Just curious if there are any boaters or RV's in the forum, and how the gas prices have altered your lifestyle.

We have a 2003 26' TrailLite travel trailer that we tow with a 2002 GMC Sierra, a 2007 Harris Flote Bote pontoon boat and a 2005 Honda Jet Ski.

I had a 1998 21 foot Searay Sundeck with a V-8 that we owned for over 9 years and got the pontoon with a 40 HP Honda outboard to save on gas. The pontoon also can carry all of our growing family, 11 of us can fit. It's a lot slower than the Searay but if I want to kick butt I get on the jetski. We are on a chain of lakes in NE Indiana.

We have had our travel trailer to Ontario Canada, Colorado,Arizona, New Orleans and the gulf coast, the coast of Maine, Key West, and all points in between. This year we will be going to central Ohio from NW Ohio and will go only about 500 miles total.

I'm not complaining, I feel fortunate to have these "toys" and am glad to have seen what I did , when I could. We will still use our trailer to go places when we fully retire but you can divide the cost over longer periods of time and stay for free in WalMart parking lots overnight on the way to your destination to offset the gas cost.

 

Chuck65,

I've been a SeaRay man for 35 years, but sold my 23' last spring to a chap from Germany (works at a nearby Mercedes plant!). Just in time for the worst draught in 50 years here. He never put it in the water.

And this year there's water in the lake, but $7.20/gallon at the marina looks awful steep!

There are 2 wonderful days of Boat Ownership...the day you buy it and the day you sell it...

 

LOL maxcichon, I have also heard the description on a boat as " A hole in the water that you poor money into." And you really do need enough water to "float your boat" sounds like your timing was perfect. Maybe the German guy could tow it as a camper. I've seen that done before.

I think your marina was out of line @ $7.20 per gal. I usually transport gas from the gas station and take it down the dock, but got lazy last week and filled up the jet ski at the marina. About the same size tank as the Crossfire 16 gal. It takes 93 octane and they were charging $4.54 per gal.

BTW I read a review of the new PWC's from Sea Doo & Honda. They're now up to 250hp + and weigh about 800 lbs. Talk about horsepower to weight ratio. 0-50mph in 3 seconds and 70mph top end. That's really hauling *** on the water. Mine does 0-30 mph in 3 seconds and tops out at 55 mph. You might think about a PWC if the water ever rises. In that same magazine they reviewed a 35 foot boat that had (3) 350hp outboards on it, 1,050 hp total. The boat tested 20-25 gal. per. hour at 25 mph. and over 100 gal. per. hour wide open at about 50 mph.

 

Fuel prices have yet to put a damper on our first joy,the wind is still free and with solar panels and wind generator we can stay off grid as long as we like.
HPIM1386.jpg

 

Wow what a beautiful boat and you can't beat windpower. Maybe you could hang the Crossfire on the back to use when you get to port. Your giving me ideas.

 

Thanks for the complement chuck. While we try to stay out of major ports while cruising this is our link to the mainland hanging off the stearn (grin) AK "Taxi"

AngelaM-1-1.jpg

More boat ****....
HPIM0512.jpg

 

Have a 1999 36' Gulf Stream Sun Voyager Class A motorhome. Gotta admit we have not gone as much as we usually would. However most of our time going is during college football season, Tailgating on the weekends. But that is only 6 weeks away and I have already decided to just drive down by car to some of the games and only take the motorhome to the really hot games. So yeah, I guess the gas prices have decreased our going as much as would normally go. But I am not really that upset about not going!!!!!!

 

I've been a Sea Ray fan for many years. Our first Sea Ray was a 22' Cuddy Cabin in '80. We then moved to a 270 Sea Ray Sundancer in '87, then we purchased a new 30' Sea Ray Weekender with twin 260 hp, 350 ci Mercruisers (straight inboards) in 1989. We still own the boat and it's running strong 20 years later. I run it around 2800-2900 rpms most of the time, and use 13-15 gallons per hour. At those rpm's I'm cruising around 19-21 knots. I have two one-hundred gallon gas tanks. Gas at Pt. Judith Marina (RI), where I filled up last week, was $4.66 a gallon. Last year gas was roughly $1 a gallon cheaper.

The price of gas will not stop us from using our boat. It's somewhat of a short season up here with the prime boating time being from the middle of May to the middle of September. By the way, the name of our boat is "It's Only Money".

Bob

 

And with that, there is no towing or waiting for the 3 twits in front of you to figure out how to back in a trailer!

 

I kid you knot (!) this was the price told to me by a neighbor I trust who weekends at Lake Martin. He was out with HIS neighbor from the lake and was pirated @ this price just this last week (Thurs). Gas at the local road stations is a bit higher than those closer to the interstate, but nothing like that!

 

Right now wife and I own a 25' Bennington Tritoon with a 150hp Yamaha fourstroke. It does 32 no matter how many people are on it.

Have owned a 13' Lund with a 15hp merc.
16' Checkmate with a 115 ,erc. then a 140 rude on it.Did 40 then 52 mph.
20' Eliminator Liberty with a 225 rude on it,doing 72 mph.
20' Rapid Craft Riot with 5 different Merc. motors from 550 hp nos motors to 280 os motors to 300 drag motors...around 118 all day long and would pull 11 seconds flat in the 1/4 and take the wife and a cooler and a friend at 104 all day long.

My Dad has a 27'10" Dayton Thompson does 54 mph.
My Mom has a 24' Landau tritoon with a 200 merc. on the back does 37 mph.

Oh and we have a 3 person pedal boat with an electric trolling motor in it that ya can't see....sort of a pedal sleeper...hahaha.

And we own a Park Model trailer in the middle of a Marina.
And two Dockiminiums at another Marina,My folks own 5 docks at the same place.
So yes I have seen gas effect some people....but lucky enough it hasn't effected my family.
Oh and Marina gas is 5.75 for premium where I am.

First photo is of the Riot I owned which I sold to another member of this forum who has an SRT6 also.]
Second photo is of our Pontoon...wife loves yellow,3rd and 4th photo is the view from our Park Model.
5th photo is my neighbors 32 Fountain with twin 500's.
Oh and the wife just spoke up cause she is from a SeaRay family her folks have a 29' in the Ozarks..that is where the photo of my neighbors Fountain was taken we took it there one week.

So yes ya can say my family is into boating
As I find more photos I will post.
K.K.

 

Here is some more...
1.Is a photo from winter of our "RV" then
2. the parking lot side of it so ya could see the SRT6 in the thick of snow..yes I am a die hard I visit the Marina when its snowed in.
3.Toon on the trailer...yes wife loves yellow
4.Just some of the 97 props I owned at one time.
5.Special drag gearcase...wife bought me for b-day so I would have an extra.
6.Inlaws 29' SeaRay
7.My gas golf cart...it does 17mph and was painted to match my boat...now does bar hopping duty since I sold the boat.
Oh if you notice the deck was red then grey...it is now grey I painted it last year...I much like it better then that red stain.

K.K.

 

Thanks for sharing all of that , I can see your whole family is into boating. I just came in from a ride on ours. Mines a real slug next to your boats.

 

Any day on the water is a good day!
No matter what form!

K.K.