Boaters paying at the pump: Imagine paying $300 to fill up the tank!!!

[LynneSin]

http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/06/04boaterspayingat.html

Boaters paying at the pump

By STEVEN CHURCH
Staff reporter
06/04/2004

If you think filling your car is painful because of recent record-high gasoline prices, try filling up a 100-gallon tank at $3 a gallon.

With 48,000 motor boats registered in Delaware, that adds up to a lot of groaning this summer, as the high gas prices hit marinas around the state.

The cost, however, hasn't driven boaters off their decks, according to marina managers, boat retailers and boat owners. People are still heading out on the water, but with one eye on the fuel gauge.

"I'm dreading it," said Frank Rooney, who lives near Middletown. "It's about a $300 bill for me to fill up."

Rooney, who owns a 36-foot-long boat named "Sea U Later," is still planning to make his annual trek down the coast to Florida. He'll cut back in other areas, like dining out, instead of cutting down on the number of other trips he'll take during the season, he said.

That doesn't surprise marina manager Janice Trala, who runs the Summit North Marina on the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. Trala said that over the Memorial Day weekend, she sold about 5,000 gallons of gas at $3 a gallon and about 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel at $1.75 a gallon, more fuel than she sold during the same period last year.

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[GOPisEvil]

1. Holy smokes! Talk about gouging!

[jmowreader]

2. That's why you don't wait until you get to the lake to fill up!

If you trailer your boat, you stop at any filling station on the way to the water and fill up there.

If you have one of these...



which has a 4210-gallon fuel capacity, call your local bulk distributor. If you call a bulk distributor and order four thousand gallons of number-two diesel, they will bring it anywhere you like.

(Then again, if you have a 90-foot Hatteras you can afford to not give a shit what diesel prices are.)

The guy with the 36 is kinda screwed, 'cause thirty-sixes have gas power a lot of the time and they don't have enough bunkerage to interest a bulk distributor...but when you're on vacation, them's the breaks.

[afraid_of_the_dark]

3. Sorry... but I'm a little too poor for empathy.

I'm having a hard enough time scraping together the gas money to get to work each day... much less have a luxury like a boat.

[BiggJawn]

4. Really. If you can afford a 36-foot boat....

...why are you even NOTICING fuel prices?

$3 a gallon to a pleasure boater is like $.95 to people like us.

[afraid_of_the_dark]

5. Glad I'm not the only one...

I hate feeling bitter alone. :P

[BiggJawn]

13. Well, gee, nobody held a gun to his head to buy it....

Nothing pisses me off more than listening to Yuppies whine about how expensive it is to maintain their toys/McMansions/private schools/etc....:evilgrin:

No Sympathy.

[Servo300]

6. glad I'm not into boats. (n/t)

[lazarus]

7. Here's why this matters:

Rich folk have tended to vote Republican. Maybe this will influence them to forget to vote in a few months.

[underpants]

8. Sailing is free

Okay I know you need to gas up the outboard but seriously the smokers shouldn't complain.

[wysimdnwyg]

9. They should just get one of these instead...

They're a lot of fun, and it's a whole lot cheaper. Hell, for what the one guy pays for gas, he could buy this boat!

[LeftHander]

10. Marine fuel always been more expensive

Special fees to have fuel at water edge and on piers. DNR impose stiff fees fuel dispencing permits. Drives the cost of fuel higher than automotive.

Plus the the sometimes special handling requirements.

And the gouging.

Powerboats (stinkboats) suck up the fuel. They measure effieciency in gallons per mile!!


For me...sailing. If the wind is blowing it is possible to sail right into a slip, certainly easy to sail up to a mooring.

I filled up my six gallon tank once later year. Cost me $6 to top it off. I used 3/4 of a tank last year. This year it cost $9 to top it off.

[fishnfla]

11. *groan* tell me about it

no offshore fishing trips for our boat this spring! She has been staying close to port.

Thats too bad, dolphin have been gangbusters offshore.

[guitar man]

12. No kidding

My brother and I took the 5 gal. cans to the convienience store and humped them down to the slip to fill up his 20ft. webbcraft last weekend. Saved about 80 cents a gallon that way.

[Joanne98]

14. boo fucking hoo

The boaters are paying more for gas. I'm going to either be sick or celebrate.