Fuel Costs Keeping Boaters Off The Water
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - If you have a power boat, you know this already, but the rising price of fuel that has plagued motorists may make those on the water seasick.
Chuck Pukanecz, Harbormaster of the Piers Marina at Penn's Landing, says the specter of $3.75 a gallon makes boaters balk.
"Fuel price is going to drive the season. If they start coming back down, and hopefully they will, we'll get a lot more boats on the water towards the end of the season but right now people are scared."
In part because with some of the big boats even a regional jaunt adds up.
"We're 37 miles from the C&D Canal. We're 99 miles from the ocean here in Philadelphia and that's a fairly long trip when you're measuring not in miles per gallon but gallons per mile, which a lot of boats do."
More efficient boats are on the market, but Pukanecz says the older inefficient stock will stick around a long time.
Reported by John Ostapkovich, KYW Newsradio
