Cozumel - For the Last Time?

[ParamedicDiver1]

Does anyone have suggestions on converting my boat engine to an alternate source of power.....Maybe paddles for the divers to move the boat to the dive sites. I know, I will follow the airline industry and begin charging for each tank and gear bag brought aboard.

Well, the dive boat I was on in Pensacola last week used Biodiesel. Biodiesel refers to a non-petroleum-based diesel fuel consisting of short chain alkyl (methyl or ethyl) esters, made by transesterification of vegetable oil. They used a B100 grade which is basically made from pure veg oil and made here in the US. Might be one of the future fuels for us all.

 

[scubafanatic]

I really hope this was a joke and I did not catch it.

As for me, plenty of places to Dive in the U.S. so im happy, I don't ever plan going on a trip to Mexico. Guess it does not bother me. I like the water nice and dark.

...please tell me you're joking when you say you think my statement was a joke ! ...might I suggest you do a little bit of reading and get up to speed on humanity's devastating impact on the natural world.

 

[scubafanatic]

Well I am not hitting the panic button just yet...BUT....I have definitely curtailed my spending. Taking my motorcycle instead of my diesel truck everywhere, buying smaller cartons of eggs, milk, etc. buying American when I can, including travel. I have already ruled out foreign travel for the next two years. I will go to Cayman, tropical destinations, etc. in the future knowing full well the prices are higher. I will adjust my spending now and saving more so I can still do all the things I love to do. My point in the post was and I guess if I have to say it in one line..."where there is a will, there is a way".
Europeans have been dealing with $5.00 gasoline FOR YEARS!!! We can too. Bicycles, growing and buying veggies, produce locally, shopping in markets instead of department stores. We just all have to adjust. It feels dramatic at this point, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I question what the media feeds us and I especially question the airlines. I guess I am a glass is half full woman. I found an interesting article a while back from the Allied Pilot's Union. It was written by a travel columnist 4 years ago and discussed the future of airline fuel and oil. Oil prices increasing is not new news.

Great article:
http://www.alliedpilots.org/Public/Topics/Issues/is_17.pdf

Debra, gas prices in Europe are presently ranging in the $ 9 - $12/gallon range...not $ 5.00 ! ...let's just say there aren't too many Europeans driving big Dodge ram diesels over there. (prices in Bonaire, on our side of the 'pond', are now $ 12.00/gal)

....also remember, the US is on the warpath with Iran over Iran's refusal to end it's nuclear weapons program, and I anticipate a MAJOR Middle Eastern war pretty soon, which will dramatically increase oil prices and could well provide a catastrophic shock to the world economy, which is already in a very weakened/stressed condition.

 

[richerso]

Wow, what a buzzkill this thread is......

Here! Here! I agree with you Travis. I will say this again. I refuse to be pessimistic about this whole thing. There will be major changes. There will be shocks to everyone's budget, maybe shocks to the world economy; maybe even dire or catastrophic shocks. It could be really painful. I don't want to make this sound trivial. It has the potential to be devastating to individuals and to industries and businesses.

Still, at the end of the process, changes will be made. Adjustments will be made; and we will all find some way to continue in this happy pursuit of diving; albeit, it might look a little different.

 

[The Chairman]

I was just at the First ever Bahamas Diving Seminar, and apparently the airlines are planning on retiring %30 of their fleet and not replacing them. That can't be good.

 

[Debraw]

We will survive.

 

[peterbj7]

Fuel here in Belize is scheduled to rise to $9 later this year and expected to go much higher. Just think what that's going to do to dive prices.

I was talking to a dive trip consolidator yesterday, who said that some Caribbean dive destinations are already off-limits because the airlines are stopping their services there. That has to be totally catastrophic for the island and everyone involved. Makes you wonder to what extent airlines should be regarded as providing a public service, and should be held accountable for the way they provide the service.....

 

[Ryanh1985]

...please tell me you're joking when you say you think my statement was a joke ! ...might I suggest you do a little bit of reading and get up to speed on humanity's devastating impact on the natural world.

I think we will be fine, I have done reading, and I would put my life savings on the dive industry will not be extinct in one generation because the ocean is destroyed.

 

[peterbj7]

Debra, gas prices in Europe are presently ranging in the $ 9 - $12/gallon range...not $ 5.00 !

In that range yes, but still no more than halfway up it. Though it won't be long.....

Interesting to see someone saying that to save money he'll leave his diesel truck at home and use his motorbike. Back in England my diesel car uses about 50 mpg at any time whereas my motorbike gives 42 mpg when hot, and a lot less when not hot. That's imperial gallons - multiply by 0.8 to get the US equivalent.

My point being that a (European) diesel vehicle will be pretty economical, whereas most motorbikes are geared to performance and use a lot of fuel.

 

[Debraw]

Ahhh maybe I do have just one more thing to say....against my better judgement. I WAS a travel agent for 10 years 1998-2008. I quit this year. I remember pre-9/11 there were several airlines dicussing bankruptcy and if it had not been for the government bailouts of 9/11 they would have declared bankruptcy. 9/11 actually kept them in business, United, Delta, and US Airways were all in the crapper pre 9/11. People must adapt and change, and we will. The island destinations can not tell me they haven't seen this coming. Did they really think it was going to last forever? I talked to Hugh Parkey years ago in a restaurant in Addison, Texas and he ran one of the biggest dive ops in Belize. He saw the need for change, and he was changing an adapting...way back when....and then he passed away.
I won't even go into the impact of Hurricanes and the traveling publics fear of that. I got out of travel, precisely for all these reasons. I make more money now buying and selling crap on Ebay and Craigslist than I ever did owning a dive shop. I changed and adapted and I still drive my big diesel truck, motorcycles, etc. One day i may not, but my glass is still half full.