For generations there has always been a (usually) friendly rivaly between sailboat and powerboat owners. Each side has developed a distinctive persona that has become more exaggerated over the years, depending on the storyteller.
A marina owner on Kellys Island told me last week, "you sailboat guys are cheap. You never buy gas, show up at our dock with $20 bucks and a dirty t-shirt and leave with both". He was only slightly kidding. The "rag packers: as some folks with power boats call us, don't tend to have big parties on their boats and don't buy much fuel.
I know some sailors who actually get a kick out of walking past a big Carver or Viking at the fuel pump and say something like, "gee, you're already at 600 gallons for this weekend, I haven't used that much in 10 years". Of course, on big trips the power boat owner will get home about 2 days before the sailor ties up at the his or her berth.
On the other side, the cliche about power boat owners usually lumps them in with Rodney Dangerfield's character in "Caddy Shack". Captains who know more about stocking the ship's fuel tanks and liquor cabinet than seamanship, navigation, and wake control. The boater who can be seen dropping the anchor and snubbing the anchor line as soon as the hook hits the bottom. Of course, the fiberglass condominium then drags across the harbor in the first big wind.
But the fuel price issue has become a real threat to the average boater. Thurston Howell III can find the money to feed his engines. Regular folks who own powerboats are slowly getting squeezed out of the joy of boating. When I was chatting with some of the very nice people at the Mentor Lagoons last week, each had a story about coping with high marine fuel prices. One owner told me that with his twin 450's, if he motored up to Put-In-Bay and back, he could spend the same amount of money going to Las Vegas for a week. Many others talked about "stay"cations where the boat stays tied up at the dock and the friends and family just hang out at the marina for their vacation.
Many of the owners said that if they take any big trips this year they will try to find another family to share the cost. Others said that they will take one trip instead of three or four during the summer.
When I suggested that they think about moving to a sailboat, most shook their heads. They told me that using sails for power was too slow and too complicated. Several said they didn't like that whole tipping over feeling they got when on a sailboat that was heeling in the wind.
It's apparent that if the fuel prices continue to set a new "record" every week, the boating world is in for a tidal wave of trouble. The marine economy depends on middle class support and that is quickly eroding with every price hike in fuel and fiberglass.
Sure I can slide across the lake all day and spend about a dollar in diesal fuel by using wind power. But the marinas depend on a healthy mix of both sail and power boats. Empty docks and under utilized fuel pumps will quickly cause negative ripple effects for marinas, yacht clubs, restaurants, mechanics, and the entire service economy that centers around boating.
Living on the fresh water seas is one of the most extraordinary assets that we have in the midwest. If this trend continues, too many good people will be forced to look at that great lake only from shore. Maybe a slower pace and a little heeling isn't such a bad thing. I do like to keep the $20 dollars in my pocket, but I do put on a fresh shirt!!
Capt. Michael O'
s/v "Adagio"
Labels: boating, Captain Michael O, Weekend Morning Show
It has been a typical Saturday morning. Not too much out of the ordinary, but still busy. Mr. Gadgets was on the show to tell us about the latest in technology, but we found out 10 minutes before the show that he needed a large demo table and extension cords, so we couldn't keep his segment in Studio A. The crew hustled to set up Studio B. As soon as I was finished setting up, I ran back out to the newsroom to finish filing the scripts I was still missing for the anchors and director and finished marking my own rundown for the show. 
