I think this is the beginnings of an economy based on perpetual growth and fossil fuel energy running headlong into geological energy constraints. Basically I see an undulatory downward path for the rest of my life. From here out, I think any rallies in our economic condition are going to be met with spiking commodity prices that knock us right back down.
Joined: Aug 23, 2004 Posts: 530 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 8:12 am Post subject: Re: Boat owners feeling pain at the pump
If you own a larger launch or yacht, (50' +) you can got through Thousands of liters of fuel. Even when its just sitting there you need generators running, let alone getting these monstrosities up on a plane.
Joined: Sep 16, 2004 Posts: 4863 Location: Southwest WI
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 8:39 am Post subject: Re: Boat owners feeling pain at the pump
I've actually done a test to figure out my gas mileage. I have a 16ft Jon boat with a 25hp 4 stroke (most newer boats are four stroke, while older ones have the blue smoke belching 2 strokes..horribly inefficient when idling...most of the gas goes right into the water). Running at an avg of 25mph (my boat tops out at 30mph) using the GPS i logged the miles I went during a boat ride. Before leaving i had weighed the gas tank, upon return i weighed it again.
My boat get 12mpg at 25mph... Not bad for a boat. I bet when idling (roughly 3 or 4mph) you could get in the 20s or 30s mpg.
I just talked to a tournament guy who said the big bass boat guys are easily burning through $200 in gas during just one day of fishing.
I should take some pictures of the boat landing tomorrow. It'll be insanely packed. You'd be surprised at how big of boats people will take out on the Mississippi up here. I was out fishing the other day and a Cigar boat flew by me at about 60mph... _________________ Clothing should be optional.
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 8:43 am Post subject: Re: Boat owners feeling pain at the pump
BrazilianPO wrote:
OMG! That is the end of the world! No more boats for the rich! Let me shed a tear... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Buy a frigging kayak - even better for your health!! Use the spare money to help pay any debt that you might still have. If you have no debts, lucky you, use the money to prepare for when things get really ugly. My goodness, I hope there are not many of those around!!!
My grandpa was a postal carrier and my grandma was a school lunch lady, and they owned a boat. If they are rich, then I have more money than I thought coming in inheritance! In Minnesota, with 12000+ lakes, boating is a huge recreational activity. I always enjoyed whipping across the lakes with the winds and the waves all around. Everyone waved to each other as they passed by other boats, it was a big community feel. If those days are over, so be it, but I for one will miss them.
Joined: Sep 09, 2004 Posts: 410 Location: Upstate New York, U.S.A.
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 8:47 am Post subject: Re: Boat owners feeling pain at the pump
My wife and I are not rich. She is a school teacher and I work in County government.
She inherited a boat from her parents when they both passed away. They were lifelong boaters. It is a 34 foot Silverton and is 20 years old. It has two Chevy 350 engines and gets 0.6 MPG. We have been trying to sell it for over a year. Not even a nibble.
Olaf _________________ "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." - Henry David Thoreau
Last edited by Olaf on Fri May 23, 2008 8:56 am; edited 1 time in total
Joined: Sep 16, 2004 Posts: 4863 Location: Southwest WI
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 8:50 am Post subject: Re: Boat owners feeling pain at the pump
I should add a couple of comments about what i've noticed so far this year.
I have yet to see a Jet Ski (waverunner)!!! This is strange. I've been out about 10 times so far.
I saw a smaller boat like mine with just a trolling motor on it. I've never seen this before.
Boat traffic is way down (so are water temps!) this year by what i can tell. I think the weather hasn't helped.
I'll add one thing about jet skis. They are horribly inefficient machines that use impellers that are very small. They need a 150hp just to push 800 pounds to 58mph. I drove a turbocharged Honda Aquatraxx last summer and was not impressed. My boat with 40hp would go over 40mph... You could easily burn through hundreds of dollars on a jet ski in one day. _________________ Clothing should be optional.
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 9:43 am Post subject: Re: Boat owners feeling pain at the pump
Boattest.com has plenty of GPH and MPG rating at various speeds for boats and personal watercraft.
Some boats and personal watercraft are actually fairly economical when running in the sweet spot. Of course if you run WOT, or you're constantly accelerating, bucking waves etc, your fuel consumption will increase substantially.
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 9:49 am Post subject: Re: Boat owners feeling pain at the pump
MarkJ wrote:
Many of the larger boat owners (30 Plus Feet) in my area use their boats for low speed cruising, use them as floating camps, use them as floating base stations, or only use them occasianally, so fuel price isn't a big issue. Many larger boat owners also own waverunners and/or other smaller boats for fishing, waterskiing, tubing, high speed cruising etc. Some of the out-of-towners taht their boats at local marinas don''t use them more than a few times per season.
Many people with trailerable boats have towed them to the gas stations for decades since marina gas prices are so high. This also gives you the opportunity to wash the bottom of your boat. Many boats with outboards also use portable tanks which the owners fill at the stations. The portable rolling gas caddy fueling stations have been popular for years due to the price of marina fuel.
The people that use their large boats, house boats or pontoon boats as floating camps save a lot of money in comparison to owning a lake front home or camp. We lived in our 32 foot Carver moored at the marina or my dock when I was building my home. I built my dock before I started building my home.
Some of my fishing boats are actually quite economical since I mostly troll, drift or troll with a small kicker motor.
