What happens when the fuel just becomes too dear?

IMHO, the options are sell now & take a large hit, or write the value off & enjoy. I have chosen the latter as my mortgage is paid & I will sell a very good business once the kids are finished with Cambridge etc.
 
elton said:
Where would you get the hydrogen from? How would you store and transport it? Hydrogen is a notoriously difficult fuel to handle, which is why no one uses it.
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When it leaks, it also makes CFCs look positively ozone layer friendly!
 
elton said:
Where would you get the hydrogen from? How would you store and transport it? Hydrogen is a notoriously difficult fuel to handle, which is why no one uses it.
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You are spot on. There are some very good ways to store and transport hydrogen, and we have many years of great experience. Petrol, diesel or coal are the most common mediums. The H2 is wrapped around some carbon. Works a treat!
 
If fuel prices continue to rise so much so that long distance cruising (more than a couple of hours) becomes too expensive, marinas/moorings that have great locations on their dorrstep ie the Solent will become more attractive and of course more expensive.
I'm thankfull I'm in Chichester harbour, I can stay in the harbour and have a great day/weekend and anchor for free..
 
Think of this!
Are electric cars so much fossil fuel free. When major of electricity is produced with oil.
84% if energy World wide is produced with oil.
That was 86% in 2007 so slowly we are improving.

A nice technolgy I am watching is Joule from the US which can make petrol, ethanol, diesel from Solar, CO2 Waste, and non potable water.
I guess is wait and see what happens!
 
oldgit said:
"That may be true of the top end of the market" "There are plenty of us about doing our sailing on a shoe string."

A,men to that.

This forum in particular at times can very marina centric and ignore the fact that represents a smallish proportion of boaters .................
The vast majority of boats down here on the Medway and suspect on the east coast in general will never ever ever have graced the interior of a Marina ever,and inhabit a world of basic boatyards,mudberths,swinging moorings and the odd club berth.
This applies to both MoBos and especially sailing boats.
The average trip out may not approach much more than 30 odd miles in total and half of that at 6 knots max,so fuel is not the be all and end all of the matter.
The cost of running a boat can be well within the reach of the average man even now provided you are prepared to forego the pleasures of a fast flybridge addicted to permanent shorepower to keep the fridge and humidifier constantly on the go.
Around £1500 pa will get you a reasonable mooring and a lot less than that should you be prepared to join a decent Club and muck in with a bit of welding,painting,chain laying or my particular contribution hedge cutting.
The fuel consumption of boats above the lock must amount to pints rather than gallons*
*old money.
The displacement and repositioning of larger boats (by our standards) from the South coast to our local marinas has been noticeable over the last few years.
A possible financial migration has been going on for ages.
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Amen to what you said too!:) There are hundreds of us small boat sailors in the Taw and Torridge estuary, it dries here so generally keeps the big flash stuff, mobos or raggies away. "They don't like it up 'em you know" (the mud that is)....

Fuel just isn't an issue for me, 6hp 4 stroke OB....maybe four or 5 gallons a year? I will sail as much as possible, even slowly is preferable to starting the outboard. I can't really say what is happening up channel at places like Watchet and Portishead, but I have been told that they now have spare berths a plenty??

I am not at all envious of folk who like the big flash mobos, and the lifestyle that goes with them, because it just isn't what I want from sailing, however saying that, there must be a lot of people, even rich ones that are having to tighten their belts a bit, and maybe some not so rich ones that are having to give up their mobos and either knock the hobby on the head, or change to some other form of boaty pastime.

Whatever the case I think it's a shame that people can't get what they want from the hobby because of the cost of fuel, as somebody has already said the cost is mostly tax, but seriously, can you see the government, any government reducing their take on a gallon of fuel in any meaningful way?

Is it possible that folk who like their motor boating will start to look at displacement vessels as a way forward? It seems to my old head that they were the norm at one time, where did all these huge planing vessels come from and why? I think it all must have passed me by while I have been sailing in my own little world these past years:) Displacement vessels are certainly cheaper on fuel, just as commodious, and generally more seaworthy than fast planing boats, ( I am talking heavy weather capability here), yes I know a planing boat can run away from weather faster.

Just a few rambling and random thoughts:)
 
Re powering a power hungry beast

Is it not possible to re-power a power hungry beast?

I have been looking at the market recently and there does seem to be a lot of boats that I would love to buy, with large engines that are too expensive to run...I like the look and layout of the boats but just wish they had smaller, quieter engines...

So (excuse my stupidity here cos i am not really goof with engineering stuff) for example, if you get an old 60fter with big diesel guzzlers at a cheap price could you re-power to make it trundle along ...is that possible? or would the wieght etc etc be all wrong ? just wondering?
 
Unless switching from petrol to diesel, I suspect the only means to get a more efficient power unit would be a) newer or b) smaller. There would be significant costs involved with both options, but newer is probably most cost prohibitive and I'd be worried that going sufficiently smaller to make any kind of economy worthwhile would risk the vessel being under powered. If you are looking to keep the vessel a long time then perhaps a new more efficient engine is partly offset in the miles you would cover, but most boaters seem to trade up after a few years! ;) Finally,unless you are looking to adapt a seagoing, planing hull for canals/rivers you would probably also devalue your 'subject' boat if you install a significantly smaller motor. All IMHO of course... :D
 
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