Boating Industry Canada June 2016 - (Page 4)

INSIGHT "What We've Got Here... is Failure to Communicate" - The Captain, Cool Hand Luke YOU AND I BOTH KNOW there are a host of important reasons why your customers should refuel their boat at a properly equipped marina rather than towing their boat to a highway gasoline station or worse, filling up Jerry cans and carrying them to the boat. The problem is the price - or rather, understanding why the price is the price. Depending on where your customers drive in Canada this summer, they may see highway gasoline prices around $1 a litre, then they see $1.50 a litre at on-the-water marinas. Are you surprised when they have a bad reaction? They shouldn't. Because every marina should clearly communicate that gasoline from a marina is not the same as gasoline from a roadway filling station. Yet, it seems lots of marinas just stay silent. In fact, everyone in the marine industry should communicate to our friends and families that almost universally, on-thewater marinas are selling specially ordered, ethanol-free gasoline. That is the first big reason for the price difference. It seems that many consumers still do not understand that highway gasoline will typically contain up to 10% ethanol and that boats, and especially older boats, were not designed to tolerate ethanol. Engines built a decade or so back, have rubber and other fuel system components that are attacked by the ethanol. I don't think we do a great job of communicating that to our customers. And we probably don't communicate that boats have open fuel systems allowing the hygroscopic [water attracting] nature of ethanol in the high humidity of the marine environment, to literally suck water out of the air and into the fuel. According to a recent article by Nigel Calder in Professional Boatbuilder magazine, 1 US gallon [3.8 L] of non-ethanol gasoline can hold only 0.15 teaspoon [0.7 mL] of water before the water separates out and falls to the bottom of the tank. Regular gasoline with ethanol at 10% will hold 4 teaspoons [19.7 mL] before this "phase separation" of water separating from the gasoline occurs. That isn't a good way to gain more repair work! In the June issue of Canadian Yachting magazine, we communicated to our readers that they should buy fresh, ethanolfree fuel from their marina this summer and throughout the season, especially before fall storage. In our story we also explained about ethanol, we communicated that marinas typically sell a very small volume of fuel compared to a highway location. So, not only is the ethanolfree fuel more costly, the economies of scale drives up the cost. We also communicated that the reason many marinas sell fuel at all, is to support their customers and the marina's other business operations such as service, storage, a store or perhaps their new boat sales. We also communicated that the marina has equipment to avoid spills and they hire staff to fuel their customers - it's not self-serve or a credit card swipe to buy fuel at a marina. Let's not forget to mention the special training those summer employees are given to work on the fuel dock. It's time more marine industry people communicated about fuel costs and why they are what they are. The prices may seem high but chances are the marina is losing money to help their customers enjoy the lake they love. Andy Adams - Editor To read the digital version of Boating Industry Canada anytime visit www.BoatingIndustry.ca and click on Digital Magazine in the menu bar. 4 Boating Industry Canada JUNE 2016 http://www.BoatingIndustry.ca

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Boating Industry Canada June 2016

INSIGHT
INDUSTRY NEWS
IMPACT – NMMA CANADA DAY ON THE HILL - Canada’s boating industry came together in Ottawa for two days of discussions, planning and meetings with the new Liberal government and key Ministry staff. This covers the important industry issues and how we hope to move boating forward in 2016. – By Andy Adams
AD NAUSEAM
MANUFACTURING FABRICATION - SEA RAY - Boat manufacturer Sea Ray speeds production and eliminates labour intensive manual sanding by applying robotics with help of unique abrasive nylon brush. – By Greg Rankin – Power PR
MANUFACTURING FABRICATION - CANADA METAL - Canada Metal (Pacific) continues their US market expansion with a new Virginia Manufacturing Center. Continued US expansion could create as many as 70 new jobs over the next three years. – By Craig Ritchie
MADE IN CANADA – STAINLESS OUTFITTERS - Stainless Outfitters, established in 1993 was the original supplier to such well-known names as Hinterhoeller Yachts, builders of Nonsuch, C&C Yachts, Bombardier Aerospace and others. – By Glen Cairns
NMEA - SATELLITE TV - Re-printed from the NMEA Marine Electronics Journal, this story delivers the latest in Sat TV from the experts at KVH Industries, Cobham and Intellian. – By NMEA Staff

Boating Industry Canada June 2016