High Gas Prices Affect Boaters Too!

If the Lake Tahoe Basin's summer economy were an algebra equation, it would look something like this: Boating + tourists = success.

Though the area offers vacationers a laundry list of warm-weather activities, boating is a particularly keen bellwether of the area's economic strength. And this year, it's being tested possibly as never before.

Soaring gas prices are the primary culprit.

But even as fuel hovers close to $5 per gallon for cars on the shore and costs more than $6 per gallon for boats on the lake, Tahoe businesses hoped the July 4 holiday - historically one of the largest tourist draws of the year - would mark the beginning of a rebound from a dismal 2007.

But even before the patriotic weekend's promise of barbecue, beer and fireworks, some area boating merchants already had taken steps to lure tourists by alleviating the effect of soaring gas prices.

Stuart Maas, sales manager for boat-rental companies Ski Run Boat Company and Tahoe Keys Boat Rental, decided this spring not to raise rental fees.

"Because adventure sports are a luxury good, we wanted to make it affordable as possible for everyone and let the people have the fun they want to have," Maas said recently.

The companies - affiliated with Powder House and Rainbow Mountain, a ski-rental outfitting company with seven locations on the South Shore - charge $95 per hour to rent boats and $100 per hour to rent personal watercraft.

Maas said after a slow start in June, rentals of both types of watercraft have been "solid" leading up to July 4, though boaters are being "a little more cautious" with their money and use of fuel, he added.

"We're still seeing people taking boats for half-days and full days, but we're not sure if they're going around the lake or not," Maas said.

One thing's for sure, though, said Ski Run Boat Company owner Ron Williams: Tourists itching to escape the hot valleys surrounding the basin already are coming to Tahoe.

"It's a pressure cooker down there," Williams said, noting the many valley customers he has accommodated. "When it gets to be in the hundreds in Sacramento, they float right up the highway."

That particular highway, though, hasn't yet led to Billy Fier's place on Donner Lake in Truckee. Fier, who manages Donner Lake Water Sports and Donner Lake Marina, said the company is getting hit with a "double whammy."

To compensate for high gas prices, Fier's business has raised fees to rent ski boats, but spiking gas and diesel prices are deterring tourists, so Fier is unable to recoup his losses.

"You're sitting there holding your breath, hoping people will show up this summer," he said.

Other marina owners and managers around the lake also are feeling the pinch of higher gas prices, though most are optimistic the basin will weather the storm. Bob Hassett is among them. He owns Timber Cove Marina in South Lake Tahoe.

"At the present time, I'm not concerned about the high gas prices," he said recently.

"My gut feeling is that people are going to have fun, and compared to last summer, gas is only one dollar more, so most people think spending an extra $20 is worth it."

At Sunnyside Marina on Tahoe's West Shore, manager Elianna Furtney echoed Hassett's sentiments. She said the marina's business is down a bit, but she blames that on a rainy Memorial Day, not on high gas prices.

"I think when you look at it over the season, it's only a few hundred more dollars for people, and they aren't that concerned," she said.

Chris Burke, Zephyr Cove Marina director of operations, said he has noticed a similar volume of boaters as in years past, but this summer, they're looking for more deals.

"More people are seeking coupons and taking the early-bird special," Burke said.

Over at Meeks Bay Marina on Tahoe's West Shore, dockhand Janet Blanke said it's too early to tell how the season will shape up. She'll know more, she added, after she gauges results of the July 4 holiday weekend.

So far, however, she has noticed fewer boat renters but similar numbers of boat owners at the Meeks Bay location. Boat-rental prices have increased from $10 to $70 to offset gas prices, she said.

Though boat-rental companies and marinas remain generally optimistic about the summer tourist season, boaters themselves are curtailing their water activities.

Charles Rottman, a longtime personal-watercraft rider from the East Bay, said gas prices definitely have affected his routine.

"I don't take as many trips up here (to Tahoe), and I don't go fill up the tank as often," he said.

Rottman also has reduced his Jet Ski speed to conserve gas, he added.

"I'd get up to 65 to 70 miles per hour, and now I'm slowing to 50 to 55 miles per hour to make the gas last," he explained.

Cheryl Serota, a boater from Pollock Pines who visited South Lake Tahoe over the July 4 weekend, said gas prices have greatly affected her.

"It's expensive," she said Friday morning. "It costs us $200 to fill up (the boat). This year, we've been taking fewer trips up here, but we wanted to come up for the holiday."

But according to Jan Brisco, executive director of the Tahoe Lakefront Owners Association, tourists aren't the only people to worry about during the current economic storm. Residents, too, are rethinking their boating habits.

"Some people are not even taking their boats out of their harbor or slip," she said recently. "Some of the really big boats are staying close to home, and a lot of people I know have traded powerboats for sailboats."

And while that may portend a spike in business for some nonmotorized boat sales in the basin, other area boat dealers are hurting.

John Walker, an Internet boat dealer and Lake Tahoe boat owner, minced no words about the economic downturn's effect on his business.

"Like everything else, when you have toys that are paid for with a discretionary income, and the economy takes a downturn, you're not going to be spending like you used to," he said. "I expect to see a reduction of boats on the lake this summer."

Gary Felsh, sales manager for Cope & McPhetres Marine in Tahoe City, said boat sales are sinking, and so are the habits of recreational sailors.

"People are holding back right now and not using their boats as much," he said. "And boat sales are definitely off."

Sierra Boat Company President Herb Hall has seen his Kings Beach/Carnelian Beach businesses falter with the economy. Hall has 30 percent greater inventory than he did last year, he said. Several of his recent customers were desperate to sell their boats, and others wanted to scale down, he explained.

"It's the slowest I've ever seen it," he said of current sales. "I'm not selling new stuff, but I have popular boats in my inventory."

But as with every other business owner in Lake Tahoe, Hall is hoping the popularity of Lake Tahoe's famed recreational boating will keep the local economy afloat this summer.

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