Rising fuel costs?

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OAF

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We have lived with the new fuel duty now for the past two and a half years, how would you say that it has affected the use of your boat?
Do you still go out as much as you did before because it doesn't matter to you? do you still do as much cruising but at a reduced speed? I am curious to see what others in this country are doing, I for one travel a lot slower than I used to and am starting to use the boat more as a base than taking it out for a jolly each weekend like I used to!
 
OAF said:
We have lived with the new fuel duty now for the past two and a half years, how would you say that it has affected the use of your boat?
Do you still go out as much as you did before because it doesn't matter to you? do you still do as much cruising but at a reduced speed? I am curious to see what others in this country are doing, I for one travel a lot slower than I used to and am starting to use the boat more as a base than taking it out for a jolly each weekend like I used to!
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I probably motor 25-30 knots rather than 30-35 knots, but its weather dependent, so overall, depends on the weather !
Holiday fuel was via CI's so maybe the annual fuel bill wont be very different. All in all though I ve spend many times more on toys than I have in extra fuel costs, so I guess it hasnt changed my boating much.
 
I guess we have lost a few hours since price increased, mainly due to being selective on when we go out.

Times have gone where we thought nothing of going for a run of an hour plus just to be out in the boat, more likely to head for a cove somewhere and drop the hook nowadays.

Similarly we tend to only do an extended cruise for our main holidays when we can spend a bit more time away from base, taking in more without running for home after a couple of days.

We do use the boat as much, just don't do half the hours we used to.

Guess we only have a limited budget, it either gets spent on fuel or on something else, usually a mix of both but with the increased prices it buys us less fuel than it used to, so we do less mileage.
 
Boat use has stayed the same, actual boat movement has reduced, and boat movement at design speed, which involves a 30 mile journey to where it would be permitted, has all but died out. Time was when a trip down to Rochester for a long weekend was done with passage planning on tide and locking times, now planning starts with an assessment of fuel on board, cost of replacing it and tends to stop plans there.

The unpalatable truth is that the change has adversely affected many boaters on more marginal budgets, but there again, the ecos dont care about that...

While the cost of fuel may, for some, be the least of the major costs of boat ownership, like a car, it is the cost you feel most often and the only one over which you have any real direct spending choice beyond the choice of ownership or non ownership.
 
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The weather is far more of an issue for us, I won't spoil a day out by worrying about cost. The amount we spend over a year is by no means the greatest cost of running the boat.
 
Sold the 35ft mobo and now even though I have access to a mid size motorboat all of my boating in the past year has been sailing.

I don't think I will be able to justify the purchase of a big ish fast motor boat again :(
 
I appreciate that the fuel cost only represents a small proportion of the overall cost of boat ownership and that some costs we have no control over eg moorings, servicing etc but we do have control on how we use our boats, as I said I tend to travel slower, chose the cheapest place to get my diesel (when possible) I still go down to my boat but instead of starting up the big thirsty beasts just for a weekend jaunt around the Solent I am starting to plan a bit better how I do my cruising.

The weather this year has been poor so far but even when it has been good I have noticed a lot less motor boats out on the water and those that I have seen don't seem to be travelling very fast!

It is interesting to get other peoples perspective.
 
OAF said:
We have lived with the new fuel duty now for the past two and a half years, how would you say that it has affected the use of your boat?
Do you still go out as much as you did before because it doesn't matter to you? do you still do as much cruising but at a reduced speed? I am curious to see what others in this country are doing, I for one travel a lot slower than I used to and am starting to use the boat more as a base than taking it out for a jolly each weekend like I used to!
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Similar pattern with us. We cruise at 8-10kts slower and have used the boat slightly less. Mind you, the latter may well be due to the windy weather this year, rather than the fuel cost.
 
I sold a sports cruiser and bought a pilot cutter, but in truth it had nothing to do with the cost of fuel, it was more to do with useability, the sun doesn't shine enough here for a sports boat, the pilot cutter gets used more because it doesn't matter what the weather's doing.:D
 
I don't use the boat anything like I did before - in fact, the engine servicing is now every two years, as she doesn't do the hours any more. Fuel isn't the only factor there, but it's a big consideration.

Having done the Round the Island Race this year, and had a ball, I''ve considered going back to sailing. Finding a buyer, plus the cost of change, is another impeding factor - besides I still like the idea of motor boating, and I still really like our boat. Looks like everything's a compromise.....

