[/quote]

Gas prices should gradually rise to 4-5$ a gallon. Everyone was worried that the economy would "collapse" when gas got above 3$ and it didn't.
Better a gradual rise then BLAM gas hits 7$ a gallon because we are in a battle with China for limited imports.
Remember when gas was getting really "expensive?" The oil companies made record profits. I would rather that be a tax than for the oil companies who are clearly price gouging. [/quote]

For the un-initiated... If a company makes a GP of 5% on $1M thats $50K if the same company sells $50M at the same profit margin 5% thats $2.5m the margin is the same. Is that price gouging? Obviously you don't run a business... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

What happens in the times when your total sales fall lower? Oh, wait, those people you gave breaks to will give you some extra money... right?

Clayton

Now thats interesting! How do you get it up there??

Clayton

Do you have a side view picture Hans? I carried my H14 on the roof of my Toyota Sienna but it was dissasembled.

Rolf I remember seeing an article in a US based magazine (Mother Earth News) years ago about a guy who put a wood stove in the back of his pickup. The wood stove was damped down so it would smoulder. He then ran the smoke into his engine and voila wood running his truck.

I don't remember the details but apparantly if my memory serves me (it frequently doesn't) this idea was spawned in the Netherlands or Holland back sometime around WW2 probably due to oil shortages.

Not sure of details, however where there's smoke...... there's some American drivin down da 'ighway.... . <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Brings a whole new meaning to smokin along the highway... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Canadians also pay a high fuel tax. We haven't died of starvation yet. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Interestingly I was just in Atlanta GA last week (lovely spot, incredibly friendly people) and I was shocked that food in the grocery stores was pretty much the same price as we pay in Canada and yet in the winter our food comes from the US. In other words it is trucked to us a long way. Economics is not as simple as some would like to make it...

I saw one of those on TV a couple of weeks ago - it wasn't even remotely reliable, could only get up to about 30 mph, and was getting about 2 miles to the lb of wood chips.

Jake,
What kind of vehicle?

Back on topic. I pulled my 16 around in the early 80's with a 1974 MG Midget. I'm not sure about the gas mileage but it burned a quart of oil every 100 miles or so. Great little car but hard to get in and out of, I'm 6'2". The Titan gets 18mpg whether towing or not. My work is construction related and a truck is necessary.

Where did you put the tow hitch? I tried to make something for my Miata but I ran out of time. Was thinking about attaching something to the spare tire in the trunk. I only have to tow my H14 about a mile.

I seem to recall that it was an isuzu trooper ... but it had an open bed...probably was something like a Geo Tracker or Amigo instead.

Go Troopers! I love those ugly bastards!

Just heard on the XM radio that Ford is unveiling the F450. Bigger and badder than the F350.

dude on the radio went "OOOOOOHHHH RAH FORD!" at the end :P

If you want a food price shock come to Hawaii. We pay what's politely know as Island Tax on everything. Thank (insert your favorite deity here) for Costco!!

It was welded to the frame and attached at the bumpers. This one had chrome half bumpers on each side of the license. I tore second gear out doing this. Didn't pull it far at one time 200 - 300 miles at most.

I took the spare tire out of my son's Hyundia Scoupe. Measured and cut two pieces of 7/8" x 1 5/8" metal framing to traverse this flat area fore and aft. Cut two more to match and then drilled holes and bolted these together sandwiching this rather flimsy floor pan in between. I then attached a 1 5/8" square piece to accept the smaller size receiver(class I/II). I drilled holes and through bolted in to the trunk, just to make sure. Also used 1 1/2" fender washers at all holes. Dabbed a little caulking at the holes. Had to cut a notch out of the rear bumper/pan. It works for him towing the 16 the four miles from the storage yard to the ramp, but remind him constantly to take it easy and don't go over 45. Tell him scary stories about trailers passing cars and how easily fiberglass turns to splinters.

I have an entry for the smallest car ever towing boats (although not a catamaran):

Back in the '70's, a friend of ours, Jim Hirtreiter, had one of the original Hondas that came to this country. It was about the size of a rollerskate (well, maybe 9 feet long). Jim and Rick White towed two Lasers behind that thing from Akron, Ohio to Wichita, Kansas to sail in the Laser Nationals.

Rick says it was probably pretty funny seeing them get in and out of the car, because Jim is 6'4" and Rick was 6'2". Sort of like one of those little cars at the circus where a bunch of clowns climb out of it.

ALSO, back in the early 1980's we had a Volkswagen diesel pickup truck with a cap on it for going to regattas (sleeping in the back). That got 60 mpg without a tow, and dropped down to 40 mpg towing a Hobie 18. Only problem was we couldn't get it into 4th gear when towing. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

In Canada we have a similar tax... called the GST or "Gouge 'n Screw Tax... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Things we did in the '80s to sail. A guy in our club towed his H16 to the beach one weekend hitched to his MAC truck (18 wheeler tractor). Talkin about overkill. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I use a 2005 F150 supercrew w/5.8 ltr V8 when I have to tow, of course my cat is a Stiletto 27 and the rig is aro 3000# loaded.

Clayton

The Island Tax is due primairly to transportation costs. The shipping companies have been sucking the islands dry for, well, forever.

On top of that we also have a General Excise Tax of 4%. It's used in place of a sales tax. On the surface this looks pretty good until you discover that every time goods change hands, manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer, the GET hits. To add insult to injury, Oahu County just increased theirs to 4.5% to pay for a transit system. As just about everything passes through Honolulu, the Neighbor Islands get to share in the cost of something we'll never use.

But hey, we live in Hawaii! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

You know I visited Hawaii years ago and when I got home a friend asked if I had applied for a job while there. I looked at him with a look of horror... I was havin so much fun windsurfing etc that I had not even thought of it. Every so often I think of that moment and a little tear forms.... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I'll add further to my tow vehicle description from before. Yes, I tow with a 2000 Astro, but I bought that vehicle used for just that purpose (towing, loaded down road trips, getting large crap from Home Depot).

But I don't use it for commuting. For that I picked up a Mazda 3 5-door. In fact, another reason I got the Mazda was that I could carry all my sailing crap for the weekly racing that I used to drive my old van for, further reducing the need to drive the bigger vehicle. I don't even need to take out the child seat to do so. While the Mazda is not a mileage king, it averages around 30 mpg for the driving I do, has great utility, and is fun to drive. In other markets it is rated for towing, for some reason in the US it is not, however hitches are available and when it's out of warranty I'll probably get one. It's got enough power and brakes to tow a cat.

I can afford the gas of a larger car, but some reason adding dollars to somebody else's bottom line to drive to work and back isn't something I feel like doing. I'll spend my gas dollars somewhere else.

I like cars - I work on them, know about them, and am a card-carrying member of the SCCA. I'll have other cars that get crappy gas mileage and go too fast, but I won't waste them on the daily commute.

So, anyway, another option - a vehicle for towing, and a vehicle for commuting. Both don't have to be new with payments. Works well if you don't need the truck for work.

Taxes and gas - if I understand it right, the gas tax hasn't gone up in MD since '87. There is a shortage of money to work on road projects. Because everybody is paranoid about even hinting to raise taxes, they are coming up with creative ways to fund road improvements. The ideas are centered around toll roads with higher fees to access the extra lanes, with the control of the roads and toll collecting turned over to private companies (most of them offshore). I for one, would gladly pay more in gasoline taxes to avoid that.

Well said!