We in the boating industry are sensitive to environmental issues and of course, vitally concerned about boat sales and usage too, so a decline in the availability of on-the-water fuel is a worry.

Boating Industry Canada prepared the following On-The-Water Fuel Sales Survey to learn more about the availability of on-the-water fuel for this coming summer, 2011.

We thank our Ontario readers for taking the time to share their situation and their opinions however, over 80% of respondents were from Ontario, so be aware that these results are very Ontario-biased.

We asked respondents to describe your type of location and we learned that 4% of respondents were in saltwater locations, 21% were on Great Lakes, 38% described their location as “large lake” while an encouraging 21% said they were on a “small lake” and the reminder were on a river.

All but one respondent had sold fuel in the past.

Next, we asked, “Will you sell on-the-water fuel this summer?”

While 88% said “yes”, 3 locations said “no” suggesting that they planned to drop on-the-water fuel sales this year.

Comments that some respondents added here included, “Reluctantly. The cost of maintaining and incurring the continuous forced upgrades is actually causing me to sell fuel as a loss leader!” and “Environmental restrictions and regulations have made it almost impossible for marinas to sell gas. Not to mention the insurance costs needed to protect your business…. not worth the cost…you will actually lose money selling gas on a small lake!”

Hoping to learn more about the competitive environment, we asked respondents if they had a nearby on-the-water fuel sales competitor. There, 62% said “yes” while 38% said “no”. The goods news is that there remains some choice in many locations although the response that 38% had no nearby competitor underscores the concern about limited availability and the environmental risk of people re-fuelling boats in the water.

It was encouraging that 61% said they had a distributor who was promising to provide ethanol-free fuel this summer, but 75% said they were not being asked for that by their customers.

Several respondents added comments here saying, “They are not educated enough” and that “… we are switching to Shell Gold as it is ethanol free” and from Quebec, “Not yet, this will be the first year with ethanol in Quebec. Only super unleaded available with no ethanol”.

The survey revealed that boaters seem to know little of the effects of ethanol in boat gasoline. One said, “They are relatively unaware of the issue” while another stated that “We educate boaters when they come into the fuel dock” yet another respondent said, “People are still unaware of the effects that the ethanol can do”.

Next we asked, “In your opinion, is on-the-water fuel in your area less available?”  Here, 25% said it was less available already.

This is not surprising. Fully 75% said their fuel tanks and systems were more that 6 years old. With fuel prices at $1.38+ per liter in highway locations this spring, marinas serving a summer-season customer base will need to charge comparatively very high prices, especially when selling top-line fuel like Shell V-Power premium.

Perhaps that is one of the reasons we got this result when we asked the question, “If you were required to replace your present on-the-water fuel tank and pump systems this year, would you continue selling fuel?”

Just over half said they would continue selling on-the-water fuels; 54% said “yes” while 46% said “no” – indicating that they would stop selling on-the-water fuels.

If the convenient availability of on-the-water fuel is taken away, our industry must surely anticipate a drop in the desirability of large or high-horsepower boats that consume significant amounts of fuel. If this topic is a concern to you, we suggest you start by contacting your regional marine trade association to express your concern and to offer your support.