I’m so cheap I quit driving around all over the place years ago. I also weight my where-I-live criteria
heavily toward the walk-to-beach thing. Lucky we usually have a decent sandbar at my local. No fossil
fuels for 95% of my go-outs.
But I know what it’s like to be trapped inland, I once drove 600 miles round-trip for a 6 hour surf. I don’t
think I’d be doing that today.
Lotta great responses to this fundamental problem for surfers : how to get to the best waves with rising transport costs.
I love the self-powered options : bike,kayak,walking. Unfortunately, the road which runs along the coast here is narrow and dangerous, with trucks steaming past at a 100 k’s an hour (60mph).
A bike path ala North Shore would be epic but that seems a way off.
I have a VW transporter van (diesel)…it’s an epic surf wagon…longboards, shortboards, fishing gear all kept in the back at all times. It suits my method of surfing which is rampant opportunism : I’m self-employed but with a young family. I have flexibility but small windows. If I have an hour window for a surf I can’t spend 40 mins getting there.
I’ve tried biodiesel (B100) but after mechanical probs and a lack of confidence in the diesel mechanics here (who had no idea about biodiesel), I switched back to petro diesel.
The technology already exists for hybrid vehicles. It’s time for governments to stop trying to artificially lower fuel costs ( by price controls and lowering fuel excises) and encourage investment in hybrid cars.
A small van/wagon with a prius style hybrid engine could be getting 3-4 litres/100 km’s fuel effieciency.
As Nels pointed out biofuels are also raising food costs, the brunt of which is borne by the poor in third world countries.
The Endless Summer ethic of constant travel by fossil-fuel gobbling machines is at the heart of modern surfing…
Seems to me like this is a dinosaur ethic that will die, either slowly but surely or catastrophically.
We are about to enter a new age of “localism”.
Steve
I think you may see more ethanol in the short term, particularly in the transport industry to keep prices down. Long term I think the future is electric.
Here in CA It cost me $10-20 US every time I go surfing Gas ranges between 4.29 ad 4.90 Per Gallon! I find it very interesting, however that 15 miles away in Mexico gas is only 2.80 a gallon!
Back on Hawaii I bike about 5 miles a day between school, the grocery store, and the beach, However in most US cities it is impossible to rely on foot power alone as our cities were designed by General Motors ad others in order to force people into buying cars.
Government conspiracy me thinks…
What I am saying is that if a guy in bed with the CEO of Mc Donalds got into office and the price of crude beef quadrupled in price I would be suspicious to say the least.
RE: “I am optimistic about the resiliency of the US economy and its ability to avoid recession.”…
it has already happened!
The Swaylocks surf news must have missed it…
sorry I missed it…too busy planting paulownia in the backyard.
It’s your life…or is it your lifestyle…
12 years ago I got a job 1.5 miles from the beach. I still work there.
10 years ago I bought a house 8 miles inland. I still live there.
2 years ago I bought a car that gets over 30 mpg. Still going strong.
I have to drive to work so I might as well get some waves too.
Funny how so few people want to work odd hours. I never drive in rush hour and I surf more now than ever before.
Lots of “wisemen” told me what a great deal it would be to buy a bigger house at a smaller price 35 miles inland.
They don’t surf.
Lots of “wisemen” told me what a great deal it would be to buy a bigger house at a smaller price 35 miles inland.
They don’t surf.
Funny thing, around here the house prices are higher near the city and lower near the coast/beaches unless your right at the beach. So when we moved, the distance to work was roughly the same, I got 20 minutes closer to the surf and have three family friendly beaches within a short bike distance, we still have school, kindergarten and grocery store nearby and exchanged parking lots and traffic for green fields and cattle, sheep and horses… Sweet deal if you ask me.
Seems the general consensus for most folks is conservation. This, in and of itself, is what drives fuel prices more than anything else. No matter what conspiracies one subscribes to, simple economics tells us that without demand, there is a surplus of supply. With the surplus comes a drop in price. I’m pretty sure we won’t get back to the good ol’ days of 50 cent gas (but that in the volatile market we’re in, it can’t be ruled out either), but economists are already theorizing that the $130 barrel of oil is the threshold where consumers actually curtailed their gasoline usage. So walking, riding the bike, getting a more economical (fuel consumption-wise) vehicle, and general avoidance of running your vehicles should ultimately result in lower energy prices.
Some of us fossils went through this during the so-called “energy crisis” back in the '70’s. GM and others started making somewhat more economical cars to run, people used less gas, prices and supplies stablized and what did “we” do? We jumped right back into giant sedans, SUV’s, gas guzzling pick-ups, etc., just downright gluttonous consumerism. Amazingly enough, one can get a tax break on a vehicle with a gross weight over something like 6000 lbs. Seems like the tax break should be (may be already) for vehicles that get better than 30 mpg with very low emissions.
