Sailing without power boats.

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Yesterday was another great sailing day on Galveston Bay with few power boats out there. The fuel prices have really taken their toll. There was also noticably less sailboats also. Lots of sailors have quite a bit of a commute to their boat. Its unfortunate that people have to give up or cut back on one of their favorite passtimes. "For sale" signs are cropping up everywhere.Its a boat buyers market.Tony B

 

[Ctskip]

I left open my options

when I moved from Oklahoma to Texas. Reason for moving was ,the wife wanted to be closer to her folks. They live in the dead center of Texas. A small town of about 3000 people. I said we could move there, and I'd find a place nearby for the boat. She didn't want to live that close. The wife wanted to be near a big city. I though, Houston somewhere. Lots of water there. Only I didn't care for the humidity or the heat. So we chose Dallas. I found a lake with more sailboats than power boats. Less oil floating on the water where all those power boaters are. So once I found the lake, we looked for a house. Found one next to the lake. Now I'm three miles from the boat. I can see her lying in her slip, across the lake from my house. I have a feeling that things will only get worse when it comes to jobs and fuel. Hopefully the extremists will stay on their side of the big pond. I'm no spring chicken, so I'll probably stay here and enjoy the sun setting over Dallas and lake my boat sits in. The neighborhood isn't so bad. I'm still new to it and the neighbors really don't know me yet. They still have time to move out. JK. I grew up being around marinas and my folks had 24 to 42 foot power boats all my life. I have always had a fondness for sail. The water is in my blood, growing up along the shore in Ct. My thought was, why pay for something when you can get it for free (travel on the water). I have never been in a rush anyway. Now after sailing for a number of years, I realize I don't really care for powerboats all that much. The really fast cigarette boats are fun, but after 15 minutes I can be let off ashore, thanks. Again, I think its a age thing. The music can also be to loud. I know it's a age thing. I think if you have the cash, you can buy just about anything at a bargain price today. Boy am I glad I sold the SUV awhile back. Being on a fixed income, one learns how to make ones money look like it is more than it really is. I actually had to let the lawn service go when I lived in Oklahoma. The wife wanted me to lose weight and save money. So when I moved here, I made sure there was VERY, VERY , did I say VERY little lawn to maintain. I even have a automatic sprinkler system for the shrubs and what VERY little lawn I have. The guy that invented the lawn should of been castrated. There is a system I call PPP . It stands for piss poor planning. I avoid that when ever possible. I learn from others very easily. Keep it up, Ctskip Hows your furling set up going?  Where'd all the Katrina parts go, anyway? That's good for another thread.

 

[Rick D]

Ditto SoCal and A Great Sail to Catalina

...just came back from an overnighter in Catalina Island. I topped off my tank with 18 gallons of diesel at $5.21 / gallon discounted from $5.37 because of my Boat US membership. $100 plus a $10 tip. I had to motor about half the way there due to winds clocking on the nose regardless of my tacks or course (naturally) and then for an hour on the way back to top off the batteries (while sailing). All in all, a typical sail to Catalina out of Long Beach; 24 miles from the outer breakwater to Ship's Rock. I consumed about a quarter tank or 10 gallons, so even in a sailboat, it was a $50 trip. One of the guys with me said he consumes about 35 gallons an hour at 11 knots, so figure he burns 200+ per trip and you can see he's at $1000 round trip... in a trawler. He is going to cut back to eight knots to try to get it down to about 20 gallons / hour, a savings of about $250. Imagine what a planing hull 50' motor yacht is consuming if his numbers are indicative. As you can probably imagine, the island economy is hurting and there are few power boats there except for the larger expensive ones, the owners of which likely are not put off by the fuel prices. Even the sail boat population was down. Too bad; GREAT sail back with consistent 8+ knot speeds, and plenty at 8.7 knots both indicated and GPS with the wind right on the beam, 16-20 knots and the seas on the quarter. Rick D.BTW, the AIS came in *real* handy with five ships within five miles going into the port.

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

What amazes me is...

from what I have read in the newspapers, Houston area is still going strong and one of the most economically stable cities in the US right now. I cant imagine how bad things are for the cities that are hard hit with this downturn.Rick, even when fuel was reasonable, I still thought that the consumption rate of some of the power boats was mind blowing.Power boaters and sailors are different breeds. I can see a sailor going to power after experiencing the frustration of motoring most of the time anyway. But I cant see power boaters going to sail. Under normal circumstances, there is no testosterone rush from the noise and vibration of a sailboat. I just think power boaters will just find a different interest. Sailors will still be trying to figure out how to get to their boats or how to extend their time aboard to more or less amorterize their travel expenses.CT: I always thought you were a young man. Didnt realize you were also part of our 'Geritol Generation'. My furling system works fine now. It turns out the upper part got twisted when the furling halyard was inadvertently loosened and also I changed out the shackle. As for my stuff lost in Katrina, we almost moved to South Padre Island. All of our safety and environmental meetings offshore tell us that 70% of all marine debris in the Gulf ends up on S. Padre Island. I figured if we moved down there, I could send the GF to the beach every day and look for my stuff. Someday my table saw may even show up there.The heat and humidity here is much more tolerable than in Louisiana and Ms. There is also far far fewer mosquitos here in Houston area. This would be a nice place to live if it didnt have so many Texans. JK.LOLTony B

 

[Jim]

They will be back in July and August

they have only reduced their powerboat usage. They will come back but they will not be as bad.

