On Apr 29, 11:28 am, Harry Krause wrote:
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.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

the last couple years, i towed my 18 ft Chris craft runabout back and
forth to the lake with an '89 Merc. Grand Marquis. towing it ogt 15
mpg. the boat with it's 4 cyl chevy engine provided loads of fun on
less than 10 gal of gas.

this year, I'll tow the 23 ft Marquis cuddie to the lake w/ a 91 Grand
Marquis station wagon. same drive train as a ford half ton truck of
the same year. it will do fine. and probably even make betterr towing
milage due to the fact the 23 ft'r is on a dual axle trailer that even
though th boat is heavier will pull easier. I ahve already found that
out.

now the 23 is much heavier than the Chris, and has a 350 v-8. But I
think it will probably use more fuel than it's smaller counterpart,
but the bigger comfort and smoother ride will more than make up the
difference. even with towing, I've never spent over a hundred bucks a
day at the lake for fuel, And I might be suprised, but even with the
larger craft, I still don't think I will.