Quest Charters, Menai

[daveyclayton]

I just noticed a post in the "Spare Boat Places" forum, saying someone had Scott Waterman's Endeavour booked for a weekend, and it was £40 per diver per day.

Is that right? He had a notice on the boat saying prices were going up this year, but I didn't realise they were going up by a tenner.

I'm in Manchester, which is local to Angelsey on a national scale but I still have to pay £30 in petrol to get there. I'll certainly think twice about driving all the way down there if the price of a day out goes from £60 to £70 (without extras like air, food etc!).

[Mark Davies]

I don't use Scott's boat too often these days - I tend to use YD's very own Elfyn and Terry more often. However, it is an exceptional boat - very quick and with a lift. These things cost money and you get what you pay for.

To be honest I think he's just a few months ahead of the game. South coast boats are now getting to £37.50 per day this year. Next year I think we'll be paying £40 everywhere.

[Fiona]

I think you will find this will be the going rate for this year, everyone's cost have gone up.

I was in touch with Elfyn last week about a weekend in August and he quoted me £40 a day as well.

Elfyn, if you read this I am still waiting for a confirmation from a couple of people but I still would like the option if that's OK.

[daveyclayton]

Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely boat, Scott's a nice guy and I don't begrudge him trying to make a living, but 33% is a bit of a price hike. Still, I suppose it's been at £30 for a while now.

[Roobydoo]

Originally Posted by daveyclayton

I just noticed a post in the "Spare Boat Places" forum, saying someone had Scott Waterman's Endeavour booked for a weekend, and it was £40 per diver per day.

Is that right? He had a notice on the boat saying prices were going up this year, but I didn't realise they were going up by a tenner.

I'm in Manchester, which is local to Angelsey on a national scale but I still have to pay £30 in petrol to get there. I'll certainly think twice about driving all the way down there if the price of a day out goes from £60 to £70 (without extras like air, food etc!).

You are right - and Scott was very apologetic when I booked the boat last year. However, as Fi mentioned, it is or will be the going rate for all boats in the area from now on.

I am not marking up the costs - the boat is going to cost £480 per day, which is £40 per diver per day, based on 12. We have booked the boat for the weekend, and now only have 9 confirmed bums on seats.

3 places available - if anyone is interested....

Best regards

Steve

[daveyclayton]

That's fair enough. I wasn't sure whether something else was going on. For instance I seem to remember Terry/Elfin saying they only take 8 (?) divers out on one of their boats.

[Fiona]

Originally Posted by daveyclayton

. For instance I seem to remember Terry/Elfin saying they only take 8 (?) divers out on one of their boats.

Yes this is right, Empress does only take 8, well we don't want to be sardines now do we

[angleseydiver]

Boat fuel was 14p/l this time last year- last week it was 33p/l so your 33% price-rise ain't looking too bad! I did a post about this towards end of last year- sign of the times, I'm afraid. If the powers-that-be get their way and we have to start using road-fuel, boats like Scott's will have to charge scarey amounts.

IIRC, at last year's prices it cost Scott £40.00 just to get to the end of the Straits & back- just had PM from Elfyn- He's fitted the 8 rowlocks to the Empress today!

[daveyclayton]

Boat fuel was 14p/l this time last year- last week it was 33p

cripes.

[David Wallace]

Originally Posted by angleseydiver

Boat fuel was 14p/l this time last year- last week it was 33p/l so your 33% price-rise ain't looking too bad! I did a post about this towards end of last year- sign of the times, I'm afraid. If the powers-that-be get their way and we have to start using road-fuel, boats like Scott's will have to charge scarey amounts.

Not quite, commercial operators will still be able to make a duty reclaim which will bring the price back down to the red diesel rate - just a bit of extra paperwork.

Mind you, I'm not disputing the fact fuel has increased significantly and the downside of duty reclaim is that its a fixed rate, not a %, so every increase you see on the pumps is a real increase for the boat operator - commercial or private

regards