 

[windward54]

The powerboat seem to have vanished!

We also just got back from an overnighter to Catalina. A really nice weekend out on the island and Two Harbors was only half full. And that was with a large paddleboard race. Best part was almost all the boats were sailboats, so it was a lot quieter. Most of the 40-footer powerboats are not making the trip, or at least have cut back on the number of trips. It is just too expensive for them to go over for just a night.Rick, you must have taken all our wind. We had none either going or coming back. But the new radio worked great. I was able to make contact with hams from Seattle to Indiana and over to Texas on 20 meters. Not a lot of action on the marine side.

 

[Capt. Ed]

Boat use Salem Sound

I have been on the water daily from mid april,and have noticed s slight drop in powerboat use. I say slight but most marinas and mooring are full. We usually see a lot of powerboat use here till mid July and then they must have burned their fuel budget,because there is always a big drop-off of powerboat use . The scary part is that most people still do not know the rules of the road . I have had 2 run ins with powerboats making last mim. course changes to avoid my sailboat. Man how I shake when they do that .

 

[Mike B]

Chesapeake Bay

Just did a weeks vacation on the central to upper reaches of the Chesapeake Bay and there was a definate decrease in the number of power boats on the water. The big boys, high 40' to 50+ were there as were the 20' bow riders, but the 30 and 40 something cruisers were amongst the missing. Not to worry though we found Sunday night on our return trip home. All of them were anchored across from their marinas. No more than a 1/4 mile away. There may have been some impact from the kids still being in school up this way but all in all definately fewer power boats on the open waters. No lack of sailboats though.Mike

 

[Dan Johnson]

Mike...

The NE river was fairly quiet over the past weekend as well. Only a couple of go-fast boats and "blast-boat fishermen", a few cruisers, and a lot of sailboats! Most of the usual powerboats are staying in their slips or only going as far as the beach off the Elk Neck on the flats side. Less wakes rocking the boat while I tried to get work done too!

 

[Mike B]

It was definately nice

Dan, it was definately nice and quiet out there. We came back from Baltimore on Sunday and other than a couple of power boats here and there it was all sailboats. Even some of the power boats we saw were running at trawler speeds. When we got back to Skipjack on the Sassafras there were hoards of power boats anchored off the beaches. All right across from the marinas. I'm afraid the boating industry is going to take a big hit from all of this. Time will tell.Mike

 

[AXEL]

Same here

I'm seeing the same trend here on Long Island's south shore. Fewer power boats, yeah!!!!!

 

[Jim Seamans]

Same on the Potomac

A few power boats are running around but definitely not as many. About three years ago the owner of the marina, who has a loud go fast, was in a poker race. He told us it cost him a $1000 in fuel for that weekend. Shutter to think what it would cost now. Sail On everyoneJimS/V Java

 

[Scott B]

Not necessarily a good thing

I wouldn't be overly chearful about fewer powerboats, given the underlying reasons. It's more a sign of the state of the economies in our countries. Everything revolves around fuel costs, and the higher oil goes the more products end up costing, the fewer dollars we have to spend and the more industry cuts back, more jobs lost and so on.Being in construction, I can see the panic in our industry ( one of the largest industries in Canada, when you include all of building, materials, manufacturers etc., etc.) I just hope it gets better soon, before it gets way worse.The quieter sailing is nice, but the cause is unsettling and makes the sail not as enjoyable.

 

[John]

agree

I agree with Scott about the overall picture. As for myself, I just retired from construction and I feel I just got out in time. On the other hand, I'm already worried about how much my pitiful pension will provide, especially in a year to two from now. Not only that, but they're moving in another direction: There is already a new push on to increase off-shore drilling for oil, using the increased price as an excuse. What good will that do? The amount off the US coast that has not already been tapped is relatively minor and will soon be gone. But we'll stay stuck with the pollution forever.As for the decreased use of power boats, that's not the only thing. Check out this link. Do you think this is related too?

 

[Jim]

From what I see

the real problem is increase world demand. The trade deficit is 100% resposibile for increased world demand. Thinks about it. The world is buying oil with dollars exported from America for goods and services. The trade and federal deficit have created this problem. If it is a problem. I would describe it a normal cycle.Everything goes in stages. Our standard of living must decrease as the worlds goes up. It is simple case supply and demand. Increase demand above supply and the prices goes up. Country like China have so many US dollar they use them to keep the price of oil down in their country. Gas cost $1.50 per gallon in China. We can't do that. In fact we have to borrow money from China to pay for the war. Sorry but it true! You should understand it.