With gas prices through the roof now and headed for outer space - it costs more every day to travel very far to paddle. I am just curious - how many of you are staying closer to home to paddle these days or are cutting out symposiums to save money?
I live on the water in Stony Creek (Branford, CT) so have nothing to complain about - but must travel once in a while to get some variety. However, traveling 2-300 miles to attend Delmarva, Maine paddling, Great Lakes, etc will certainly be curtailed.
Maybe carpooling is the answer - what is yours?
Definitely
staying closer to home; cancelled a trip to the keys last month, and would be on my way to South Carolina (Edisto River trip) this morning if gas were reasonable.
However, like you, I can’t complain too much. Living in central Florida, some of my favorite places to paddle are only a gallon or two away. I can get to the beautiful Wekiva River and Rock Springs Run for about half a gallon, round trip.
We’re also lucky
enough to live on the water but we’ve cancelled our plans to paddle Lake Powell this coming winter and will only make one trip to the coast for surf kayaking this year.
We used to fly to Baja every year to kayak and camp but that too may come to an end. 
Driving less paddling more
I am the Skipper of the Hoosier Canoe Club in Indianapolis, Indiana and we had an executive board meeting the other evening to discuss taking better advantage of the excess water we now have with the midwest flooding. Streams that are generally only run in the early spring when the weather is fussy are runable and we are seeking trip sponsors. Fuel costs are a huge consideration. I have canned a road trip around Lake Superior to paddle and explore this summer.
Tired of high energy costs, put an environmentalist in your tank! They are grinding the U.S. to a halt with this carbon footprint crap.
combining trips
I live in Delaware, and in a state this small you are an hour from anywhere. I usually go to my local lake about a mile from my house 2 or 3 times a week. I usually head to bigger water on the weekends. I am now making an entire day out of it hitting 2 or 3 lakes or the bays in one day. Instead of driving 45 miles for one venue of a couple hours I now make a whole day out of it, paddle a few hours have lunch and then go somewhere else.
Can’t stop paddling…
or THEY win! (insert your own favorite nemesis)
Must paddle to preserve fragile sanity.
Actually am driving more this year than last. My 5th season kayaking and every year I do more.
Went to South Bass this year for first time. About 90 miles each way. Add in the other 3 long weekends I’m planning and the total mileage will exceed last year’s week long vacation to Georgian Bay.
Plus I’m more determined to go new places on weekly outings this year.
I’ll just give up food or other non-essentials.
Mule Turds!
– Last Updated: Jun-19-08 11:18 AM EST –
Whose makin' record profits - environmentalists? Dun't reckon so...
FE
give up everything else also…
no movies, no shopping, no toys, no eating out (much cheaper to make stuff on my dragonfly or simmerlite anyways), no lunches, etc. etc.
i have no choice, nearly every body of water i like is at least an hour away. i try to make a day or weekend out of it though.
i have already driven 6+ hours to go paddling, but only on weekenders… i am probably driving longer to get places, but usually stay for the weekend - so in the end i end up driving less since i’m not driving everyday to go paddle somewhere, and i have more fun making multiday trips out of it…
gas prices are hurting! i’m not sure what i’m going to do if they keep going up. i spend roughly $200 a week on gas, 100 mile round trip to work 5 days a week…
we better start drilling…
No difference to me
I seldom travel more than 1,000 miles round trip and at 25 mpg the prices haven’t hurt much. At 25 mpg it cost about $160 round trip. It use to cost half that. We just pack a lunch and don’t eat out. For the price of one tank of power boat gas I can travel 1,000 miles, enjoy endless fun and have picnics. If gas prices double again we will camp more. It is all about choices. I pay about $15 a gallon for beer and piss that away like it is nothing.
Well said, Fatelmo!
Very little change…
– Last Updated: Jun-19-08 12:05 PM EST –
1. I let all my certifications expire; I no longer teach, go to symposiums, or attend re-certification classes. Result: gas savings.
2. After 20 years I've basically given up whitewater canoeing. That involved a lot of day trips on the spur of the moment, after heavy rainfall.
Result: gas savings.
3. I never cared much for daytrips; especially if I had to drive more hours than I got to paddle. I do even fewer day trips than I used too.
Result: gas savings.
4. I have a lake with about 2000 miles of shoreline within 30 minutes of my house. I can paddle any time I want for the cost of 2 gallons of gas. Result: gas savings.
5. My main hobby is paddling. I have enough boats & gear that I do not need to purchase anything. I spend very little money on anything else. "Only" debt is home mortgage.
