Fuel Prices!

[Tom Root]

Having issues with your Mac? Small, in comparison to these guys! I hear it all the time at the fuel docks.....It's probably the best place to buy a medium sized power boat!!! Not me!

I particularly loved this quote!------- The burn rate for my 1985 B33 Sportfisherman is about 36 gph @ 21kt cruise with Crusader 454's. Yowser! Another reason I love my Mac!!!!!! I'd be willing to bet there are some on here that don't use that much fuel(36 Gal)......in a YEAR!

Next time you're at the fuel dock, say aloud, gee....we are using 30 gallons of fuel this year....what's up, guess it's time to do a tune up!
Then give it full throttle!!! (NOT in the no wake zone, of course)

http://my.boatus.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=47669

Anyway, just wondering what the fuel prices are in your locality out there?

San Diego county is low end- $2.18 per gal, and $2.40+, high end!

I do try and avoid fuel docks, last fall some where already 3 bucks or more, I'd hate to have to fuel there soon!

[craiglaforce]

The fuel price in NJ was nowhere near that high last year and it was still amazing when I would walk by the fuel dock and seeing the fuel pump with totals of $500 on it. I probably used 20 gallons last year in total. My main concern is using enough to keep the fuel in the tanks reasonably fresh. To bad there isn't some cheap thing that is designed to burn gasoline to get rid of it

I keep hearing things like "pour it into your car". Right, I'm gonna gunk up my expensive car just to get rid of 10 gallons of old fuel.
I have found that they accept old fuel at the municipal center's hazardous waste cleanup day held several times a year, but it is a pain to schedule that into a weekend.

oh well, it is less time consuming than cleaning out the fuel system of the motor.

[Mark Prouty]

I need some honesty from any Bertram 33 Convertable owners. I know that this is a great boat, extremely durable, safe, comfortable, great looking... But, is it enjoyable to own if you plan on running it quite a bit, with a GPH rating of 25 to 38! I can "afford" the gas but I'm not Rockefeller!

I want to cruise the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior for a couple of days. I'll stay overnight and run 5 hours each day.

5 hrs * 25 GPH = 125 gallons/day * 2 days = 250 gallons.
125 gallons * $2.00/gallon = $250 * 2 days = $500

This doesn't seem possible! Is my math right? How could you ever keep supplied with gas?
These boats must have very large gas tanks!!
I wish I had that kind of money to blow!!

I wouldn't want my motor to break down and have to get towed home.

I have had bad personal experiences with some of these type of boat owners. I've been out at the quietest anchorage and have had a big power boat invade the serenity with a loud radio. I've been camping on a sandbar where a big powerboat came and setup camp between me and the water and then blast his CD player. He wouldn't turn it down even when I asked and then his jet ski buddies came. Unfortunately, when they wanted to sleep-in the next morning after a late nighter, I just couldn't stop the kids from rough housing and making a racket. They swore at me.


Not my other playmate!

We're paying $1.71 at the local pump - much higher on the water.

[BK]

Last year when gas prices went sky high we had an effort to boycott a certain major seller of gas. I do not know how succesful it was but I heard about it many times so I guess the dealer did. Prices did go down after that. I saw Arco at $2.01 today here in Socal. I have increased riding my bike instead of driving. How come our leaders are more interested in spending out tax money instead of protecting us from big oil?

[Tom Root]

"I have had bad personal experiences with some of these type of boat owners. I've been out at the quietest anchorage and have had a big power boat invade the serenity with a loud radio. I've been camping on a sandbar where a big powerboat came and setup camp between me and the water and then blast his CD player. He wouldn't turn it down even when I asked and then his jet ski buddies came."

Hey Mark, something I tried, and seemed to work every time, is I yell over to them "Hey, if my music is too loud I'll be glad to turn it down!" Of course I don't even have tunes aboard yet, and they always get the message!!!!

As far a jet ski's......well, I gotta figure out how to tame those guys, may not be a way, as alot of them in these parts rent them just for the day, or hour, and most have probably haven't even been on the water before, let alone be courteous to other boaters. Maybe I'll just decide to clean that real shiny shotgun when thay are around!! [/quote]

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

The fuel price in NJ was nowhere near that high last year and it was still amazing when I would walk by the fuel dock and seeing the fuel pump with totals of $500 on it. I probably used 20 gallons last year in total. My main concern is using enough to keep the fuel in the tanks reasonably fresh. To bad there isn't some cheap thing that is designed to burn gasoline to get rid of it

I keep hearing things like "pour it into your car". Right, I'm gonna gunk up my expensive car just to get rid of 10 gallons of old fuel.
I have found that they accept old fuel at the municipal center's hazardous waste cleanup day held several times a year, but it is a pain to schedule that into a weekend.

oh well, it is less time consuming than cleaning out the fuel system of the motor.

