How is the price of gas going to affect your boating?

I had a 16 Foot Alumacraft before I bought my 25 Foot Panga and that 16 foot boat was all the boat i needed to fish Long Island Bays and upstate Lakes. Put in Comfortable seats and a Bimini and it's more than adequate. I got the Bigger boat to fish inshore Montauk, Gardiners, maybe the Great Lakes for Trout and Salmon, maybe inshore Tuna if they return this summer. a 25 bare hull cost me less than $10,000 !
 
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ZERO, and I even insist on putting ethanol free gas in her, so we're talking high test here, but it will hurt.

Gas $$ last year was just under $900 for 180 hours of engine time, averaging 4 MPG.

Yeah I do get out a lot...

I don't put ethanol free fuel in her, but always high test.

Last year I burned 461 gallons of gasoline. That came out to $1,774 in gasoline. $3.85 per gallon for high test does not seem high now!

I used to keep tract of my miles to gallons, but I abandoned that last year. Instead of calculating miles to keep on top of (approximately) what I have in the fuel tank I went idiot proof. I now use a dowel and insert it into my gas tank to see how much gas I have. Foolproof!

Funny thing is I've always tracked my gas use/cost but I never tracked oil. I guess I can do the math on that. At 50:1 I used 9.22 gallons. If I recall Yamalube 2M ran me about $40 a gallon last year. Toss in another $369 for oil so that means I burned $2,143 in consumable fuel to run my boat last year.

Now that I think of it that does not include StarTron or Yamalube Ring Free. I use both religiously. What's another couple hundred???

I get out a lot too. That is why I have the boat; to use it.

The only thing I might change is the amount of time I run WOT. I tend to do that I'm told:rolleyes:. Well, to be perfectly honest I run WOT most of all the time when conditions allow. ;)
 
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My solution is to finally part ways with the motorboat. I have used it a dozen times spread over the last three summers and it makes sense to give up the ghost. Kayaking, surfcasting and hunting has simply replaced it and SWMBO didn't even go with me last summer. It took me 18 gallons of gas to top it off after three trips last season... someone is going to have a full 42 gallons included with the sale, lol.
 
I don't think the price of gas will effect my boating season either.
I also run premium fuel for the 2 strokes, mainly because it will sit in the tanks longer, and she runs better with higher octane. Stabil and RIng free also.
I use Pennzoil Synthetic 2 stroke oil, which is half the price of Yamalube 2 stroke and doesn't foul the plugs or smoke like Yamalube.
Being on a trailer helps, as does not really going more than a few miles. I got plenty of good fishing close to the ramp.
But if I know I'm heading out for a long full day, so does everyone else I'm out with and the first stop will be the fuel pump, and they don't need to get asked.....well, most of them that is....
 
My solution is to finally part ways with the motorboat. I have used it a dozen times spread over the last three summers and it makes sense to give up the ghost. Kayaking, surfcasting and hunting has simply replaced it and SWMBO didn't even go with me last summer. It took me 18 gallons of gas to top it off after three trips last season... someone is going to have a full 42 gallons included with the sale, lol.
Don't feel bad WhatKnot. ( I saw the sad emoji.) My decision to sell the boat could have (and possibly should have) come several years ago. It wasn't until SWMBO said last year that sunny summer days on the boat were no longer for her. (A two hour paddle is quite different.) and she never liked cold and wind out there either ! I am about to run a spreadsheet showing engine hours since I bought it new in 1999. That, and the fact that kayak fishing is easier on my physically than boating (since I do not live on the water) made it an easy choice.
 
One advantage of trailering i guess. But i tried to syphon my boat once and could not “ snake” past “it.” I did get ripped off in both a Swindlehurst and an Amityville canal with my first boat, docked commercially.
 
I own a 1998 18ft Grady-White center console with a 2006 Yamaha F150 4-stroke engine.
I get 4 to 6 GPH and have about 350 hrs. on the engine. The boat and engine is in good shape.
With the relatively short trips trips that I take and the salt water fly fishing that I do I don't really care about the price of gas.
My trips are dictated by the weather and how windy it is on the water.
 
