"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Chuck Gould wrote:
On Apr 29, 6:06?am, wf3h wrote:
Some folks are speculating that gas can hit $4/gallon this year. Fuel
dock prices could shoot above $5. Any idea at what point people will
just stop boating? This is a form of the 'luxury' tax a few years ago
that collapsed the yacht makers. why WOULDN'T gas prices have the same
effect?

http://www.marinemax.com/investor/


People will just "stop boating" at different rates. It's apparent that
some already have, or are delaying the initial purchase or trade-up
from a present vessel. Reluctance of new participants to get into
boating, due to fuel prices or
other concerns, hampers the resale market and inhibits the ability of
current owners to upgrade.

Down thread, somebody comments about the market returning to smaller
boats. I'm not sure that will be the result of this third straight
year of gas gouging. From what I can see, the small boat builders are
hurting even worse than the yacht manufacturers. Launching a trailer
boat requires a big truck, preferably 4WD in a lot of situations. That
can be a $40-50,000 proposition, or more, in the current market and
since most folks won't have the luxury of owning a vehicle for no
purpose other than launching a boat the fuel costs associated with a
two vehicle are a concern seven days a week, not just on Saturday or
Sunday when the boat gets wet.



You don't need a $50,000 truck to haul around many 18-21' boats. I towed a
nice 19-footer with a small V6 Ford truck, and there are plenty of smaller
boats available.

The trick would be to keep the total towed package at 3000 lbs or less.
Even mid-sized SUVs should be able to handle that... eg Toyota Rav 4 with V6
or the Highlander.