10 Gallons seems like a lot to dump. I had to dump about 2 gallons once, but under normal conditions, I may just dump out the dregs of a tank into a dirty old bucket. It evaporates pretty quickly. I try to keep my tanks clean ever since my dirty gas/clogged carb incident but I've used pretty old gasoline before without incident. In my teens, I visited a summer house once every two years and I had a small motorcycle there which had a metal tank so I would fill it up before leaving so no condensation would form. Two years later I would burn up the gas in the tank and my carbs never clogged after doing this several times. Nowadays, I try to use my gas within a couple months for the boat although the lawnmower gas can sit around a bit longer..maybe 6 months during the winter.

I pay about 1.69/gal in Tampa although it would be more at a Marina. Gas prices have gone up a lot in the last few months.

[Sloop John B]

I'm the past advocate for putting the left over gas in your car. It's not that big a deal with a couple 6 gallon containers. The idea is to use it BEFORE it gets stale.

I used to use this expensive pink stuff, some kind of stabilizer, added to the gas. But why take on the risk and expense? It computes out close to $3 a gallon.

Pouring gas out of these little boat tanks of mine is clumsy. I now put them on top of a big upside down tub (used to run motor out of gas and circulate fresh water when right side up) and syphon the gas into small containers that I can stick into the car's fill up hole. Using large clear plastic tubing (heisted from the mates wine making inventory), it takes an unusually long time, so there has to be other 'projects' to keep one from getting stressed.

I have no problem having long avoided projects/tasks close at hand.

[craiglaforce]

Good point about putting the old gas into the car before it gets stale. I just never know how long it has been in the tank or if it is bad or not. Like now,I probably have around 8 gallons in the tanks and can't remember if it was last August or what when I bought the gas. It sits in the sun and the winter and when spring rolls around again I get a little nervous about using it. I do add fuel stabilizer in the fall. I also put a little oil in the tank to augment what I think is too lean an oil injection rate on my tohatsu. It runs a lot better with the little bit of oil added.

[Newell]

Craig,

Interested in your comment on putting oil in gas. I have the Nissan and have ran old gas after every Winter. What seems to be better when you add oil?

Just have to comment on the 2 smoker. I have never owned anything more reliable. Eight years no problems. No water impeller, no tune-ups (except plugs) nothing! At times I have wished it would die so I could look more green friendly.

Newell

[Jim]

Gas here in my part of western Canada is $0.779 a litre. There are app.3.8 liters in a US Gal, So that is $2.96 US Gal.There are 4.5 liters in a Canadian gal, so that makes it $3.30 a gal.I have a 9.9 oon my mac and I use about 5 gal a year.orks for me....

[Steve K]

Tom, others,
Gas is about the same here in Hesperia as in SD.

One of the reasons I got my boat soooooooooooo cheap.

We were going through this same thing in CA back in '99 or '00 when I bought my MacX. The fella I got the boat from had only had it a couple months. Before that he had a 28 foot Sea Ray. He said he decided to try sailing due the the high price of gasoline and how his boat used 80 gallons of gas for a weekend trip to Catalina and back (to Dana Point).
However, his girlfriend, who was quite tall, refused to continue to go out with him in the MacX. She said she would have to have a real bathroom and shower, or she was no longer going.
Well, the boat went up for a quick sale and the fellow I got it from had his eye on a 34 foot Maxum (sp?), when I paid for his MacX.
Guess it's only money, right?
SK

[Billy]

Gas in NC is $1.71 while in Bimini last week it was $3.31/gal. (Heck, if you want to have fun, you have to pay the price.)

[dclark]

I hear in Suadi Arabia it's about .80 cents/gallon.

[Mark Prouty]

Hey OPEC....
Hello...

[Chip Hindes]

I also put a little oil in the tank to augment what I think is too lean an oil injection rate on my tohatsu. It runs a lot better with the little bit of oil added.

I recommend you not do this. Additional oil in the fuel tank will make it run worse, not better. It will smell worse, smoke more, and create a larger oil slick in the exhaust. It costs more. It will gum up the engine and foul the plugs quicker and consequently give poorer gas mileage.

If you've ever torn down a two stroke in the days before 50:1 mix ratios and oil injection, you'll know what excess oil can do. It's not pretty.

Oil in a two stroke has nothing to do with combustion, it has to do with lubrication. The manual recommends that you add oil to the first tank of fuel after prolonged storage, but that's for lubrication, not combustion purposes. In fact, a two stroke will run better with no oil, but not for long.