PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — For years, climbing aboard a charter fishing boat or catching a water taxi to Peanut Island has been a straight forward transaction for West Palm Beach residents and visitors.
WATCH BELOW: 'We were spending about $1,500 a week in fuel, now it's up over $1,800,' Anthony Miller tells WPTV's Kayla McDermott
That could be about to change. Fuel prices have risen so sharply that boat operators say the cost-cutting measures they've relied on are soon no longer going to be enough and fare increases may be unavoidable.
Captain Weston Russell runs Reel Intense Fishing Charters and says the numbers are hard to ignore.
"We're paying about twice as much as we were a month and a half ago," Russell said.
Russell said he's not someone who rattles easily, but the speed of the increases has pushed him to his limit.
"I'm not the kind of guy that panics," Russell said. "If it goes up any higher, I don't know!"
The fuel efficiency of his vessels makes the math especially painful. Depending on the boat, operators are getting between 0.7 and 3 miles per gallon, meaning even a short run offshore burns through money fast.
"We get about 2, 3 miles to the gallon," Russell said. "But twin motors, they could get .7 miles to the gallon."
Anthony Miller owns the Peanut Island Shuttle Boat, a popular water shuttle service, and operates three boats with two engines each, all running every day. He's watched his weekly fuel bill climb by hundreds of dollars.
"We were spending about $1,500 a week in fuel, now it's up over $1,800," Miller said.
In total, his boats are burning at least 100 gallons a day.
"Each boat will run half a tank, that's about 50 gallons a day," Miller said.
Both operators have tried to absorb the hit before passing it on to customers. Russell has been limiting fill-ups.
"We are just putting in 30 gallons, 40," Russell said.
Miller has been pulling back on speed to stretch every gallon.
"Running our boats slower, trying to save gas," Miller said.
But conservation efforts alone aren't solving the problem. Both men are now seriously weighing fare increases, a step Miller said the industry hasn't had to take since the pandemic.
Russell said a price hike could come within days.
"Yes, I think that's going to be what we end up doing," Russell said.
For Miller, the urgency goes beyond the immediate squeeze. Summer is the busy season, and the revenue generated now has to carry his business through the slower winter months.
"We're good for another six, seven weeks," Miller said. "We have to make a lot of money during the summer to survive."
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