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Hernando Today

Fewer Boats Out On The Bay

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By TONY HOLT

Published: July 26, 2008

HERNANDO BEACH - Fuel prices have caused the local boating culture to change.

It hasn't faded away. It's just comparatively different from what it was two years ago.

Nowadays, people are buying smaller boats and staying in the canals, rivers or lakes. Buying or renting a bigger vessel and taking it 30 miles out in the bay isn't as commonplace as it used to be.

"Boating is a luxury," said James Edward Lanier Jr., manager at Weeki Wachee Marina. "The first thing that gets cut is the luxuries."

Even still, he has seen more of the smaller vessels out on the water much closer to shore. People are still willing to pay some money to gas up a boat and take it out on the water. They just prefer not to spend half a paycheck to do so.

"Fifteen-horsepower boats, 14-foot skiffs, pontoon boats – They've done better for us," Lanier said. "July is always slow, but it's picked up for us in the last week."

Brothers Todd and Dustin LeGrand, of Spring Hill, took their 22-foot Hurricane deck boat to Hernando Beach Saturday afternoon.

They were accompanied by two women. They make sure whenever they go out on the boat, they bring company.

When they purchased the Hurricane a year ago, the cost of gas was noticeably cheaper. They intended to make boating a regular hobby. Their outlook changed as pump prices increased.

These days, they make sure to bring as many people as they can each weekend. They want more friends to chip in for fuel.

They pay more than $200 just to gas the boat for an afternoon out on the bay, Dustin LeGrand said. That doesn't include food, fishing supplies and the diesel required to fill his Chevrolet Silverado, which he uses to haul the boat.

"Now it's sort of a community thing," his brother said. "We try to get as many people as we can to come with us."

Higher gas prices and the recent trend toward smaller boats have helped Dave Davidson, owner of Precision Tackle in Spring Hill. He is regularly having to replace his stock of Gheenoes – a brand of motorized canoes.

A good year is when he can sell 20. His business is less than a year old and he is about to exceed that amount, he said.

"Gas prices keep pushing people in shore," Davidson said. "They're using the smaller motor boats and doing the lakes and streams … We're doing pretty well considering."

The same goes for scallop fishermen. Last year, boaters were forced to go far out to sea to collect the most scallops. This year, for reasons unknown to most, they have reemerged closer to shore. Fishermen haven't had to wander too far beyond the canals.

"Last year, you had to go up to Homosassa to get scallops," said Lanier. "This year, you can just go to the end of the Bayport channel."

Scallop season runs from July 1 through Sept. 10.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5823 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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