to buy fuel at the other side. Can be a pain if you don't use it all though.

Buying it at the destination seems to be the obvious solution to me but I'm a bit confused by the second bit. Presumably, you might have some left over whether you bought it before or after the outward journey.

It is breaking the rules but I imagine that the rules only ever become an issue after something goes wrong. Nobody has ever batted an eye at my fuel bottle.

Yes, it is a quandary. It is akin to the residents of the Hebrides for example going across to B&Q on the mainland and purchasing paint, thinners etc for small DIY projects. Strictly speaking a lot of these products are 'Dangerous Goods' and hence require all the palava associated with the shipping of these goods.....i.e reporting, placarding, parking on the ferry in designated zones etc etc. Not many people would bother and I can understand that.

All the best, Simon

meic wrote: ... It is breaking the rules but I imagine that the rules only ever become an issue after something goes wrong. .

And anybody with the job of ensuring compliance is a complete and utter jobsworth, full of their own self-importance. After something goes wrong, it was an accident waiting to happen and it's time to expose the idle crooks who blatantly failed to enforce obvious common-sense rules put in place to protect us all.

The name Esther Rantzen springs to mind.

thirdcrank wrote:

drossall wrote: ... Advice to tourists on here has often been to buy fuel at the other side. Can be a pain if you don't use it all though.

Buying it at the destination seems to be the obvious solution to me but I'm a bit confused by the second bit. Presumably, you might have some left over whether you bought it before or after the outward journey.

Yes of course. All I meant was that, for the return, you may have some fuel to dispose of (in a sensible way). However, if you'd bought the fuel before the outward journey, then you've already carried across on the ferry, so you aren't going to be worrying about carrying some back

thirdcrank wrote:The name Esther Rantzen springs to mind.

Ah... Trial by Esther involved never letting the "guilty" side say more than 3 words before St. Rantzen leapt to the public's defense. Unspeakably dreadful.

My abiding memory, and I think I'm being fair, is of That's Life doing a piece on how Raleigh were protecting their profits by refusing to sell mail order. The programme scoffed at Raleigh's defence that bikes needed to be put together properly, by shops. Their campaign succeeded.

A couple of years later, they or a similar programme were back, reporting how Raleigh were endangering the public by selling mail order, only to have bikes put together in unsafe ways.

My memories of That's Life are vague because I don't watch much telly. I do remember the programme had a large fancily-decked out peaked cap which was presented in absentia to the "Jobsworth of the Week."

The other thing was that it was another example of nepotism at the Beeb.

I'm not sure Cyril Fletcher's humour would go down well with today's audiences either.