Gas prices boaters’ No. 2 concern
Fuel prices aren’t bumming out would-be Memorial Day boaters. It’s the weather.
Turns out that the prospect of rain and 60-degree highs – about 30 degrees colder than just last week – is much more depressing than buying gasoline about 60 cents per gallon more expensive than over Memorial Day weekend last year.
“The weather forecast is concerning me,” said Jim Spurr, dockmaster at Silver Beach Marina. “There are a lot of people who like to go out with their shirts off and in their bathing suits.”
Fuel costs are a bit of an issue, Spurr said, but they won’t keep people from the water.
Gas prices have actually dropped slightly in the past few days, averaging $2.95 for a gallon of regular unleaded Tuesday in Spokane and $2.86 per gallon in Coeur d’Alene. But they’re still just pennies off records set last September. Boaters looking to fuel up at marinas are going to pay about $3.30 per gallon.
“This weekend, if it doesn’t rain, we should do pretty good,” said Vacation Sports Rentals owner Rick Meyer.
Meyer’s company, just down the road from Coeur d’Alene’s Third Street Marina, rents boats, pontoons and Wave Riders.
Meyer anticipates some impacts with higher fuel prices, but nothing serious. “For the people coming here, it’s all about the lake,” he said of boating’s appeal.
Worley resident John Tietz agrees.
Tietz and his father, Floyd, were on Lake Coeur d’Alene off of Higgens Point Tuesday, putting Tietz’s new boat through its paces.
“I think people will still boat, but they’re going to do a lot more floating,” he said, pointing to the middle of the lake, where he expects to see many boats hanging out this summer. “The one thing about North Idaho – people find a way to recreate.”
Surveys show fuel costs aren’t going to keep most Americans from hitting the road this summer, either.
According to survey by the AAA, Memorial Day travel will increase slightly this year over last, with 37.6 million Americans traveling 50 miles or more from home.
Most will travel by car or truck.
Athol resident Elaine Phillips and her husband, Bill, set off Tuesday in their truck with a camper loaded on back for an 870-mile drive to visit family in Sacramento.
“We’re not thrilled about it,” said Elaine Phillips of the gas prices, as her husband filled the tank at the Flying J in Post Falls. “But those grandchildren are quite a drawing card.”
And though the weather may not be hot and it could cost boaters hundreds of dollars to fill their gas tanks, there is some good news for them this weekend.
The center portion of the Idaho state Highway 97 temporary bridge across the Coeur d’Alene River will be removed for the three-day weekend to allow tall boats to pass under, facilitating travel between the river and Lake Coeur d’Alene.
But be sure you’re on the side of the bridge you want to be at by the end of the day Monday so you don’t get stuck.