A closed culture of adult-toy ownership that will disappear when oil declines. The justification--self-reliance. Catching Muskie with trolling motor attached to a boat that goes really fast so you don't waste valuable time getting to the secret hole that you found with the depth finder to catch a little piker with a carbon titanium pole and 100 yards of monofilament that strangles birds. Don't cry for me Argentina. _________________ ree rah rip ram. sunofabitch godamn. hidey didey christ almighty. rah rah crap
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 10:09 am Post subject: Re: Boat owners feeling pain at the pump
frankthetank wrote:
I should add a couple of comments about what i've noticed so far this year.
I have yet to see a Jet Ski (waverunner)!!! This is strange. I've been out about 10 times so far.
I saw a smaller boat like mine with just a trolling motor on it. I've never seen this before.
I'm lookin at something like this
Pond Prowler
Dont think I'd take it out on the open seas or anything though. But for just getting around the shoreline and bays its an affordable option. _________________ "Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the
Abyss, the Abyss gazes also into you."
Ammo at a gunfight is like bubblegum in grade school: If you havent brought enough for everyone, you're in trouble
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 10:14 am Post subject: Re: Boat owners feeling pain at the pump
Some of the local lower and lower middle income people here in lake country will quit smoking, quit drinking, quit buying lottery tickets, stop eating at restaurants, stop going to the movies and give up pizzas, digital cable, pay-per-view and high speed internet before they'll give up their hunting, fishing and boating.
The increasing efficiency of four cycle outboards, four cycle snowmobiles and abundance of reliable & relatively inexpensive used toys makes the total cost of toy ownership affordable for the masses.
Joined: May 18, 2006 Posts: 4753 Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 10:24 am Post subject: Re: Boat owners feeling pain at the pump
MarkJ wrote:
Some of the local lower and lower middle income people here in lake country will quit smoking, quit drinking, quit buying lottery tickets, stop eating at restaurants, stop going to the movies and give up pizzas, digital cable, pay-per-view and high speed internet before they'll give up their hunting, fishing and boating.
The increasing efficiency of four cycle outboards, four cycle snowmobiles and abundance of reliable & relatively inexpensive used toys makes the total cost of toy ownership affordable for the masses.
They will quit drinking? Give me a brake. That's the last joy they have.
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 11:26 am Post subject: Re: Boat owners feeling pain at the pump
MarkJ wrote:
Some of the local lower and lower middle income people here in lake country will quit smoking, quit drinking, quit buying lottery tickets, stop eating at restaurants, stop going to the movies and give up pizzas, digital cable, pay-per-view and high speed internet before they'll give up their hunting, fishing and boating.
The increasing efficiency of four cycle outboards, four cycle snowmobiles and abundance of reliable & relatively inexpensive used toys makes the total cost of toy ownership affordable for the masses.
Right now, today, people in poor countries are starving. People in rich countries are mad they cant drive their boat AND go on vacation.
Still think Peak Oil is a serious threat to rich countries?? _________________ "Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the
Abyss, the Abyss gazes also into you."
Ammo at a gunfight is like bubblegum in grade school: If you havent brought enough for everyone, you're in trouble
Joined: Feb 06, 2005 Posts: 110 Location: north of New Orleans
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 2:48 pm Post subject: Re: Boat owners feeling pain at the pump
I have a 14' flat boat with a 25hp. at full speed (25mph) i only get 4mpg, but the motor is a 1980 2-stroke. I only fish the marsh so i'm normally only using the tolling motor.
Joined: Jun 03, 2005 Posts: 217 Location: New Jersey
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 4:03 pm Post subject: Re: Boat owners feeling pain at the pump
MarkJ, there's still canoeing, sailing, kayaking. You can fish from a rowboat. Hunting is still quite accessible - even here in NJ one only has to drive 5 or 6 miles for deer hunting. All those pursuits are still open.
I went kayaking for the first time a couple of months ago and it was magical - paddling along, really seeing things up close, hearing the sounds of the lake.
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 4:55 pm Post subject: Re: Boat owners feeling pain at the pump
frankthetank wrote:
I've actually done a test to figure out my gas mileage. I have a 16ft Jon boat with a 25hp 4 stroke (most newer boats are four stroke, while older ones have the blue smoke belching 2 strokes..horribly inefficient when idling...most of the gas goes right into the water). Running at an avg of 25mph (my boat tops out at 30mph) using the GPS i logged the miles I went during a boat ride. Before leaving i had weighed the gas tank, upon return i weighed it again.
My boat get 12mpg at 25mph... Not bad for a boat. I bet when idling (roughly 3 or 4mph) you could get in the 20s or 30s mpg.
I just talked to a tournament guy who said the big bass boat guys are easily burning through $200 in gas during just one day of fishing.
I should take some pictures of the boat landing tomorrow. It'll be insanely packed. You'd be surprised at how big of boats people will take out on the Mississippi up here. I was out fishing the other day and a Cigar boat flew by me at about 60mph...
I thought the boat is most efficient when planing at crusing speed ??
does anyone know ??
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at 25mph... Not bad for a boat. I bet when idling (roughly 3 or 4mph) you could get in the 20s or 30s mpg.
ree rah rip ram. sunofabitch godamn. hidey didey christ almighty. rah rah crap 
