i took off at lunch yesterday...was on the water by 2 o'clock...ran out of gas at 7 o'clock...swam the boat to the docks by 7:45....loaded up and home by 8:10...all in all a great fuking.. day...i will never stop....

Our private beach is opposite one of the most popular rafting up spots on the river. In years gone by the river would be churned up like a washing machine all afternoon Saturday and Sunday.

The main difference I see is that everyone is putting in at local ramps and going straight to the island, they stay there all day and leave at six. Very few of them are riding up and down like they used to.

I don't know anyone that has quit, I do know a couple that have downsized. One to a toon and the other to a couple of Seadoo rxp-x's

friends who quit boating


Stecz
Tantrum
Bernie
Cashbar
Dreamer.

And thats just off the top of my head w/o giving it much thought

I have been more this year already, than I did in the past couple. I would sell mine if the right money was offered.(LOL)
Only to buy something else later, when the bottom falls out of the market. I do know of two guys that have sold their boats, but I don't think that either of them is totally out of boating. As for me, I guess I will be the one to turn the lights out!!!!!:ernaehrung004:

I still have not had my boat in the water yet this year. I was going to put it in during 4th of July but some people could not end up going...hate to boat alone.

Thankfully, my boat is all paid for and I can afford to let it sit if I need to when I have other priorities, etc,---but I'm still very selective about where I do my boating. I will probably boat maybe about 4-6 weekends this year.

Gas was a huge factor in me selling my boat, however I will never quit boating and I plan to replace it with a smaller cat (30ft) with outboards. It will be a very long time before I look at another deep V with IO's.

I did however put a 180 hours on my AT the year before it sold.

Lots of friends are leaving their gas hogs parked as they have 50% value from a year ago..I have gotten into other kinds of boats ,doing the jet ski thing , pontoon, running the STV while tinkering with the cat,got it just about perfect while i wait for something to happen with the fuel cost's,and this way nothings broke..cannot justify the expense in my head as the $1000k fuel cost can be used for better purposes with my business.anyways its like winter here in SW Fl ,too dang hot and it will rain every day and if that dont get ya the water Nazi's will as they operate their business of generating revenue.

I'm so glad I didn't sell the ole Formula. Great weekend boat.. The Avanti will be used for PR.. Cost me more with the Avanti just to get out on the Ocean from the docks then the Fomula all day.

One thing that I have noticed this summer- Since gas prices are on everyone's mind, more people have offered gas money than ever before.

I used to always say "ahh thanks but don't worry about it".
Now I tend to just say "thanks".

Most of our friends are couples in their mid 40's to 50's and and all do pretty well, so that helps. It probably started with poker runs. We would put out an open invitation to about 5 couples, we would total up the cost of the entry fee, the passenger fee, calculate the gas cost based on mileage of the run, add it all up and divide it by the number of people on the run and that's what everyone chipped in. Now for the fun stuff our friends all just think the same way and plan to divide up the cost of gas based on how many go out. Everyone seems fine with it, they are glad we pick up the big expenses, monthly payments, insurance, diesel fuel, truck expenses, and MAINTENCE and Ian's driving ability!

This chipping in mentality spills over into other things as well. Most of our friends live on the same small lake that we do, we all have a lot parties and guests always arrive with a dish to pass, their own booze, and sometimes even their own meat to grill. It must work since our boat is usually filled and the parties crowed:drink: