Jim writes:

A hazzardous condition exists while transporting gasoline in
the trunk of the car.

So can we take it that you're terrified when you bring home gas
in a jug for your lawnmower, then? Do you wear one of those
shiny silver suits with the tinted window in the hood, like
airport crash crews wear, while you're behind the wheel?

Gee, all my racing friends and I never realized that we were
taking out very lives in our hands by transporting several jugs
of gasoline to the track at a time in our tow vehicles. Oh, the
humanity!


A hazzardous condition exists when pouring gasoline while standing
on a shaky finger pier.

But not while boarding or disembarking from a boat with other
items in you hands while standing on a shaky finger pier?


A hazzardous condition exists when trying to load gas cans over
the gunnel [sic] onto the deck which you just can't seem to reach.

But not when you're trying to load whatever other, usual stuff you
bring aboard over the gunwale onto the deck which you just can't
seem to reach?

Perhaps this is a "boat too far from the dock" problem and not a
"gasoline in jugs" problem, and it could easily be addressed by
simply *pulling the boat closer?* That always worked for me.

Maybe you do your boating in some Lovecraftian universe with
non-Euclidian geometry, where such a straightforward approach
wouldn't apply. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh Wgah'nagl
fhtan!"


A hazzardous condition exists when the guy on the next boat is
enjoying a cigarette while watching you fuel up, or maybe he
decides to fire up the barbee.

Well then, *look around* and see if something like that is happening
before you begin, and pay attention to what's going on nearby while
you're fueling. Anyone who has such a weak sense of situational
awareness that he wouldn't notice such things has no business boating
to begin with, I'm confident you'd agree. Would *you* want to share
the waterways with such a person? Didn't think so.

You could even move the boat to the fuel dock or some other open area
if it would make you feel better. There's no cosmic law that says this
has to be done in your slip. In fact, I never even suggested that,
necessarily.


: How is pouring gas from a jerrycan any more hazardous than pouring
: it from a gas pump hose? It's more awkward, granted (gas is heavy),
: but that's a different matter entirely.

A handy little lever on the pump nozzle safely starts and stops the
flow of gasoline after the nozzle is inserted into the fill hose.

Hoses for fuel jugs with shutoff valves on them are both available
and effective. I've used them.


The nozzle is much easier to handle than a 35 pound gas can.

If you'd rather pay out the nose for gas from a fuel dock than heft
a few fuel jugs, it's certainly your call. Although I have to say
that if you can't life 35 pounds, this is a "physical fitness" problem
and not a "fuel jug" problem. Maybe your wife could help you. *grin*


The spouts on gas cans seem to want to leak at the most inappropriate
time.

Not on the jugs I've used while racing. But then, they weren't $5.00
specials from the neighborhood auto-parts emporium.


It is virtually impossible to withdraw a partially full gas can without
some spillage.

The horror! You mean you've never had a little bit of gasoline come
out your tank vents while filling from a nozzle?

Actually, you should know the capacity of your fuel tank, be able to see
how full it is from the gas gauge, and thereby easily be able to estimate
how much gas it'll take to fill it. As you approach that volume, start
lowering the jug to reduce the flow rate. This is a problem...why?


Have you ever tried filling a boat from these cans?

Not yet. Until now, gasoline wasn't so expensive that it ever occurred
to me. Then again, I've fuelled race cars with them, and I really don't
see that the fuel jug is going to know or care what kind of vehicle it's
being used to fuel, do you?


Why are the cans so expensive?

It's the cost of materials. It's apparent from the picture that they're
sturdy, with thick walls, and have a lot of plastic in them.


: Depends on the individual: what sort of boat he has, whether he keeps
: it in the water or on a trailer, and how much boating he does. It's
: the sort of thing about which rasonable people can differ.

Reasonable people certainly can have differences; but not on wrecked
boats ;-)

You haven't made much of a case that wrecked boats are a significant
possibility. Indeed, you're grasping at straws and are arguing just
to argue. If you were really as concerned about "hazardous conditions"
as you're pretneding to be, you'd be afraid to set foot outside your
house, much less go out on the water.



Geoff

--
"The problem isn't that Johnny can't read. The problem isn't
even that Johnny can't think. The problem is that Johnny
doesn't know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling."
-- Thomas Sowell