How Much Have The Fuel Prices Changed Your Cruising

lwrandall · 08-01-2006, 08:17 PM

I realize I don't live in the hot bed of Yachting (Baltimore, MD). However, every summer several yachts make Baltimore home port for several weeks. Also there is consistently a couple of different yachts coming in for short stays. This summer I can count on half of one hand the number of yachts visiting Baltimore (not a very scientific method). My question is have the fuel increases affected the cruising of large yachts 120'+or any yacht for that matter? I was always under the impression this segment of the market was pretty insulated from swings in fuel and other prices. I think it would interesting to get some insight from our Captain/Crew/Owner members.

C4ENG · 08-02-2006, 12:32 AM

We were in Baltimore last year on a 150 ft yacht. We left there for the North east afterwards. This year our boss totally cancelled the summer trip which should had been the same as last year. It was very surprising to us all. He said something about his family coming in and he did not have time for the summer run. But now that you made me think about it, he is not going to say "I am not paying all that money in fuel so screw that summer run."

nas130 · 08-02-2006, 08:45 AM

Lionel,

I run a 72' MY that burns about 90 gallons an hour at cruise speed. We are in the NE for the summer and have not slowed down at all. I have heard that the people who run to the canyons for fishing have been doing it less but not any motor yachts. $270 dollars an hour for fuel is not a huge expense in the grand scheme of things.

If dockage and fuel keep growing at the same pace, I'd imagine some owners getting upset with prices. There also was a thread on here about offshore bunkering you might want to read. The weather has been terrible in the northeast this summer. I have had two trips cancelled/shortened because of rain and heavy seas.

nas

Codger · 08-06-2006, 11:26 AM

Just got back from a trip to Eastern Canada. As usual I dropped in at the locks at Sault St Marie ( can't resist large hydraulic machinery :-) )
Traffic between Lake Huron and Lake Superior for pleasure craft is at normal levels.

C4ENG · 08-07-2006, 07:47 PM

Well we had just been updated on board here. Next month we will be heading for NY city from the south east coast. Our boss just wants to use the boat as a hotel for his buisness meeting he has there.
I would have to believe fuel cost is not a concern to him.

Loren Schweizer · 08-07-2006, 11:02 PM

Wonder what happens next for the Left Coast yachties now that the Prudhoe Field supply is axed for a time

07-08-2008, 02:35 PM

It seems that the posts to this thread are from 2006, but I am interested in the same question today. Have fuel prices changed your cruising habits? Are you traveling less, or taking shorter trips? What about recreational and sport fishermen? I hear tournament registration is down.

NYCAP123 · 07-08-2008, 03:52 PM

Much of my business used to be lessons and orientations for new boaters...way down there. My regular cruising clients are down about 10% in their days, more in miles covered and always grumbling. Just back from doing the fourth on Hyannis & the Vinyard-quiet. I'm fortunate that most of my time does get filled, but it used to be booked months in advance. Now I have to wonder a bit longer.

SSLillypad · 07-11-2008, 11:16 PM

We have also been at the Vineyard and Nantucket over the past two weeks and there has been fewer boats there than years past. They say the docks used to be full at nantucket Harbor by now. Some are spending a lot of time there and not traveling as much.

Capt J · 09-02-2008, 01:07 PM

I do see things changing. I do a lot of deliveries and have had to do them at hull speed most of the time to keep expenses down.

For example in May I ran a 75' MY from Fort Lauderdale to Chicago. I would say 85% of the distance was done at 1,000rpms burning 10gph at 8.8 knots. Versus 100gph at 1,950rpms and 17 knots. Needless to say I ran the vessel approx. 2400NM and burned only 4,200 gallons. Versus 20,000 gallons if I did it at cruise everyday.

I also have seen a huge trend starting about 2 years ago where only about 20% of the yachts that do the North-South trip every year still do it. I just delivered two yachts, one Ft. Laud to CT, and another Ft. Laud to DE. They will both stay put and be winterized during the winter. I also have customers leaving their vessels in ft. laud year round.

Another trend I have seen is less running to places and people are doing more idle speed day trips on the ICW versus running outside to get somewhere. Also, we have about 70% of the initial boat traffic weekends on the ICW here in South Florida. BUT, you see 25' and under OR 50' and over. The 25-50' crowd are too pinched to spend $2,000 to fill up their 38' Searay that's worth $150k.

I also see very very few new people getting into yachting as NYCAP has been seeing. A good portion of my customers are staying in it and changing their consumption. A few are getting out of yachting here and there. I have been very busy, but with the trend of 8/10 Yachts sold going out of the country the last two years and the fuel prices. We just don't have the sheer inventory of yachts in the US anymore, nobody local are buying new ones to replace the used ones leaving. Things in the industry are going to really slow down this year if fuel prices don't change. They not only effect the industry, but have tightened the ENTIRE economy because everything you buy has been delivered by tractor trailer.

Highlander · 10-20-2008, 04:23 PM

My boat is only 40' but the price of fuel this past summer just made me angry.
A few years back we would run from Milford CT to Block Isl for a long weekend. Now I try to plan trips that get the most out of the fuel expense.
On our "big cruise" this summer, I just wasn't going to let the oil SOB's get the better of our vacation. We went farther than ever before, all the way to Machias bay ME. I know it's not far compared to some mega yachts travels but I am proud to say we went 845 Nm in 17 days and 50 engine hours.
We had fun going to remote places and had many anchorages to our selves.

So yes, fuel and the abysmal economy do have an effect but we all react differently. Not all in a logical manner, just look at the stock market!

Carl

nilo · 10-20-2008, 04:59 PM

Indeed, this is what boating is about. you can leave all your worries behind and move to another world. However, considering that fuel in Turkey nearly sells for 2.5 dollars per liter, it is still dirt cheap on the States side.

scott49 · 11-07-2008, 10:40 PM

We were going to make the trip back up to Alaska agian from Seattle. Seemed that the summer was going to be short and the price of a fill up(5000 gals) Made it not worth the trip. Just played around in the San Juan Islands.

Capt J · 11-08-2008, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott49

We were going to make the trip back up to Alaska agian from Seattle. Seemed that the summer was going to be short and the price of a fill up(5000 gals) Made it not worth the trip. Just played around in the San Juan Islands.

With diesels, if you keep them under 1,000 rpms (if they top out at 2350rpm's), they'll use very very little fuel in comparison to cruise. I've found just about every make uses 10% of what they use at cruise. If you maintain decent speed and stability at 800 rpm's they'll usually use 5% of their consumption at cruise. It can be very economical to run a yacht this way if you have the time to run at displacement speed. I've got a 75' Hatteras MY down to 1.6 Gallons per NM including generator consumption and that includes 1hr at cruise each 10-12hrs of running time, and we're doing 9knots @ 1,000rpms. At normal cruise we're at around 7 gallons per NM. 1.6 gpnm is really efficient and cheap to cruise IMO.

I made the trip from Fort Lauderdale to Chicago on 4200 gallons (around 2500NM's). The trip from Chicago down to Fort Lauderdale is around 2,000 NM's and we'll have burned about 3200 gallons by the time we get there. Both trips included anchoring probably 50% of the time and running one generator 24/7.

aeronautic1 · 05-15-2009, 12:07 AM

As a delivery captain with over 170 Florida to New England deliveries, where I would have 5-8 deliveries booked each season, I have only one booked this spring. The price of fuel last year parked many boats. It was actually cheaper to add hurricane insurance than pay the price of fuel to go north.

This year, I am very busy with international trips, the usual spring migration is nary a trickle. The price of fuel is cheaper than last year, but I think the economy has many owners pulling on their purse strings.