Is boating dead where you are???
 

I noticed the last two times out that the sound was much less busy than in the past, Claudios was three boats deep to get in now theres only a handful of boats there, traffic on the river last year on a weekend was brutal, this year its very sparse, I am thinking its fuel prices.

100% fuel prices. Way less boat traffic, esp on weekdays. I think most eliminated the weekday work call out to go burn fuel

Just as many boats out here seems. Maybe they are not running as much but there are plenty out.

I fish on and around Marthas Vineyard most weekends and i gotta tell you, you would never know there was problems with the economy. Couple of weeks ago I was there for the annual shark tourny and i have never seen so many boats in the harbour. You could walk across the harbour from boat to boat. Couple other times I took my old man and some friends srtiper fishing and it was like trying to fish in a busy parking lot. we were actually commenting on it when we were out there and laughing.

I can't tell you about this year since I sold my boat, but last year I was shocked to see so few boats out on Long Island Sound. In my 35 years of boating out there I had never seen it like that.

In WNY it is WAY DOWN.......

It is way down and not near as much traffic.

Plenty of boats out on GLOC, restaurants and bars are busy but I have noticed that the some coves are having larger raft-ups than in the past. Weekday traffic the same as before fuel price increase.

Expensive but still lots of fun.

It's hard to say around West Michigan. Grand Haven seems to have scared away a lot of boaters with their Nazi tactics and weather has sucked for the most part this summer. The two weekends that I have been out, Muskegon and Saugatuck have been busy but the big lake does seem kinda slow.

don't think anyone around that area is too concerned about the price of fuel :rolleyes:

It has been slower for sure...but I think this weekend will be different...Chicago Scene Boat Party. Anything that floats will be rafted up in the playpen.

I've noticed there are more transcient slips avail everywhere I go.
I'll tell you what is up: Water patrols. Crap there must be 4 or 5 different Gov't agencies paying people to drive around in boats all day. Is their key assignment to make our waterways safer? IMO no.

I don't think it is down in my area - of course 99% of the boats in my area are 15-20 footers so fuel prices aren't going to diminish enthusiasm but so much.

Also - our economy hasn't been hit as hard as much of the nation in my opinion. Lots of military and not as many horror stories in the housing market

It has STOPPED for us... Our son's football practices are in full swing... 3 nights a week and jamborees on the weekend.. :eek:

on the hudson water patrol is not the problem. last friday i was stopped twicw in five minutes. they were doing stops all over. it was the first stop ive seen all summer. i was talking with one sheriff and he was a real nice guy. i thought it was strange that i havent seen then out all summer so i asked him why. he said it was the first time they were allowed to use the boat. they are cutting back too.

the river was slowed down alot this year and just from talking to people its all fuel prices.

Our marina is PACKED but no one is actually USING their boats... Most of the cruisers are parked at the dock and people are laying out on the sun pads and sitting around hanging out... I have never seen the marina so busy, usually the slips are empty because everyone is out cruising around.

I was boating Monday night around 7 pm. It was 85 degrees, light wind, glassy water, big ole red sun set and ZERO boats on the water. One of the Marine police had nothing to do so when I was tied up to the dock he came over to check the boat out and did a courtesy boarding and safety check. The cop was really nice and we chatted for about 15 minutes. He asked me what size the engines were so I told him they were 600's... ;)

Some weekends have been busy but it's been very spotty... I think eveyrone saves up for a couple weeks then they go for a ride....

if the greedy *****s didnt jack up the fuel prices on the water and kept it close to the fuel prices on the streets maybe it would be ok. they bite there nose to spite there face.

They have to do that to stay in business. They don't have the year round client base that a roadside gas station has.

Lot's of boats on the St, Lawrence river around Rockport every weekend...saturday in Lake of the Isle is still crazy even minus the BBQ boat restaurant that guy ran off his pontoon boat

At Smith Mountain lake it is down, big boats way down, we have been selling small tritoons, to people with larger boats. Theri still going out on the water , just changing from a 36' cruiser to a 22 toon.

At VA Beach, its still pretty busy.

WILL

bullcrap. better to have something than nothing. if they didnt rob u, maybe more people would fuel up more even in tuff times. i know i would go out more on mine if it wasnt 900 bucks to fill up everytime i go out. its on the average 1.20 more on the water here than on the streets. knock the buck off and i save 180 eveytime i fill up. i would go out more. im sure there are alot of people that would do the same thing. and in the long run they would make the same if not more. just my thoughts.

Definitely slowed in Pinellas. Although Shell Island has imposed ridiculous alcohol and noise ordinances, attendance is still way down. The food barge guy said he is not coming anymore.

People are now using a sandbar inside John's Pass channel. Pretty good sized crowd, but still off from the past few years.

Shell Key is another story altogether! :mad:
But I've been seeing good, steady boat traffic. I can't say i've noticed any huge impact. Hell, we were at flugtag a couple weeks ago, and there must have been thousands of boats gathered - it rivaled gasparilla.

That Flugtag was crazy!. Ended up on land, not boat. Wished we brought the boat. Insane water party.

Shell key is strictly related to the ban on alcohol. I was there on July 4 and it was empty. I ran all over Pinellas that same day and other places were crowded. Shepards is packed every weekend as well as all the islands to the north.

Boat traffic here on Lake Travis is down overall. There are some weekends that are busy but overall I think that the number of boats on the lake is down. Lots of boats at marinas look like they haven't been used all season, still filthy and covered. There seems to be a lot more people rafting up or just sitting on the water watching and swimming. One question that comes to mind, here in Texas you can keep track of the fuel used in your boat and report it to the state and they will refund the "road tax" portion of the fuel price to you--about .25 per gallon. If an individual can do that you would think that the marinas shouldn't have to pay that tax either. If this is true why isn't this savings passed on to the boater---I wonder:eek::eek:
Jay

detroit river ,lake erie is less busy during the weekdays,,,weekend looks to be about the same:ernaehrung004:

I went to visit my aunt and uncle near Norwalk, Ohio last weekend, and took the opportunity to give the child unit a ferry ride over to Put-in-Bay on Saturday. The 'Christmas in July' festival was in full swing, temp was in the 80's, and the marina was wall-to-wall fiberglass. From what little walking I did in the marina, there was plenty of offshores in there as well.
Wished I could have joined in........

Ya man, talk about nuts! Good times! :cool:

Were you out Tuesday evening flying a kite at Dunbar & Sulivan ?

It might be down a bit around here but not much, although 3 of my friends boats are drydocked

We have a small lake near here (Brookville lake) and i think it's more crowded then last year. Only thing i can think is pepole are taking less long trips (cumberland) and staying closer to home.

its been pretty dead around crystal beach during the week. even on weekends there are very few boats over 25 feet out.

We are noticing that rafting areas and town docks are more crowded. There are fewer boats out there, but the who are out there are staying put a lot more.

The Traffic on the Detroit River is way down from last year and it was down all ready last year. It has a lot to do with the fuel prices but the local economy with plant closure's, jobs going over seas for cheaper wages, has really put a number on many boaters and the boating industry.

yea thats the best place for a swim also,,,good to meet you ,your boat looked good,,,where do you launch from

GL,
I take it you and the family are enjoynig the new ride?:ernaehrung004:

No shortage of boat traffic down here, but there's all kinds of retirees with money.

Definitely slower around here, for obvious SE Michigan depression soaked reasons. :hitfan:

Agree with Panther, our area is very slow, even fishing, it's just not as crowded as years before.