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Gas Price Explosion Hammering Area Boaters

Long Island Sound Looking Quite Sparse These Days; Even Diehards Contemplating Chaining Up Vessels

PELHAM, N.Y. (CBS) ― Thigh price of gas will keep more Americans off the road this Memorial Day weekend. Gasoline is averaging more than $4 per gallon in the New York area.

And it isn't just cars that are affected. Many boaters say record high fuel prices will keep them tied up at the dock for the start of the summer boating season.

Veteran boater Paul Daronco noticed something Saturday on the Long Island Sound. The striped bass were running, but the bots were not.

"Very few boats out there, could count them on two hands," Daronco said. "The boats out fishing and normally this time of year you'd see boats all over the place."

Daronco blames the high price of marine fuel – up a dollar a gallon over last summer and edging ever closer to the $5 mark.

"If I'm cruising, I'll burn 20 gallons an hour," Daronco said.

That's $85 an hour in fuel for Daronco's boat – and that's nothing compared to a large vessel like one 58-footer CBS 2 HD saw. It can burn 70 gallons an hour, setting the skipper back $330 every 60 minutes.

An industry group says last year, about 3 percent of boaters didn't put their vessels in the water because of the high price of gas. Many boaters predict even more will stay anchored this summer.

"Most of the power boats this year along the East Coast here will be nailed to the dock," boater John Palladino said. "I don't think they'll be taking too many trips."

At the New Rochelle Marina, Harbor Master Sal Gugliara said when summer comes it will be hard to resist the call of the sea.

"They probably won't go as far, venture a few less miles but they'll still go out because that's what the boating experience is all about," Gugliara said.

Daronco said he loves it. He's just not sure how much longer he can afford it.

"It's a hole in the water you keep putting money into," he said.

Marine fuel typically costs 60 cents to a dollar more per gallon, compared to what drivers pay at the pump.

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