Aramark's new slip prices...

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Yes, that is my solution as a retired middle class guy. My cruiser travels nicely behind my motor home, and costs me next to nothing in the visitor slips with my Boat U.S. discount and my RV park discount. My cruiser is big enough to get me up or down lake comfortably for several days. I'm hoping that the big houseboats will slowly become unpopular and be cut for scrap. Leaving less competition for the pump outs, slips, etc. But, there is a lot of money on the houseboat docks at Powell, and usually people who can sink 200 grand to a million plus in a HB aren't troubled by ridiculous slip expenses. Poor middle class like me and want to take a big family with you? Trailer down several boats to haul the crowd. This is one of those middle class, living on the financial edge with the HB problems. Aramark probably has some upper crust folks already waiting for a slip and to pay the rip off price.
 
potter water said:
Aramark probably has some upper crust folks already waiting for a slip and to pay the rip off price.
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That's just it, as I understand it, there is literally no waiting list for slips and I think Bullfrog and Halls may actually have a few that are sitting empty. Someone needs to explain the laws of supply and demand to Aramark. A price hike seems ill-advised.
 
Speaking of slips... I notice that yours is empty Capt. You pull the boat? Or is someone really out on the lake with it? Enquiring minds want to know... ;)
 
Serenity is out for the winter; she will be relaunched this March with a new slide. The plan right now is to pull her every year (Nov to Mar) thanks to the Quagga mussels.
 
capt.catfish said:
Serenity is out for the winter; she will be relaunched this March with a new slide. The plan right now is to pull her every year (Nov to Mar) thanks to the Quagga mussels.
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Makes sense. New slide! Awesome!

We're pulling ours for minor maintenance and a quagga hull inspection/cleaning - hopefully only for a week or so also in March.

I'll keep an eye out for the new and improved Serenity!
 
So, I don't want to come across as someone who is in favor of the increase in prices - especially since I am unhappy with the lack of amenities we get in Bullfrog.

That said, I think the negative impact this will have on Aramark is being greatly overstated. We have a small ownership group on our boat (4). And the increase in rates equates to less than $400/year/owner. Considering how much a trip to the lake costs us (truck fuel out/back, wear/tear on truck, boat fuel, wear/tear on boat, houseboat fuel, wear/tear on houseboat, time off work, new fishing lures or water toys for the trips, etc, the increase in costs is minute.

The changes will not effect how we use our boat, or schedule trips to Powell.

And the larger ownership groups will probably not even notice the increase.

My guess is that Aramark will accomplish what they intend to with this increase. There will not be a run on people selling boats, or going to launch/retrieve, or moving out of the slips to the bouy fields. If I were guessing, I would say that Aramark will have an increase in revenue (as expected) from this. Hopefully (even if doubtful) the increase in revenue will lead to an improvement in services/amenities at the lake. And, even if it does not, that will still not change how we use the lake.
 
If you think that ARAMARK will upgrade their services or spend the newly acquired windfall on upgrading/improving services on the North end, I want some of that stuff.;);)
There already has been talk here about houseboat owners that are getting out due to the price increases. I do the best I can NOT to give ARAMARK any more money than I have to. I spend 80% of my time at or North of Bullfrog. I will drive to Offshore to get my fuel rather than BF. Sq
 
Squirrel said:
If you think that ARAMARK will upgrade their services or spend the newly acquired windfall on upgrading/improving services on the North end, I want some of that stuff.;);)
There already has been talk here about houseboat owners that are getting out due to the price increases. I do the best I can NOT to give ARAMARK any more money than I have to. I spend 80% of my time at or North of Bullfrog. I will drive to Offshore to get my fuel rather than BF. Sq
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Me too!

GregC
 
Well my group will be moving to a trade off on the lake and a launch and retrieve with offshore. Instead of a buoy. I have never purchased my fuel on the lake so no change there. But we have changed how we do things. Well at least we are trying something new because of the new prices. If it does not work out though we will be back on the buoy next year. There are lots of buoys available at both halls and bullfrog. But then again house boating and boating at lake Powell has NEVER been about supply and demand....
 
mtnpull said:
This thread has convinced me to just keep pulling the travel trailer down and pay $50 / night for power and septic for it.
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Mtnpull,

I'm not happy about the price increase and it may make us look for a 3rd partner on our houseboat, but I'd hate to give up them experiences of sleeping on the water, camped in a canyon far, far away from a marina. Back in the days when we had a single week on a 18 owner boat, we would do a second trip basing out of one of the hotels. Having to return to the marina every night was a bit of a downer. It's expensive but worth it to have access to a houseboat
 
Thinking Aramark will put one penny back into the property is a dream. Example. Their campground bs Parks Service campgrounds. When slips sit empty they make up the revenue loss by increasing all others. We need a new concessionier
 