Don't feel bad WhatKnot. ( I saw the sad emoji.) My decision to sell the boat could have (and possibly should have) come several years ago. It wasn't until SWMBO said last year that sunny summer days on the boat were no longer for her. (A two hour paddle is quite different.) and she never liked cold and wind out there either ! I am about to run a spreadsheet showing engine hours since I bought it new in 1999. That, and the fact that kayak fishing is easier on my physically than boating (since I do not live on the water) made it an easy choice.
I had mixed emotions when I sold my Baby after 20 Years. It was the right decision.
 
I had mixed emotions when I sold my Baby after 20 Years. It was the right decision.
When I sold my first boat that i had from 78 to 86 it was a question of a new child and having neither the time with two careers nor the desire to keep affording it. This time its simply my age and preferring kayaking. I just charted the hours over the 22 seasons and the reduction in its use of late is incredible.
 
I don't put ethanol free fuel in her, but always high test.

Last year I burned 461 gallons of gasoline. That came out to $1,774 in gasoline. $3.85 per gallon for high test does not seem high now!

I used to keep tract of my miles to gallons, but I abandoned that last year. Instead of calculating miles to keep on top of (approximately) what I have in the fuel tank I went idiot proof. I now use a dowel and insert it into my gas tank to see how much gas I have. Foolproof!

Funny thing is I've always tracked my gas use/cost but I never tracked oil. I guess I can do the math on that. At 50:1 I used 9.22 gallons. If I recall Yamalube 2M ran me about $40 a gallon last year. Toss in another $369 for oil so that means I burned $2,143 in consumable fuel to run my boat last year.

Now that I think of it that does not include StarTron or Yamalube Ring Free. I use both religiously. What's another couple hundred???

I get out a lot too. That is why I have the boat; to use it.

The only thing I might change is the amount of time I run WOT. I tend to do that I'm told:rolleyes:. Well, to be perfectly honest I run WOT most of all the time when conditions allow. ;)
I'm really curious why you use high test, in your opinion is that a better gas than reg. fuel?
 
At the end of every boating season, I tried to get the tank down to half its 42 gallons or so. then I put in 89 octane to top it off, even though that Yammy runs fine on 87. My thinking was that maybe after being stabilized and put away for six months, the octane "level" would drop a bit ( ? )
 
Not gonna change anything for me. Owner of my PB is trying to keep prices the same as last year but we shall see if that’s doable.

On another note. We have plenty of resources here but some people don’t want us to use them. Going to hurt everyone in the pocket. 95% of Keystone is completed. Knock out the other 5% and let’s get this thing going. I’m still trying to figure out why we need to import any oil at all.

I see a lot of people selling their boats this year if it continues to go up. Charters and PBs are gonna feel the pain too because guys aren’t going to pay $200 for a fluke/porgy/sea bass trip. It’s just not gonna happen.
 
It's $6.25 a gallon at the dock in Florida. The price of a charter has gone up by over 35%.
Not gonna change anything for me. Owner of my PB is trying to keep prices the same as last year but we shall see if that’s doable.

On another note. We have plenty of resources here but some people don’t want us to use them. Going to hurt everyone in the pocket. 95% of Keystone is completed. Knock out the other 5% and let’s get this thing going. I’m still trying to figure out why we need to import any oil at all.

I see a lot of people selling their boats this year if it continues to go up. Charters and PBs are gonna feel the pain too because guys aren’t going to pay $200 for a fluke/porgy/sea bass trip. It’s just not gonna happen.
If anyone wants to downsize to a bay boat that fluke fishes from 8 to 3, from matzohpizza to the inlet and back on 6 gallons…
 
There was a neat outdoors tv show a few years ago called “Chasing tails.” Nuisance deer hunters in ritzy Connecticut. And the only gas i will use is driving the truck two blocks to put in the yak.
 
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