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.

Wally Lunchbucket was never going to buy a $250,000 boat, but the
Wally's buy a lot of boats in the $35-100,000 category and often
budget very carefully to make the monthly payments. The vast majority
of people are "payment buyers", and make decisions whether to buy or
not buy a major item based less on the price than on whether the
monthly payment is affordable.

The average citizen considers petroleum products almost as essential
as food or shelter. What else would most of us continue to buy if the
price shot up 50% in 90 days? Darn little, IMO. When the price of this
essential commodity goes through the roof, the money to buy it has to
come from somewhere. Unfortunately, it will frequently come from folks
cutting way back on their boating or choosing not to become boaters in
the first place.

IMO, take a careful look around. We're in the middle of an important
shift in recreational norms in the Western world that will render high
fuel consuming
items obsolete.

The guys in the big boats? They can afford the fuel.