Love us or hate us?

[Neil Gordon]

A couple of my power boat buddies were bemoaning the cost of gas, which is looking like $4.00 a gallon at the fuel dock. I chimed in with the following:

Me: Hey, do you have any idea how much diesel costs these days?!!?

Them: No idea.

Me: Yeah, me neither.

There has always been tension between sail and power, sometimes friendly and sometimes not so friendly. Will the cost of fuel change the dynamics between sail and power?

[Clay Stalker]

Maybe instead of the powerboaters pulling us off of sandbars when we go aground, we will be towing them to the gas docks when they run out of fuel.....

It's actually too bad....I have some good friends with powerboats who plan to go out much less often, and use the boat more for a dockside home....but then again, fewer big swamping wakes!

Clay Stalker

[Warren Kaplan]

Neil,

My CD27 I think has a 14 gallon fuel tank. I'm not sure because it never came in to play in my mind. Silly me. Anyway, some of my power boating relatives were bemoaning the costs of the upcoming season and I said that I filled my 14 gallon tank at the beginning of last season and when she was finally hauled in November I still had 3/4 of a tank left! Ah..for all its faults, a little underpowered 8 hp diesel sometimes looks beautiful!

[Gary M]

I too have friends dockside that are using their boats less and less because of fuel costs, and that started last year!

Interesting question about increased tension. The tension I've always notice was from sailers to power boaters about noise and smell. Will fuel costs add a new dimension? I doubt it.

Gary

[bottomscraper]

There was a peak in interest in sailboats during the gas crunch of the 1970's. Maybe we will see a repeat.

[Dave Brandt]

I had something kind of funny happen last winter. My boat ( a CD-25 ) has been living in the shop at my business for the last 3 1/2 years as I have been rebuilding it.

With my staff and regular customers it has become something of a fixture, no thinks twice about the sailboat parked in the climbing gym. Anyway, last winter we hosted a competition so we had quite a few people here that were not locals. One young lady, something of a nouveau hippy noticed the boat and when spotting the little 8 hp Honda launched into a speech about how it would be so much better for the world if the motor were to be converted to run on Bio Diesel. At this point one of my employees ( who’s parents have had sailboats for many years ) looked ant her and said “ it is a sailboat, it has sails, it uses the wind”...................

I hope to finish up a bit of varnishing this weekend, looks like “Prairie” will hit the water later this month!!! I have enjoyed the project, but it is time to go sailing!

Dave

[tartansailor]

I don't have any trouble with my power boat buddies; I think that is because I treat them with respect, plus the fact that I hold the grade of Navigator in the U.S. Power Squadron.
Just float the Golden Rule, and you will be just fine.
Dick

[Neil Gordon]

The tension I've always notice was from sailers to power boaters about noise and smell.

There are good boaters both sail and power. But there are also uneducated sloths who seem to resent what used to be called "privilege," to the extent they know anything about rules of the road beyond "red right returning." (As one fellow at the marina said to me last week, "I just got a bigger boat; I'll probably need a map this year.") Am I wrong in thinking that uneducated sloths don't much go for wind power?

[Brandon]

With wind you need thought. It's easy to point a boat when you have a couple hundred horses pushing you. I notice this through and through in the yachting industry. Anyone can buy and pilot a boat. You don't even need a license to drive a 100+ ft. yacht if there are not paying passengers. Scary. There's definitly good people on both sides. I just think sailors enjoy themselves more. Seriously.

[s-dupuis]

I once spent 20 minutes going in circles in front of the fuel dock with my 26 foot sailboat and its 10 hp Yanmar waiting to get fuel and pick up a friend (there is a current there and no other space to wait). My friend was waiting at the dock to come aboard. I was astounded to see the power boat guy grab the garden hose and begin to wash down his boat even though there was other dock space for that purpose. My friend overheard the guy say to the young gas attendant " I spend $700. a season here. That %@$&* sailbot can wait.
Tension?