PowellBride said:
Mtnpull,

I'm not happy about the price increase and it may make us look for a 3rd partner on our houseboat, but I'd hate to give up them experiences of sleeping on the water, camped in a canyon far, far away from a marina. Back in the days when we had a single week on a 18 owner boat, we would do a second trip basing out of one of the hotels. Having to return to the marina every night was a bit of a downer. It's expensive but worth it to have access to a houseboat
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There are definitely a ton of perks and honestly I would love to be on board with one. However, most of my excess money goes into buying new equipment each year to keep my business up and running. Could I make it happen? Yes, but it's a big financial commitment I'm not ready to make. Why don't you take me out for a week on your boat and we can talk about that 3rd partner spot on your HB. Maybe after a week I will be singing a different tune. ;)
 
mtnpull said:
There are definitely a ton of perks and honestly I would love to be on board with one. However, most of my excess money goes into buying new equipment each year to keep my business up and running. Could I make it happen? Yes, but it's a big financial commitment I'm not ready to make. Why don't you take me out for a week on your boat and we can talk about that 3rd partner spot on your HB. Maybe after a week I will be singing a different tune. ;)
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We might be willing to explore a couple of 1 week ownership units, giving the less than full partner the maintenance benefits of a small ownership group without the financial commitment of owning a full 1/3 or 1/4. Be happy to have you over to the boat for dinner next time we're in the buoy field. Due to a work layoff we are hoping to be on the boat more than normal this summer
 
In response to those that think I am foolish enough to EXPECT Aramark to re-invest their new found revenue, I would encourage you to re-read my post. I know that is wishful thinking, and I said as much. Would be nice though.

That said, in their defense (and I am not used to defending Aramark), I don't remember the last time they raised their rates. And I think I have now been a partner in a slipped boat for 6-7 years now.

Does anyone know when the last time they did that was?

And, on the subject of the slips; I personally can't imagine ever going back to a boat that is stored somewhere other than in a slip.

In the last two years, I think we have been to the lake 11 or 12 times. But I bet we probably only took the boat out half of those times. Maybe less. For a longer trip, I wouldn't ever want to stay in the slip. But on a shorter trip (say 3 or 4 days), or a trip with less people (say only 2-4), it sure is nice to use the houseboat as a "home base". Go out in the boat for the day, come back to cook and sleep. Or be able to get to the lake late at night, and simply grab a few necessities, and walk out to the boat.

Again, I don't like to spend more $$. But this change in fees will not effect how we boat.
 
This is so discouraging to read. My brother and I share ownership of our 23' Sea Ray, and like mtnpull, we always pull our way to the lake from SoCal. We always dream of being "on-lake" like the bigshots do, but even with a combined income of two high-end salaried teachers (which ain't saying a whole lot), but still $350,000 (counting spouses), we always wonder how much a person has to make to own/moor the whopper HB's in APM...
 
shanewave said:
This is so discouraging to read. My brother and I share ownership of our 23' Sea Ray, and like mtnpull, we always pull our way to the lake from SoCal. We always dream of being "on-lake" like the bigshots do, but even with a combined income of two high-end salaried teachers (which ain't saying a whole lot), but still $350,000 (counting spouses), we always wonder how much a person has to make to own/moor the whopper HB's in APM...
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I think that depends on how close to bankruptcy you want to live. Some of them are so highly leveraged a toothache will constitute a financial crisis. But I hear you, our 1990 HB is a bit of a splurge, especially now with just 2 partners. I can tell you vacation = Lake Powell for us. With the annual cost of ownership, the re is no option for trips elsewhere, unless they involve a tent and sleeping bag . Fortunately we love our time on the lake and it doesn't feel like a sacrifice...
 
That's why most of the 18-owner boats exist, to spread out the costs to be more reasonable for the owners. I agree that the increase will hardly be noticed by these ownership groups or those that can afford to purchase and maintain one of those $1M+ houseboats on their own. However, I do think this increase will impact some of the smaller ownership groups and individual owners (as a few have mentioned here). Though actually thinking about it, it's probably not that ill-advised. I'll grumble, but it's not going to affect our ownership group as it equates to about $100/owner and, our current yearly dues seem to be high enough to absorb that without having to raise them (it will just cut into the rate at which we are saving reserves).

Everything is governed by the economics of supply and demand. In this case, the supply is more or less fixed and the demand, at least up until more recently, has exceeded that supply. I would also think the demand curve is relatively steep, meaning that demand is fairly inelastic, and a price change would not considerably change the demand (up to a point). A 10% price increase is pretty big and it will have an impact; I just doubt the lower demand will offset the increased price (if this causes less than a 10% drop in slip rentals, then on the whole, they will be making higher profits). I suspect that will probably be the case, and I'm sure that a company like Aramark has someone smarter than me running the numbers, but it would be interesting to see what this actually does to their revenue.
 
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