Have you noticed the relationship? Gas prices are steady on the rise while truck sales and prices keep tumbling. The Excursion from Ford is now a dinosaur. The truck manufacturers are all scurrying for better mile per gallon ratings. Chevy says its working on "displacment on demand" for its full sized V-8 trucks. Working on it? Well I'll be darned if Cadillac hasn't had that for the longest time already. They called their version the North Star. But Caddy and Chevy are both part of GM, so why do they tell us they are "working on it"? Simple, They have heard the market loud and clear, and the technology that's ben available for the longest time,with sales slumping and profits down, they now are willing to provide us. Actually, I think they got the word with gas so high. Consumers made it clear, either we get better mileage, or we don't buy, even at all time low prices.

Now lets just take that same logic and push it to boats. Lets say we all slowed the pace of boat buying. Maybe ya now buy a new ever 3 years. Maybe ya just decide to make that every 6 years, cause gas is high, and well all know boat motors get worse mileage then even the biggest gas hogging truck on the road. Ya think maybe the boat builders would suddenly start coming up with better technology? Better hull design aimed at efficiency, or even more emphasis on motor gas economy then Evenrude's E-tech, and the Honda 4's already muster? What about "displacement on demand" boat motor engines? What about hybrid boat motors? WOT, ya get 6 tubes burning mix. Half throttle, the motor drops out 3 jugs and runs on just 3, Cut it to no wake speed, and the gasser stops, and the electric motor kicks in. Hey, don't we call those trolling motors?

So just maybe, for us all to reap the techno benefits, we need to slow the boat and motor buys, force the builders to take notice, and just maybe while the technology was "being worked on" the prices would drop. Ya know, right now, ya can buy a Chevy, 2006 1/2 ton WT, full size pickup, for less than a small bass boat. Wasn't that way about 12 months ago. Just maybe its time for the boating industry to take a little more of the high gas price hit, translated to less sales, so they might have the incentive to go the way of the car builders. And ya know, we'd all have such a great rationale for doing it. "Well its like this Mister Boat Dealer, you haven't offered me much of any discount on this here $32,000 boat, motor, and trailer, and with gas so high, and my old truck not have the new "on demand-gas saving technology", I just can't afford to buy me that new boat. Besides, the motor##### so much gas I couldn't afford to run the boat with gas prices so high, and since you all made the hull so darn heavy, I can't afford the gas for the truck to even attempt pulling such a heavy load". So Mister Dealer, I know its not your fault, but until that there boat builder and motor builder make this thing lighter, make it get better mileage, and cut about $5000 back to me as a rebate, well I guess my old one will just have to do". How could they argue.......well, I mean with a clear conscience anyway.

Folks, no one make you pay high prices for cars, boats, or even gas. We, the buyer, make the decisions on what we buy, and how much. Consume a lot of gas, and we all pay more. Buy trucks, and we all pay more. And thats exactly what has gotten us all to the point where a bass boat can cost more than a new mobile home! Didn't used to be like that, and we can have it that way again!