Boating less due to fuel prices?

You know, I have to agree with people. I now have to pay as much and sometimes more for gas than I do for bottled water. Isn't that ridiculous? I say string up the people controlling gas prices.
 
Les took a day off and he and dad took the 21 Ranger to LaConner from Cornet Bay for a quick lunch and suds. 1.4 gal. of diesel round trip, which included cruising around LaConner looking at boats.

Like that!! Cool machine, and just my speed.

Dusty (el cheepo)
 
Dan,

For the past few years I've been totally stumped as to why the consistent price increase of diesel over gas. I have thought it to be a refinery thing in so much as the oil companies owning the refineries were in collusion in setting the prices. The trucking companies didn't care, they just raised there rates. You have given me the 1st really logical reason why this is happening, other than all the normal conspiracy theories. Thanks much!!

Jay
 
Dan

This applies to you more than me, but boating more is the logical result of higher fuel prices. It cost more to drive to launch the boat than it does to use the boat. That being the case the actual cost per hour drops if you spend more hours on the water. By traveling slower you cover the same distance but take longer to get there but use less fuel. It also saves the fuel I would have consumed working not to mention the peace of mind I get from being out of cell phone coverage.
 
DoD -

I tried real hard to agree with you on this, even though it's against union rules, but every time I get close to thanking you for the explanation, I lose sight of the logic again. Isn't that like saying the tree is worth more than the lumber?

Now don't fly off into an engineered hissy fit, because I am trying to understand and not arguing just because it's fun. Conceding every point in your essay, I am still at a loss as to why what I thought was a product that takes less industry resources to make than gasoline costs more to deliver to the pump. And why did it happen in so short a time? The price of both fuels went up about the same percentage at the same time, but the price of one of them fell at a much greater rate than the other. Did the petronerds only recently discover these molecules?

As for the demand aspect, perhaps the oil industry should learn from the electronics industry. Better and cheaper every day. And a fallback on the finiteness of the raw resource begs for greater industry regulation. It is hard to feel happy for the good old boys and their record profits when people are having difficulty affording to drive to work.
 
...it used to gripe the heck out of me to drive by the logyard beside the docks every day and look at all those millions of board feet of pristine, fine grained old growht fir when I had to pay top dollar for knotty, warped up crap at the local lumber yard.
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It still does that to me at the same log yard. Except now they have stacks of phone pole stock.

My point is simply that if you don't want to pay more for the diesel at the pump, they'll just turn the molecules into something else that someone is willing to pay for.
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Can't argue with that.

..you may want to make sure that your 401k account, mutual funds, etc. don't own any oil stocks.
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Covered.

I'd go and kick my dogs...
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Somehow I know better than that.

...and the wife would get her shotgun out
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See, she loves the dogs, too.

20 below
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:note :note Got a heater in my truck and I'm off to the rodeo :note :note
 
No, no! That's dinoflagelletes, not dinoflatulants! Leetle plankton-like critters ... well, never mind. I think I'll just go drink some diesel and be done with it, if it's more expensive than bottled water it must be better for you, eh? :lol:
 
Dan,

With all the things the chemists are doing with carbon and hydrogen bonds, you would think a slurry of coal and water could be a great source of energy with oxygen thrown in to made it burn better. It would be really neat to pull up to a beach outside Homer and pick up some coal, add water, and keep going.
 
Going back to the thread title a little....

With all the gatherings on both coast coming up this year, I wonder how affordable a 200NM+ one-way run, plus side trips, will cost. [At 7.6 kts it would take abt 26.3 hrs each way.] Maybe 'affordable' isn't the word to use, but the budget has to be able carry the swing in prices; even though we only go around once.

So, do we travel at hull speed and enjoy the scenes and cost factors, or get there fast and leave the home port later? Silly questions to some I assume, but ones to keep in mind when you are still working and have limited time.

The fuel cost has been running $2.86/gal to $3.69/gal presently. Here comes summer and $$$$/gal?? That NAVMAN fuel management system should help pay its way on this trip; else my comptroller may have the last word.
 
I'm boating a lot more with the fuel prices. I'll be honest, there were times when I kicked myself for getting rid of my big Whaler Walkaround, but no more. If I even looked at it, seemed it would go through 60 gallons. Not uncommon to go through 100 in a weekend.

So I'm boating a lot more now with the C-Dory and congratulating myself all the time on the great wisdom of boat swapping choice.
 
I just got back from china and they are not riding their father's bicycle anymore . They are riding buicks,v. w. hyundai's ,toyota's etc .That is why we are paying$3 a gallon and their is no end in sight . The problem for America is everyone wants to drive a car. The Airline industry is expanding and the need for hydocarbons is expanding not retreating .That is why I sold my gas hog boats and bought a c-dory in the first place .Thank you c-dory
 
Hi Folks,

My feeling is as follows.

1. The C-dory is about the most economical motor boat in America.
2. I am 66 years old.
3. Fuel is just a cost of boating.

Result, I am going to use my boat as much as I can WITHOUT thinking of how much the fuel costs. Every time a SeaRay passes, I shall just smile. THEY are paying a lot to use there boat. Compared to them, my costs are a "drop in the hat".

Enjoy your boating.

Fred Heap
 
In my college years (1958+) our geology teacher told us that there were some way-out scientists speculating that South America had split from Africa and drifted westward. Separately, we all knew frogs cause warts. Later at Stanford we were told that we were being thought to think, not do, because technical things would change so rapidly. At the time there was this thing being developed at Bell Labs, called a "transistor". I learned to think and question, a habit that has served me well for 72 years.
Zelpha
 
Let me begin by saying, I haven't the years of experience nor the education that a couple of you have who responded to this post. Gotta Respect your elders, you know! Now let me tell you why we named our boat Huda Thunkit. After quitting High School in the mid 60's and completing a tour in the Army I answered an add in the Odessa American. They wanted all able bodied folks to come to West Texas and work in the Oil Fields. I ended up with a local Machine shop who was willing to train me the old school way, OJT. Now over 30 years later I live in Alaska and work for an Oil Company and am proud of that! America is a great place, and there are still opportunities out there for industrious folks who are willing to work. Huda Thunkit, that a dumb kid like myself would ever have beat the social odds and gone as far as I have in life. I thank God and Big Oil for where I am at! It's very easy to find someone who has a more difficult life than you do, no matter who you are! P.S after a long winter and some final rigging work, we will take the new boat over to Prince William my next time home. Non Complaining, Mike Layman
 
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