Painfully high gas prices are an obvious and significant factor in an estimated 20 to 30 percent drop in sales of new powerboats, but state officials say there is a silver lining.

“It’s actually a great time to be a boater because traffic on the water is way down compared to five years ago,” said John Wisse, assistant manager of public information and educational services for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Watercraft.

“People are taking boats out less often and running them shorter distances. For everyone who got out of boating 10 years ago because they were sick and tired of all the crowds, now’s a great time to come back.”

That’s also a better reason for boat owners to take advantage of free boat safety inspections offered in May and June by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Watercraft around the area.

Ohio ranks ninth in the nation in the number of registered boaters, with 415,562 in 2007, including thousands in northern Ohio along Lake Erie.

According to a 2007 Michigan State University study, recreational boating generates $3.5 billion and impacts 26,000-plus jobs a year in Ohio, where an estimated 3 million people enjoy boating each year.

The inspections are performed by various organizations, including state Division of Watercraft officials, U.S. Coast Guard auxiliaries and local marine patrols, take an average of 15 minutes (longer for owners of larger boats with more equipment) and are designed to make sure boaters have properly working equipment including fire extinguishers, horns and navigational lights, distress signals and lifejackets.

The inspections are not intended to land boaters in hot water.

“They’re not looking for violations,” Wisse said, and they aren’t out to write tickets.

Instead, inspectors provide boat owners with written or verbal recommendations.

“What typically happens is a lot of boaters are most concerned about getting their boats out of the water and getting them stored for the winter,” Wisse said. “They very rarely look at their boat during the winter.”

Outdated distress flares are a common problem many boat owners overlook, according to Tom Innes, owner of Romp’s Marina in Vermilion.

“A lot of times people buy them, stow them away and forget about them,” Innes said.

And the same soaring gas prices that are affecting car drivers are affecting boaters, too, Wisse said.

Many boaters are “going down to the marina and sitting on their boat instead of taking it out,” he said.

Innes agreed that some boaters, including fishermen, go out and sit at anchor for hours without running their engines.

“(The price of) gas is a problem, but most boaters who love boating make adjustments at home … going out to dinner less … to put gas in the boat,” Innes said.

The economy also has produced a drop in “those quick trips to the islands for lunch,” Innes said.

“Where you were seeing four to five boats making those trips before, now you see everyone pile on one to two boats to go,” he said.

For those who plan to get on the water this season, Wisse encourages a boater education safety class for everyone. Such classes are required by state law for anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1982, to obtain a boating operator’s license.

Statistics show that nearly 80 percent of Ohio boat operators involved in accidents had not completed a boater safety education class. The state has averaged 13 fatalities a year for the past five boating seasons, said Wisse. A third of all boating fatalities, including drownings, continue to be alcohol-related.

Those who can’t make it to one of the scheduled boat inspections can visit their nearest Ohio Division of Watercraft office, where on-site inspections are available. The nearest offices are in Sandusky and Cleveland.

Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.

 

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