Cheers,
Paul
 
Fuel at about £1600 a year is 34% of my overall expenditure for large items on the boat. Mooring, insurance and servicing being the other.

So fuel is a very large part of my costs. When fuel was cheaper we went wherever we fancied but now don't generally go anywhere more than a couple of hours away if it's only for one night. We have started to do a lot more anchoring rather than visit marinas. We nearly always used to eat out but now BBQ on the boat.

It's not an issue of being able to afford to carry on using the boat as we used to, more a case of justifying it. We probably still have as much fun and our overall outlay hasn't changed even though the cost of fuel has.

It's now HMRC who benifit from our boating, not the local businesses
 
I'm taking early retirement and moving to Lymington next year. Given that I'll be within walking distance of the marina and without any work obligations, I could find myself doing a lot of hours and therefore fuel will be a bigger percentage of overall running costs.

So yes, changing fuel charges have influenced my thinking. If it wasn't for my wife I'd go back to a raggie. But she's just not interested in string pulling so it has to be a mobo. I'll probably end up with a semi-displacement Seaward, the 3-4 mpg being a big consideration.
 
"Do you still go out as much as you did before"

Yup ...have already done 150 hours so far and only half way through season,even the weather impacts only a little due to our location.
If its rubbish its up above the lock or somewhere sheltered in the estuary,if OK ,its further afield.
Club is off to Ramsgate in August,the weather had better be good or else !
 
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I would say it has an influence on me on how I use my boat, we used to take the boat out everytime we visited the boat regardless of weather (within reason) rain or shine. But now, we visit the boat and go out if the weather is looking good, I have found myself looking at the fuel gauge and thinking this trip needs a fill up and that going to be e.g. £150, so sometimes decide to stay put, never did that when is was £40.

We still cruise at the same speed 18 to 20knots as I can find no difference in mpg, she does around 4.5 mpg. What it has stopped me doing which I was planning to do several years ago, was to upgrade to a slightly larger boat with twin engines. So now it may be still a slightly larger boat around 30ft but must have a single engine and still manage something like 4mpg.

I have also changed how often we eat out, boat = always eat out, but now it is less often and that goes for Marina and short stay, tend to anchor more or use buoys etc.

Love boating and I hope never to stop because of fuel, I reckon it does have an impact on the people who work on the marine industry, pubs, food places etc.
 
Using my boat more and more. Don't worry too much about fuel costs - it has been interesting doing tests though now I have fuel flow metering. The consumption varies very little above 15kts.
Oh, going to be installing LPG fumigation soon hopefully, and saving 30% on fuel costs at least. See my PBO thread. Never been done on a boat before AFAIK - so it will be interesting!!
 
oldgit said:
"Do you still go out as much as you did before"

Yup ...have already done 150 hours so far and only half way through season,even the weather impacts only a little due to our location.
If its rubbish its up above the lock or somewhere sheltered in the estuary,if OK ,its further afield.
Club is off to Ramsgate in August,the weather had better be good or else !
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+1. We've done 92 hours so far, more than usual for this stage in the season.
Helped in no small part by the excellent weather in our holidays on the boat taken the week before Easter and the last 2 weeks.

The more we boat, the more boating we want to do!
But having a displacement vessel and about 4mpg means fuel is proportionately less significant a cost.

For example, our recent 2 week holiday on the boat (47 hours) cost us about £260 in fuel. I thought that wasn't bad in the grand scheme of things; during this time I wasn't putting £65 a week into the car, and the only other cost incurred was mooring fees of £105.

Other than camping (hardly luxurious although admittedly enjoyable), and possibly caravanning, there aren't many ways you could you get a 2 week luxury holiday, room only, for 2 people for less than £400.

You have to look at the whole picture :)
 
Ever increasing fuel costs and a bleak long-term outlook for diesel prices were factors in our decision to sell our sport cruiser. We were going to go raggie but now having second thoughts and thinking mobo but primarily for river use with maybe the odd coastal trip or annual holiday. High speed running about at weekends is definitely a thing of the past.

Thing is there has got to an an impact on residual values at some point so if we do go mobo it will have to be a very good deal. Asking prices currently are a bit out of touch with reality IMHO.
 
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