bertram31.com

Susan and I took a ride around Shelter Island this evening. Usually on a Memorial Day weekend Saturday night, there would be boats all over the bay. We saw a couple of guys fluke fishing and a couple of guys trolling for bass and that was it! The bay was unbelievably quiet and the water was like glass! It was a perfect evening for a ride. Fuel prices??? Or cold weather???

Davidms

Last night the Mobile BGFC kicked off the Memorial Day Tournament. I happened to be at the Orange Beach Marina late in the afternoon.

It was obvious that $5.00 fuel has not dampened anyones spirits and desire to GO BOATING ! ! ! !(BIG BOATS..the guys with DEEP POCKETS)........... The spirits were flowing and the diesel fuel was a pumping

This morning I was at the boat launch on Weeks Bay and once again a crowded parking lot.........all trailerable boats.........doesn't seem like fuel prices has slowed down boating at all

It rained HARD last night...........delayed the start of the ZZ Top concert at the WHARF by 2 hours

Due to Friday nights rain the humidity on Saturday was nearly unbearable and the temp here in the sunny south hit at least the high 80's

Spring has sprung........Fall has fell..........summers here and it's hotter'n hell

Harry

dave
same here, very little boat traffic. going out today to watch the blue angles off jones beach with my duaghter

Only for the commoners.

I'm doing some sub contract work for Rybovich, the local mega yacht yard.

April was their best month on record and the south yard is hoppin.

No shortage of money for the nobles.

The waters on Memorial Weekend Saturday at Montauk are usually like the Invasion of Normandy. Yesterday's weather was beautiful and the distribution of boats was sparse at best. The Town Marina on Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton is half empty. People own the slips...just haven't put their boats in. Diesel is $5.26. Gas at gas stations is $4.50+. Other than the Megayacht and Megamansion summer trade, it's very quiet. Walter

It's the same thing on the highways. Usually the Sat. of Memorial Day weekend, the Highways are packed. I went to my boatyard yesterday and had empty roads there and back. Left the house at 10:30. Spent an hour and a half by the boat, and back home by 1:05. Usually at those hours it's a parking lot in both directions.....on a regular weekend. Heck, Friday, the girl in the car in front of me at the bank's drive thru teller shut her car off, while waiting on line......

Davidms: Must have been an odd evening - the bay off Paradise Point has been crawling with boats all day - even a few go fasts have made their appearance. E.J. Boyd

mike and i worked on his boat saturday in hampton bays. from one to four on a beautiful day..... i saw one boat leave the marina. the boat was his friend pats and he was just bringing it around to another marina.....lots of people working on boats however.

the trip back to springs was a little more congested. with a 30 year knowledge of the back roads...fifty munites....route 27....two hours plus...its pretty crowded here.

Randall,

one day you're gonna have to tell me those back roads. All I know is to get on the old Montauk Hiway, but that can be just as bad as 27 sometimes.

harv......the rule of thumb is the island is only a few miles wide....just bail out and keep going in the direction you want...north of the highway there are lots of choices....south of the highway you have to know where the water (ponds) is cause there are a lot of dead ends.

There was lots of people here in Hampton Bays this weekend and they seemed to spend their money. They cleaned out my market. We did well but I heard from some other places it was not good for them. We raised our prices last week and nobody said anything. I should have raised them more.

Brew- Glad to hear that! Going to be around next week? Like to come out and go over some details on the NE Rendezvous? Need more books? Walter

i was in your market at 4 on saturday....got a half pound of tuna salad and ate it on the way home.......best tuna salad available on LI

Brew's got the best seafood anywhere. No matter what I try , it tastes great, although I do have my preferences. Let's plan another lunch get together.

anytime

Down here in the Keys, it was business as usual... Memorial Day Mayhem, BUT, to get to the sandbar where the massive party takes place, you must only travel about 1/2 mile each way, so who cares what fuel costs?

I do know this... I fueled my boat about a month ago and diesel was $4.39 per gallon. Last week, it had jumped to $5.20.

JB

Well, fuel costs are gonna (are) an issue for many of us mere mortals.....I'd like to commission our resident artist, Randall, to sketch a sail array for a B31...what ya say, Randy? Or how about an oar layout like Viking ships....we could recruit slaves to row us from the Blubliner fleet. The fuel is getting crazy...I burn 83 gallons from the camp to Venice, about 100-150 a day fishing out of there, then 83 back home.....let's say I want to fish 5 days out of Venice.....500 + 166...that's $3,500 of fuel not counting the other expenses, best case, probably more like $5,000....that number is gonna price me out of fishing here this summer vs. another trip to TSL for about the same money. What we all feared has arrived.

UV

UV,

We have finally reached the double edge sword as far as fuel prices go. Statistically, worldwide demand is at it's lowest point since 1992, with the exception of China & India. When supplies were down or demand high, they would raise prices, which is a typical law of supply & demand. However, since demand is down, they continue to raise prices for fear of losing their profit margin.

supply and demand.....and what the market will bear....two different concepts.

UV...a few years ago when there was heated and sometimes nasty debate on the 25 site about outboards and other modifications. i proposed putting a mast and sail on my boat . hey...with its deep V a little keel and away we go............i see a huge new marker for motor-sailors

I think the thought process about re-powering will soon be ALL about fuel economy and no longer about picking up another 5 kts. I know it's on my mind alot. I want to actually use the boat when I'm finished with the re-do. A 25 Bertram is too small to double as a motel.

P.S. Randall don't tell me about over nighting on yours...LOL. I don't fit that well and we have bugs down here that will haul you off.

scot......actually if you're alone the dinette converts to a very comfy berth (if like me you're 5'6")....ive never been a big fan of cuddies but i did spend a restful night in andre's and a less then restful night in mike's....ok ...timmy took up some space on mike's..........but charlie(6'++) slept on the fly bridge.........not pretty.

I was at the parents place yesterday, and the sound looked pretty quiet. My boat is not even un-shrinkwrapped however, as it has been a busy spring. I will hit it next weekend, and look forward to her being in the water.

I am going to blame it on crappy weather on the past 3 weekends, and past two weeks here in NE.

But that is my choice, and my cause.

Along with many rowing regatta's to officiate...

But it is true, very quiet on the water in FI sound yesterday.

Dug

crappy weather?.....this was the nicest memorial day weekend in history (here)

With the cost of fuel going ever skyward, maybe it's time to consider the possibility of adding a system to our boats & cars/trucks that may actually improve our performance and economy. I mentioned earleir in a post the concept of Brown's gas. The concept of Brown's Gas is to seperate the molecules for water, H2O into seperate molecules of HHOand to introduce the Hyrogen molecules into the combustion chambers to be burned with the fuel. The advantage is to burn more of the Hydrogen than either gas or diesel. Many reports indicate an increase in economy of 35% and more.

http://water4gas.com/2books.htm
http://www.water4gas.com/trucks.htm


These kits vary in price depending on who does the build and install. Many propose do it yourself construction with most parts available at any hardware or auto supply centers. Some kits can be built for well under $100. Below is also a link that has several videos discussing this topic. There is also one video that has a system that allows you to make your own ethanol for about $1/gallon. That would be the last video at the bottom of the page.

http://www.livevideo.com/media/search.a ... r&d=1&sb=1

Randall,

Read the post carefully and you will see I said "Crappy weather in the previous past three weekends."

Not this past one. Beautiful as you said.

Dug

Harv: It would be great if it really worked!

Rawleigh,

they claim the kits can be built for about $70. I have seen sites that offer free plans, so the investment would be minimal at best. The only way to know if it really works or not is to find someone that has this system or build one and find out first hand.