[Joe Myerson]

I don't know if Rich is correct about the beginning of a trend back to sailboats (remember, all of our boats are essentially solidified hydrocarbons!), I but can report an interesting trend in the latest reports from the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA). [Note: It's part of my job to read their press releases. I don't do it for fun.]

According to the most recent NMMA reports, new-boat shipments from manufacturers to dealers are below the same period a year ago in all categories except: canoes & kayaks, inboard boats (they don't separate gasoline- from diesel-powered boats) and SAILBOATS.

These numbers only refer to new boats going to dealers, but there is anecdotal evidence that similar things may be happening in the used-boat market as well.

A boating writer I work with regularly (he also repairs powerboats and is a licensed deck officer and operates a water taxi) reported that he's noticed a surging "buyer's market" in large-engined powerboats. "The people who just bought into boating because they wanted to be seen on the water and go fast are deciding that they can find other, less expensive hobbies," was his take [I'm paraphrasing]. "The real boaters--the dedicated fishermen and the people who like to get on the water in a displacement hull--probably won't sell."

It seems to me that those "real boaters" are also the folks who have taken the time to learn the courtesies, traditions and skills associated with boating. They're the folks who help pull us off sandbars, and we should all hope they don't get driven off the water by rising fuel costs.

I have to admit I probably wouldn't have written an editorial like this before I joined the staff of a boating magazine. Well over half the magazine's readers have powerboats, and I find them to be a great bunch of people. Of course I like to tell myself that the "stinkboaters" mentioned by s-dupuis probably don't (or can't) read anything, anyway.

I'll get off my soapbox now. Sorry.

--Joe

[Neil Gordon]

IMy friend overheard the guy say to the young gas attendant " I spend $700. a season here. That %@$&* sailbot can wait.

At Marina Bay, the fuel dock and the pumpout are in the same place. I visit the dock once every year or so for fuel but more often for pumpout.

What I'm sure to do in either case is tip the dock kids who handle my lines (aside from being generally nice to them). However much they make an hour, it doesn't go up when they sell $700 of the marina's gas. It does go up if I give them a couple of bucks for helping me in and out.

[Cathy Monaghan]

<center>New Jersey Boating Safety Certificate
now mandatory for boaters</center>

Education and certification is now mandatory for boaters in New Jersey. ***Online courses are NOT accepted for certification purposes. A classroom course must be taken in order to receive a NJ certificate.***Schedule for Completion of Mandatory Boating Safety Course:

• • Persons born in 1969 or later must possess a Boating Safety Certificate by June 1, 2006.
  • Persons born in 1959 or later must possess a Boating Safety Certificate by June 1, 2007.
  • Persons born in 1949 or later must possess a Boating Safety Certificate by June 1, 2008.
  • All persons who wish to operate a power vessel must possess a Boating Safety Certificate by June 1, 2009.

For additional information, visit the NJ State Police Marine Services web page at: http://www.njsp.org/maritime/testout.html or contact the NJ State Police at 609-882-2000 x6170, 6173 or 6181.

[winthrop fisher]

Hey Neil, you should be here at $2.65.....winthrop

A couple of my power boat buddies were bemoaning the cost of gas, which is looking like $4.00 a gallon at the fuel dock. I chimed in with the following:

Me: Hey, do you have any idea how much diesel costs these days?!!?

Them: No idea.

Me: Yeah, me neither.

There has always been tension between sail and power, sometimes friendly and sometimes not so friendly. Will the cost of fuel change the dynamics between sail and power?

[Neil Gordon]

• • Persons born in 1969 or later must possess a Boating Safety Certificate by June 1, 2006.
  • Persons born in 1959 or later must possess a Boating Safety Certificate by June 1, 2007.
  • Persons born in 1949 or later must possess a Boating Safety Certificate by June 1, 2008.
  • All persons who wish to operate a power vessel must possess a Boating Safety Certificate by June 1, 2009.

Hey, they left most of us out until 2009!!!