6. I'm retired, and planned for it. Wife still works; I robbed the cradle.
Because of 1 through 6; I/we go anywhere on a paddling trip that I/we "want" to go, and whenever I/we "want" to go. I/we don't really give much thought to the expenses. Only real concern is wife getting time off from work for trip dates.
BOB
I guess if you’re anti-environment,
you don’t mind do-do in the water you paddle?
Interesting…
I haven’t heard of anyone mentioning car-pooling yet. That intrigues me, as I thought a carpool solution was the most obvious way to cut fuel costs. 'Course, you could always get one of those scooters and put a little trailer on it!!
From anyone who knows me though - my solution is probably just not to buy another boat this year to save money! 
Don’t shoot the messenger
It’s not the fault of environmentalists that the planet quit making petroleum … oh, a few million years ago.
They are just the ones who’ve been trying to warn you that the end of the petroleum road is coming up fast, and that we can’t drill ourselves out of it:
“At current consumption levels, … known recoverable reserves would be gone around 2039, potentially leading to a global energy crisis.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum
In fact, the entire suggestion of getting off foreign oil and instead relying on our domestic reserves is ludicrous, and is not supported by the facts:
“… the U.S. has an estimated 3% of global petroleum reserves, but consumes 24% of the world’s oil.”
“A 2004 study by the government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) found that drilling in ANWR would trim the price of gas by 3.5 cents a gallon by 2027.”
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1815884,00.html
According to the most rosy estimates, ANWR contains less than 12 billion barrels of crude. We consume 7.5 billion every year. So ANWR contains about 19 month’s worth. If we turned the taps on today, we’d blow all of ANWR out our tailpipes by Christmas, 2009.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4542853/
Get the facts and do the math. Anything else is just the frantic hysterics and flawed logic of a junkie who can’t kick the habit …
It stops me from making the day
trips to the coast, etc. Also, I haven’t made any plans for an extended trip up north or east. I like tripping so I have to plan my trips well in advance but I can’t imagine how high the gas prices will be in Canada especially now with the weak dollar or driving a couple thousand miles to the BWCA. Fortunately, I live in Oregon where there is plenty of recreation close. Crater Lake is only 100 miles away and a number of great small lakes in central Oregon a little further. I can stay in National Forest campgrounds for as little as $3.
What really sucks is that I won’t visit the family that lives further east in Colorado, Texas and Chicago as often as before. Also, I don’t know if I can face flying anymore, ugh.
I have a '98 Honda Civic that I purchased new and it only has 55k miles on it. I don’t drive much when at home. I have a diesel truck and van that I use for trips that have all the mileage. When at home I only drive less than a hundred miles a week depending on how often we drive to town to shop. I could cut down the trips to town to only one a week if needed since I’m retired. I’m a member of the YMCA so like to go every other day. I’m going to suspend my membership for the summer to save money.
If
Your not going to buy another boat this season…it must mean…Your looking at another paddle 
this forum knows You…(not going to buy a boat this Year…HA Ha)(you really mean, unless you see another one you like)(a boat of many colors…like black or white)
Best Wishes
Roy
I was going to
drive Friday night 3.5 hours to Pacific Rim National Park on the west side of Vancouver but due to funds of which gas was the biggest expense I cancelled it. Instead, i will do the 45 minutes to the local river. So, yea gas is having a price on paddling trips.
Boatpooling?
It seems the limiting factor in paddle trips is not the number of paddlers, but the number of boats; we can fit five people in my buddy’s Toyota RAV4, but he can only haul three boats. Perhaps the best rig for largish groups is an 8-10-boat trailer pulled by a large passenger van.
Last year when gas was $2.50 or $3, we didn’t really consider which vehicle to take on our 1000-mile trips. This year, we’ll probably take my Matrix instead, as it easily hauls two boats and camping gear, and cranks 30-32 miles out of every gallon.
Cut out the river trips.
I can get to the lake 16 miles away. Most of my paddling now is launching at the same ramp. River trips too expensive, especially when I usually have to take two cars and do my own shuttling. Just no way to make that practical. Even with a friends car, still a lot of extra $$$ to float downstream a few miles. Canceled summer vacation plans. No money left for hotels, campgrounds and meals.
Good point…
It is about how many boats a car can haul that makes car/boat pooling good mitigation for high priced fuel. A good 4-boat trailer would be a great solution for carpooling! As FadedRed would point out - it would also give me enough savings to buy another boat too!! With the exception of a certain 4-piece GP paddle though there are no new paddles in my future as I have my Novorca carbon that keeps me happy.
Scott