JimH writes:

So what do you predict will happen with the single engine 19-23 foot
boat market?

I may be unusual, but even with fuel getting more expensive, it is still a
small fraction of the true cost of ownership.

Richard J Kinch wrote:
JimH writes:

So what do you predict will happen with the single engine 19-23 foot
boat market?

I may be unusual, but even with fuel getting more expensive, it is still a
small fraction of the true cost of ownership.

You're absoutely right.

I think the challenge for a lot of boaters is that it is a cost that is
encountered so frequently, and it's easy to compare to similar costs in
the past. If the fuel cost for a 100-gallon weekend fishing trip was
$250 last year and all of a sudden it becomes $450-$500 this year there
is an impression that the total cost of boating is going out of sight.
It isn't, of course, but the damage is done by the impression. People
who don't already have the needle in their arm (or the nozzle in the
fill neck, as the case may be) will probably be more reluctant to take
up boating as a hobby and that will have long term implications for the
entire industry and infrastructure.

It would be hard to convice me that a guy in a position to pay $2000 a
*month* for boat payment, moorage and/or tow vehicle payment,
insurance, maintenace, repairs etc is really going to be run off the
water by a couple of thousand dollar a *year* difference in the cost of
fuel. Buying a boat is a poor financial decision that we all willingly
make in order to enjoy the associated benefits. If fuel goes up, the
poor financial decision doesn't suddenly become dramatically worse than
it was to begin with.