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CanisLupusArctos · 05-22-2008, 06:30 PM

What effect do we all think boat gas at $4.50/gallon or more would do? Some analysts are predicting car gas at $5/gallon before the end of summer.
Go to the websites of manufacturers of the most common boats on this lake and look at the fuel capacity, then multiply it by the current gas price. The larger cigarette boats on this lake now cost over $1,000 to fill up. The smaller performance boats are in the range of $500 per fill. If gas goes up to $5 by summer's end, I think we'll see a lot more performance boats lazing around than speeding around. And what if oil keeps going up, what about next summer? We might see many of those fast boats parked at the side of the road with "For Sale" signs, or on trailers towed by the repo man.

Moral of the story: Unless a miracle occurs in the world of oil, I think the lake's most frequent offending boats are cruising on borrowed time (and probably borrowed money, too.) One could argue that the owners are rich, but take a look at the financial news articles that say even the rich are now cutting back on their spending. By the time a permanent speed limit bill gets passed, sailboats, canoes, and kayaks might well be the dominant vessels on Winni as fuel prices kill the whole issue.

05-22-2008, 06:30 PM	#3
CanisLupusArctos Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Center Harbor Posts: 1,049 Thanks: 15 Thanked 472 Times in 107 Posts	Problem to go away because of another problem? What effect do we all think boat gas at $4.50/gallon or more would do? Some analysts are predicting car gas at $5/gallon before the end of summer. Go to the websites of manufacturers of the most common boats on this lake and look at the fuel capacity, then multiply it by the current gas price. The larger cigarette boats on this lake now cost over $1,000 to fill up. The smaller performance boats are in the range of $500 per fill. If gas goes up to $5 by summer's end, I think we'll see a lot more performance boats lazing around than speeding around. And what if oil keeps going up, what about next summer? We might see many of those fast boats parked at the side of the road with "For Sale" signs, or on trailers towed by the repo man. Moral of the story: Unless a miracle occurs in the world of oil, I think the lake's most frequent offending boats are cruising on borrowed time (and probably borrowed money, too.) One could argue that the owners are rich, but take a look at the financial news articles that say even the rich are now cutting back on their spending. By the time a permanent speed limit bill gets passed, sailboats, canoes, and kayaks might well be the dominant vessels on Winni as fuel prices kill the whole issue.