Chuck Gould wrote:

Everybody has a different level of dedication to the pastime, and
that's fine. There are a few people who feel that the last thing in
life they would ever give up would be boating, no matter what the
costs or other sacrifices required. On the other end of the scale
there are folks who might go out in a boat if somebody offered them a
ride, but certainly wouldn't pay for the experience.....

Most eveybody else is somewhere in between. A high percentage will
probably spend $100 per weekend to boat. Move that to $200, and there
will be some dropouts. Move it to $300, and the crowd would begin to
thin considerably. Every hundred bucks higher will accelerate the
attrition rate. There's no cost level at which eveybody will instantly
give up boating, but we only need to look around to see that at each
increment of increased cost we lose a few more folks who cannot (or
choose not to) afford it.



Perhaps there's a category of boaters who can afford the petrol prices
but who simply don't want to bend over so the oil companies can shove it
up there.

On May 29, 11:48?am, HK wrote:
Chuck Gould wrote:
Everybody has a different level of dedication to the pastime, and
that's fine. There are a few people who feel that the last thing in
life they would ever give up would be boating, no matter what the
costs or other sacrifices required. On the other end of the scale
there are folks who might go out in a boat if somebody offered them a
ride, but certainly wouldn't pay for the experience.....

Most eveybody else is somewhere in between. A high percentage will
probably spend $100 per weekend to boat. Move that to $200, and there
will be some dropouts. Move it to $300, and the crowd would begin to
thin considerably. Every hundred bucks higher will accelerate the
attrition rate. There's no cost level at which eveybody will instantly
give up boating, but we only need to look around to see that at each
increment of increased cost we lose a few more folks who cannot (or
choose not to) afford it.

Perhaps there's a category of boaters who can afford the petrol prices
but who simply don't want to bend over so the oil companies can shove it
up there.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

But those folks will continue to drive, fly, heat/cool their homes and
swimming pools. We're fairly well screwed down by the oil companies,
and giving up a part of ones personal enjoyment just to "show 'em"
makes about as much sense as not buying gas on May 15 each year.

Chuck Gould wrote:
On May 29, 11:48?am, HK wrote:
Chuck Gould wrote:
Everybody has a different level of dedication to the pastime, and
that's fine. There are a few people who feel that the last thing in
life they would ever give up would be boating, no matter what the
costs or other sacrifices required. On the other end of the scale
there are folks who might go out in a boat if somebody offered them a
ride, but certainly wouldn't pay for the experience.....
Most eveybody else is somewhere in between. A high percentage will
probably spend $100 per weekend to boat. Move that to $200, and there
will be some dropouts. Move it to $300, and the crowd would begin to
thin considerably. Every hundred bucks higher will accelerate the
attrition rate. There's no cost level at which eveybody will instantly
give up boating, but we only need to look around to see that at each
increment of increased cost we lose a few more folks who cannot (or
choose not to) afford it.
Perhaps there's a category of boaters who can afford the petrol prices
but who simply don't want to bend over so the oil companies can shove it
up there.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

But those folks will continue to drive, fly, heat/cool their homes and
swimming pools. We're fairly well screwed down by the oil companies,
and giving up a part of ones personal enjoyment just to "show 'em"
makes about as much sense as not buying gas on May 15 each year.


It is very easy to give up boating, when you only boat 1 day a year.

Chuck Gould wrote:
On May 29, 11:48?am, HK wrote:
Chuck Gould wrote:
Everybody has a different level of dedication to the pastime, and
that's fine. There are a few people who feel that the last thing in
life they would ever give up would be boating, no matter what the
costs or other sacrifices required. On the other end of the scale
there are folks who might go out in a boat if somebody offered them a
ride, but certainly wouldn't pay for the experience.....
Most eveybody else is somewhere in between. A high percentage will
probably spend $100 per weekend to boat. Move that to $200, and there
will be some dropouts. Move it to $300, and the crowd would begin to
thin considerably. Every hundred bucks higher will accelerate the
attrition rate. There's no cost level at which eveybody will instantly
give up boating, but we only need to look around to see that at each
increment of increased cost we lose a few more folks who cannot (or
choose not to) afford it.
Perhaps there's a category of boaters who can afford the petrol prices
but who simply don't want to bend over so the oil companies can shove it
up there.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

But those folks will continue to drive, fly, heat/cool their homes and
swimming pools. We're fairly well screwed down by the oil companies,
and giving up a part of ones personal enjoyment just to "show 'em"
makes about as much sense as not buying gas on May 15 each year.



Just keep on waving that white flag, Chuckster. Some who can afford
what they want are driving and flying less, using less air conditioning,
and letting the sun heat our pools.

Putting the screws to Big Oil can be an act of patriotism.

"We can't do nuttin', so let's keep on keeping on..."

I've been out boating seven times since the beginning of the season here
this year. I'm keeping a very close eye on fuel consumption and
operating so as to use as little as possible.

"HK" wrote in message
...
Chuck Gould wrote:
On May 29, 11:48?am, HK wrote:
Chuck Gould wrote:
Everybody has a different level of dedication to the pastime, and
that's fine. There are a few people who feel that the last thing in
life they would ever give up would be boating, no matter what the
costs or other sacrifices required. On the other end of the scale
there are folks who might go out in a boat if somebody offered them a
ride, but certainly wouldn't pay for the experience.....
Most eveybody else is somewhere in between. A high percentage will
probably spend $100 per weekend to boat. Move that to $200, and there
will be some dropouts. Move it to $300, and the crowd would begin to
thin considerably. Every hundred bucks higher will accelerate the
attrition rate. There's no cost level at which eveybody will instantly
give up boating, but we only need to look around to see that at each
increment of increased cost we lose a few more folks who cannot (or
choose not to) afford it.
Perhaps there's a category of boaters who can afford the petrol prices
but who simply don't want to bend over so the oil companies can shove it
up there.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

But those folks will continue to drive, fly, heat/cool their homes and
swimming pools. We're fairly well screwed down by the oil companies,
and giving up a part of ones personal enjoyment just to "show 'em"
makes about as much sense as not buying gas on May 15 each year.



Just keep on waving that white flag, Chuckster. Some who can afford what
they want are driving and flying less, using less air conditioning, and
letting the sun heat our pools.

Putting the screws to Big Oil can be an act of patriotism.

"We can't do nuttin', so let's keep on keeping on..."

I've been out boating seven times since the beginning of the season here
this year. I'm keeping a very close eye on fuel consumption and operating
so as to use as little as possible.

The big boats were comfortably tied to their respective docks when we
traveled down the Vermilion River yesterday. I also counted about a dozen
of those boats with "For Sale" signs on them.

There were, however, many boats running up and down the river in the 17'~27'
range, with the fishing spots on the Lake filled with boats of that size.

Gas on the river was going for $3.79 on average.

On Tue, 29 May 2007 18:18:28 -0400, HK wrote:



I've been out boating seven times since the beginning of the season here
this year.

That's what I mean about you having the funniest lines!