For
marine engine specialist Peter White of Swordfish Marine, carburettor issues
caused by extended periods of storage and inactivity are a thing of the past
since the discovery of Aspen Alkylate fuel.
Having
extensively tried and tested Aspen 4 in his workshop, at home and in his own
4-stroke outboard engine, the family-run firm became stockists three years ago
to make the ethanol-free fuel more accessible for their customers.
Established by Peter in 2007,
Swordfish Marine cover all areas of servicing and support for small leisure and
commercial boats – based at the Holy Loch Marina in Dunoon, Scotland. With the
vast majority of Peter’s customers being ‘seasonal boaters’, issues with
expired fuel and component failures due to water ingress were a common
occurrence until the team were introduced to Aspen Fuel.
“A friend recommended we look at
Aspen Fuel maybe eight or nine years ago” he explains. “You often hear that
once you try it, you’re hooked… and from just using it in our own petrol
engines, we really were. The main difference is that the engine starts first
time, every time, no matter how long it’s been in storage and knowing how much
that would benefit the vast majority of our customers we knew we needed to
offer it.” After their original stockist ceased trading during COVID, Peter
became a stockist himself in late 2020.
As an alkylate petrol, Aspen 4
contains no ethanol and a vastly reduced harmful hydrocarbon content when
compared to traditional petrol. Its greener, cleaner credentials make it an
ideal option for those working in ecological and sensitive environments such as
waterways, with Swordfish Marine selling Aspen 4 with all boats up to 6hp.
“There’s nothing more frustrating
for people than pulling the boat out in April and finding the engine won’t
start after a winter spent in the shed. The shelf-life of Aspen reduces the
anxiety and risk of engine-related failures which ultimately gets people where
they want to be, on the water.” Peter continues, “While the initial expenditure
may be increased, this is negated by the vast savings in servicing and repair
bills, and most find that one can will last them the whole season if not
longer.”
“Ultimately when you think about
it, we’re losing business! But morally Aspen has proven to be a fantastic
decision and seeing everybody enjoy their boating, reliably and without
horrible repair bills is what we’re all about.”
