Seasons Greetings to all the Grady owners here. Being a native Floridian and never seen a white Christmas we came close in the Smokies this year, but alas we will wait another year.
My wife and I have some nice vacation rentals here in the NC mountians and a small, but slowly growing chocolate business too. We love our Grady and our goal is perhaps in 5 years to step up to an Express 330. My disabled son who is 11 and is blind just flat out loves the water. He loves being on the boat here on our mountain lakes or when we fish offshore or head to the Florida Keys. We "sacrafice" our time for money to be on the water as much as we can where we can.
However, not to go political here at all, but everything happening in Washington with health care and potentially with cap and trade could likely lead to inflation, higher taxes and of course higher energy costs thus increased fuel costs for boating.
My plan is to eventually sell one of my rentals and do a 1031 exchange as I understand it for a bigger boat. But, with the future so uncertain I feel sometimes my plans and goal are not but a pipe dream. Sometimes I think boating will be only for the uber rich in the near future. I can tell you when we were in the Keys in the summer of 2008 we were practically alone on the reefs in the middle of the week sans the head boats due to fuel costs peaking at $5.25 a gallon.
Do any of you have the same uneasy feeling about the next year or so? What do you all see the future of pleasure boating as we know it? Until things really change I will push through with my plans. Hopefully in a few years I will be here asking questions about the 330 when the time comes to buy.
Happy New Year...here is to calm seas, light breezes and tight lines in 2010...
My wife and I have some nice vacation rentals here in the NC mountians and a small, but slowly growing chocolate business too. We love our Grady and our goal is perhaps in 5 years to step up to an Express 330. My disabled son who is 11 and is blind just flat out loves the water. He loves being on the boat here on our mountain lakes or when we fish offshore or head to the Florida Keys. We "sacrafice" our time for money to be on the water as much as we can where we can.
However, not to go political here at all, but everything happening in Washington with health care and potentially with cap and trade could likely lead to inflation, higher taxes and of course higher energy costs thus increased fuel costs for boating.
My plan is to eventually sell one of my rentals and do a 1031 exchange as I understand it for a bigger boat. But, with the future so uncertain I feel sometimes my plans and goal are not but a pipe dream. Sometimes I think boating will be only for the uber rich in the near future. I can tell you when we were in the Keys in the summer of 2008 we were practically alone on the reefs in the middle of the week sans the head boats due to fuel costs peaking at $5.25 a gallon.
Do any of you have the same uneasy feeling about the next year or so? What do you all see the future of pleasure boating as we know it? Until things really change I will push through with my plans. Hopefully in a few years I will be here asking questions about the 330 when the time comes to buy.
Happy New Year...here is to calm seas, light breezes and tight lines in 2010...