High gasoline prices may beach boaters

The weather may have kept most boaters off area waters this past weekend, but it may be the price of gas that keeps them ashore next weekend.

Boaters all over the region are feeling the pinch as gasoline prices remain more than $2 a gallon in most Washington and Idaho cities. On the water, the price for a gallon of gas is about 20 cents to 40 cents more than the street price in some places. Compared with last year, gas is almost a dollar more in most places.

“It’s affecting us big-time,” said Kootenai County sheriff’s deputy Ken Lallatin, who supervises the department’s Marine Patrol unit.

The marine unit has eight boats and two personal watercraft patrolling North Idaho lakes. Four of those boats operate daily on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

“The problem for us is that we are only budgeted for $2.05 a gallon this year,” Lallatin said.

The average price for gas at Idaho marinas is roughly $2.40 a gallon. At the gas pump in Coeur d’Alene, motorists are paying about $2.22 a gallon.

It’s no different on Washington lakes, where the gas prices are averaging $2.39 a gallon. In Spokane, gas is about $2.18 a gallon.

According to the American Automobile Association, the price of a gallon of gas in Coeur d’Alene and Spokane last year was about $1.50.

At Seven Bays marina on Lake Roosevelt, gas was running $2.45 a gallon as of Friday.

“I think it’s keeping people away, a little bit,” said Ron Reyburn, who works at the Lincoln County resort. “We’ve not had as many people dropping in. Usually, things start to pick up around Memorial weekend. That’s not the case this year.”

Seven Bays has about 140 moorage slips on contract, and all are full. But likely because of gas prices, reservations at the Seven Bays campground are down from the same time last year, Reyburn said.

“People are concerned about it, there’s no doubt about it,” Reyburn said. “There’s always going to be the people that go regardless, but people with families are going to have to cut back a bit. I mean, for 50 gallons of gas, my God you’re looking at over $100.”

While the cost of wholesale gas has been falling slightly for a couple of weeks, the price is likely to start rising again, said Dave Overstreet, AAA spokesman.

“Typically we’ll see gas prices go up a little during the high demand season, starting with Memorial Day weekend, and go down around Labor Day,” Overstreet said. “But there’s been nothing typical about gas prices this year, they’ve just been high all year.”

Washington and Idaho gas prices have been well above the national average since January, Overstreet said. Currently the national average for a gallon of regular gas is $2.03.

On Lake Coeur d’Alene, Lallatin said, deputies will save money by using the personal watercraft more instead of one of eight gas-powered jet and aluminum boats operated by the marine patrol.

Currently the unit has two personal watercraft, and Lallatin is hoping to acquire two more this season through a government grant.

“We’ve been doing as much as possible,” Lallatin said. “We’ll pull our boats off to fuel them up on the street, but sometimes that’s just not practical.”