I've noticed that as the price of fuel continues to spiral upwards, with no ceiling in sight, the effect on the trawler community is that we are generally slowing down. Owners of large motoryachts tell me they now travel at nine knots on a regular basis because they just can't justify the fuel burn of planning speeds. No surprise there.
As if to highlight this trend, while we were in the Florida Keys this winter, five couples from the Annapolis area got together for dinner at Little Palm Island, a lovely island setting with a resort atmosphere. It was a treat, although in sharp contrast with the Crocs and flip flop daily life that is the Keys.
We were one of the couples, and I found it interesting that the other folks, all boat owners who are very active during the season on Chesapeake Bay. Yet Growler was the only boat in Florida from this group that made the trip south. One of the reasons for this was the cost of fuel to make the round trip from Annapolis to the Keys. And that seemed odd to me, for boat owners to decide to winter around tropical water without their boats.
On our way back north, we ran in Hawk Channel up to Miami, and as we got north of Ocean Reef, a fleet of Grand Banks overtook us, all coming from their rendezvous event and headed to points north. Several large Eastbays blew past us with serious speed, and I wondered if I'd ever seen these boats run slow. I don't think so, and they looked beautiful as they ran past us.
However, a few days later we stopped at the Palm Beach Show, and a great many similar boats, with speed as a key ingredient in their design, found fewer people aboard them. Only a few years ago, that was the direction of the cruising community, to go faster, to increase horsepower, while not compromising on creature comforts. That comes at a price, of course, and the fuel burn on some of these boats is truly amazing. When I hear someone tell me a boat's fuel burn approaches a 100 gallons an hour, my brain goes numb, thinking of the very real dollars with diesel at $4.00 and moving higher.
So it seems for the near future, slowing down is a more acceptable solution than the alternatives of either blowing through great quantities of cash or not using one's boat at all.
And that works for me.