The One-Cent Dollar
Psssst! Hey buddy, wanna great deal? No, I'm not trying to sell you a plot of swampland in Florida, but there are great opportunities to save money which would otherwise be spent in the pursuit of enjoyment on the waterways this summer. Perhaps the best-kept secret is that electric boats often cost much less than one percent to operate of what a similar-sized gas-powered boat would cost. A comparison I made with the owner of a twin-screw Chris Craft boat last summer determined that my solar-assisted boat cost less than three cents per mile at cruising speed (if I depended entirely on the grid to refuel, an unlikely scenario since the sun isn't scheduled to burn out for millions of years, free otherwise) and his boat cost as much as four dollars per mile on plane. A mile is a mile and always will be.
One percent! That stretches a penny into a dollar, so just try that trick in other areas of your life. My accountant would be paying me if I could apply that maneuver elsewhere. I have often been told that boaters don't care what fuel costs, it's just considered the price of admission... does anyone believe that today with all the boaters complaining about gouging at the pumps? Big boats are becoming floating cottages and rarely leave the dock. A dollar is a dollar and always will be and frankly, I'd rather not hand mine over to unstable foreign nations.
So if you really want to get out there and truly enjoy boating, the best method is electric. You'll spend less time in bank line-ups making withdrawals and much more time relaxing under the sun-filled skies.
Monte Gisborne
Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Company
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