We’ll see…
with all due respect surfthis, what we do in the west , will have less and less relevance in terms of setting oil prices.
The "oil shocks "of the seventies were mostly caused by supply side disruptions in the middle east (arab oil embargo anyone?). This is a very different landscape that is reflecting a fundamental shift in the balance of power in the world.
Massive growth in China and India is putting demand pressures on oil and the spare production capacities of the recent past simply don’t exist anymore.
India is about to release a car that will sell for less than a thousand dollars. That could put another billion cars on the road.
The US because of it’s disastrous adventure in Iraq has been fundamentally weakened as a global , and economic superpower. This could take decades to remedy.
Western consumerism fuelled the initial growth stages of the Asian industrial/economic revolution but they have enough of an “installed user” base now that what happens to western economies is less and less relevant.
it’s a new world order.
Steve
with all due respect surfthis, what we do in the west , will have less and less relevance in terms of setting oil prices.
The "oil shocks "of the seventies were mostly caused by supply side disruptions in the middle east (arab oil embargo anyone?). This is a very different landscape that is reflecting a fundamental shift in the balance of power in the world.
Massive growth in China and India is putting demand pressures on oil and the spare production capacities of the recent past simply don’t exist anymore.
India is about to release a car that will sell for less than a thousand dollars. That could put another billion cars on the road.
The US because of it’s disastrous adventure in Iraq has been fundamentally weakened as a global , and economic superpower. This could take decades to remedy.
Western consumerism fuelled the initial growth stages of the Asian industrial/economic revolution but they have enough of an “installed user” base now that what happens to western economies is less and less relevant.
it’s a new world order.
Steve
When there are millions of gas guzzling vehicles in service and they quit getting filled up, it does have an effect on oil consumption. A friend of mine that’s a used car salesman says they can’t give away full sized pickup trucks these days. He says they’re offering $10,000 rebates on them. GM is shutting down SUV and Truck plants in response to the lack of demand for the big vehicles.
http://autos.aol.com/article/news/_a/gm-closing-four-truck-and-suv-plants-in/20080603091109990001
Like I said, it’s doubtful prices will fall that much, but it may not go as high as we fear. One analyst’s report I read stated that the forecasted demand from China is much less than expected (at least for now). I’m not saying it’s correct, just what I read. Regardless, if oil prices stay high, given that the oil will likely cost Indian or Chinese refiners about what it costs us, they’ll have the same issues with keeping their gas tanks full as we do.
You’re spot on about consumerism and it’s effects globally especially in China’s rise in capitalism. Here in the U.S. we’re our own worst enemy because of our desire for low prices, not necessarily caring if they are lesser quality items. Wal-Mart isn’t squeezing the mom and pop shops out by force, just by lack of loyalty of the consumer base, everyone going where the “best” deal is.
These days, you can’t hardly go to a store and buy household items that aren’t made in an Asian country. I maintain (and I’m no economist, so I’m likely wrong)that what happens in the west remains very relevant to the global market. A shortfall in our economy (ie recession) directly affects our ability to purchase all those imported goods. What happens to all the merchandise that was destined for our store shelves where there suddenly is fewer buyers for them? They aren’t making 'em for the Chinese!
It’s definitely some interesting times ahead for all of us.
Regards,
Allen
Quote:…we’re our own worst enemy…They aren’t making 'em for the Chinese!
Thats right. I try to entirley avoid buying Products from China and the like. Pick up a pair of board shorts at any surf shop…they are from China and cost $60… 6,000% proffit on a yard of cloth. Some things are unavoidable though…but we can all do our part by fighting globalazation and beating up people who ride Surf-Tecs.
Here in Aus, the Gov is giving us a $2000.00 rebate for converting petrol to gas. Apparently a typical conversion costs around Aus $2500 to $3000 for dual fuel system, unleaded and gas.
This rebate started about 18 months ago and has another 6.5 years to run!! I think gas /petrol , gas /diesel is the interim way for transport fuels.
Yes, diesel can be run on gas, the buses in Sydney have been running on gas for around 20years.
Diesel is an import in most countries, but most counties have light crude which produces unleaded and LPG. There is also available in Europe, LNG (natural) conversions called PHILL, which is coming to Aus sometime soon.
It seems that the latest LPG conversions use a newer technology that mimics the usage of unleaded in the piston and gives better economy and power, (Polaris injection system ?).
And yes my surfing travels are shortened, but then I’m lucky (forward planning) I live just down the road from my fave point and just across the road from two beaches, north or south winds.
Saving the cash for converting both our cars to gas.
Boardbumps
Hey Boardbumps, that gas conversion rebate has been rumbling around in my mind for a while. Do you know anyone who has had it done?
No not personally, I have just been researching and saving for a conversion. My nearest installer is at Nambucca, yours is in Lennox, North Coast Gas 6687 6739.
Boardbumps
