At £1.50/litre for diesel does the industry have any future..?

[Nickcf]

If the Gov just stick to their views on applying the top level of duty to boat diesel it is very likely to be at least £1.50/litre in the UK after November 2008 at marina prices. It is possible this is an optimistic figure given the oil price growth and the additional duty increases the Gov already have planned for next April and October

To put this into perspective for many powerboat owners a short 25 mile trip (Dover to France), ie 50 miles there and back will cost well over £300 in fuel alone.

This is a level of cost that I think this will cause many owners to think that it just is not worth making the trip. It doesn't really matter if you can afford it or not, it just won't be worth the money! You could stay in a 5 star hotel for less. If the trip involves an overnight berthing and a restaurant bill (as it usually would), a weekend away could be costing over £500 in the future.

I think we are now looking at the prospect of a very serious decline in UK based boat owners after next year with all the consequences this will bring. I just can't see a new generation of first time boat owners coming into the market- the costs will put them off the sport completely as it will be one for the very rich only in the future. The very rich don't usually keep their boats in the UK so the Uk market is going to be the one that suffers.

What a complete shambles- A master class by the Government in how to kill a successful industry by sheer incompetence and a short term money grasping strategy.

 

[BartW]

Definition of a Sailor: a person who prefers the process of getting there.

Definition of a Seaman: a person who prefers being there.

 

[Nickcf]

[ QUOTE ]
Definition of a Sailor: a person who prefers the process of getting there.



[/ QUOTE ]

....But not (for many including SWMBO) if the process means spending many uncomfortable hours going not very far and getting wet and cold in the process.....

 

[gjgm]

well, it might be £1.50, but then again it might be £1.20. Are you going to take up cycling instead of using the car, too /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Sure, no one is looking forward to a fuel cost increase, but then maybe we are coming from a very low point to start with.
I m sure many will feel the pinch, but you only have to look at a marina to spot that many people clearly can afford it, too.
Personally, a day on a boat sounds more fun than a day in a hotel, but its going to hurt.

 

[rubberduck]

Bio can be produced for as little as 15p per litre if you ask your local chippy for their waste, mix this 50/50 with regular diesel & cut your costs in half, & only carry half the volume you use to the boat. Perhaps marinas could provide storage for customers to keep their home brew in on the fuel barge. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Major Catastrophe]

[ QUOTE ]

Bio can be produced for as little as 15p per litre if you ask your local chippy for their waste,

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you will find that most chippy's already have 'customers' for their oil and they don't produce that much anyway.

 

[nonitoo]

If you are talking about a trip across the channel it may well prove cheaper to fuel up there - I know the Dover fuel people are already concerned about that.

Tom

 

[Nickcf]

[ QUOTE ]
If you are talking about a trip across the channel it may well prove cheaper to fuel up there - I know the Dover fuel people are already concerned about that.

Tom

[/ QUOTE ]

I certainly will- I doubt I will buy any fuel in the UK unless it is essential and I am also seriously thinking of moving the boat abroad. This is why the UK industry will be damaged as the business is lost to other countries.

 

[SlowlyButSurely]

Well, looking on the bright side, it might persuade some to try sailing and discover what they've been missing.

 

[rubberduck]

What you need is a friend in the chippy biz like what I got. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[pt8]

I knew a few people who are trying to sell their boats NOW because they don't think they will get their price after November 2008. They are also giving up boating purely because they cannot justify the high cost of keeping a boat.

Its not just the fuel price hike (diesel) but all the other ongoing costs ie mooring fees etc., , too that are making people think is it worth keeping a boat.

I shall still keep mine in the short term and see what happens but I have seriously considered giving up boating and going off and doing something else for relaxation. Maybe, I should take up flying with only 20p min tax being put on AVGAS!

 

[drh2]

But don't we pay an extortionate percentage of tax compared to most countries for our fuel?
Why can't the goverment get real and look at helping the over-taxed populace for once. I'm sure many MPs put their own fuel costs against expenses.

 

[ricky_s]

This comes up all the time. What about the Mobos (including me) with petrol engines? We still do trips and accept the fuel is going to cost a lot. For the amount of hours my boat is used in a year it is still not a lot to pay.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

[ QUOTE ]
Why can't the goverment get real and look at helping the over-taxed populace for once

[/ QUOTE ]

Ho, ho, ho. Who do you think GB is? Father Christmas? About as much chance of that as Spurs winning the premier league.
Motorists and other fuel users are a cash cow to be squeezed for every last drop of revenue whilst being told that we're poisoning the planet, bunging up the roads and killing grannies and children by driving at 34mph instead of 33mph
Sure MPs put all of their motoring costs through expenses and if they're not doing that, they taking the train or plane first class at our expense and, then if public transport gets a bit tiresome, they'll get a chauffeur driven limo. You expect these people to do the ordinary working Joe a favour? Dream on

 

[Marsupial]

Yes agreed, and sorry there's no good news, out here (Saudi) fuel is cheaper than water, you would expect people to be use cars more and generally waste the stuff, but that is not the case, the traffic here looks the same here as in the UK, and here you dont walk anywhere (its too hot). The difference is here is that fuel is just not an issue. Its proof if it were needed that taxing something doesnt reduce consumption if the something is a necessity - it just raises easy money for Government to waste. For the boater, you have a choice - use the boat or sell it and do something else, for the worker who lives where there is no work and needs to commute there is no choice - he pays more. So while the UK has a taxation culture there will be no respite from fuel costs and the application of multiple taxes. The feeling here is that $200 a barrel is not out of the question, at current levels of taxation this will make the UK unviable so something will have to give. "They" will probably tax it and ration it in the name of the National interest of course!

 

[Major Catastrophe]

Just because fuel is cheap and traffic is light does not prove that taxation does not work.

Friends just back from Dubai, where fuel is also cheap, report that the roads are gridlocked much of the time and you need to allow three hours to get to the airport by taxi.

 

[rubberduck]

If you tax something to much then you create a black market & more crime, which is already happening.

 

[volvopaul]

Lets hope for a couple of years after nov 08 that the marine industry is shot to pieces, then there will be no more southampton, excel or earls court, used boat shows will be a thing of the past.

After all the redundancies and emplty hamble point etc and all the money our wonderfull government will have to pay on redundancy payments to paye employees, they then might take some action to put it back on its tracks and subsidise fuel prices properly and tell the eu where to go, it would not bother me one bit, only because i can survive from the income of my other side of my business.

Cant really see it though, maybe we should sell the uk to the americans before we are taken over by others that are gradually invading this country, that way we could be all burning petrol instead of dirty smelly sooty diesel .

Rant over!

 

[halcyon]

Look at the positive, if everyone moves there boats abroad, it will reduce the countries carbon footprint, and improve Mr Browns World status.
If oil prices go up $ / barrel, and the value of the dollar is falling, why are fuel prices going up?

Brian

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

[ QUOTE ]
Look at the positive, if everyone moves there boats abroad, it will reduce the countries carbon footprint, and improve Mr Browns World status.
If oil prices go up $ / barrel, and the value of the dollar is falling, why are fuel prices going up?

Brian

[/ QUOTE ]

this is so true comparing 100 $ now is like saying 70 $ a year ago, it's more a dollar movement weakening in this case then a real price hike, but it seems the petroleum producers are ready for any escuse to put prices up