Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

More boaters taking to water

By BARBARA BEHRENDT
Published January 22, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Danny Ghitis] Joe Gray, who spends his winters in Homosassa, waits for his fishing buddy after they returned from a Friday afternoon trip off Fort Island Trail in Crystal River. The parking lot by the boat ramp is crowded with empty boat trailers whose owners are still out cruising the waterways.

CRYSTAL RIVER - The soaring popularity of boating comes as no surprise for Butch Kiddy, manager of the Crystal River Sunray Marine.

What more could a boater want that Citrus County doesn't already offer?

The Gulf of Mexico, multiple rivers and a freshwater lake chain - "All of that is within a 15-mile radius," Kiddy said.

It is no wonder that Citrus County has seen a surge in boat registrations as have other counties along the Nature Coast.

With that surge also comes increased pressure to find places to launch and store boats. "That's the dark side," said Gary Maidhof, Citrus County's development services director.

From 2000 to 2005, Citrus registrations increased by 37 percent to 16,739. Hernando County registrations rose 32 percent to 9,345, and in Pasco the registration boomed was slightly above a 37 percent increase, with 25,536 boats registered.

"I think it has a lot to do with the growth of Citrus County," said Kiddy, who lives on Lake Tsala Apopka.

Many of his lakefront neighbors have bought boats from him. Many never owned a boat before but reached the point in their lives when their children were grown and they could finally afford that dream investment in a boat.

While the water in the lake is low now, he said he knows many people have discovered the lakes and their fishing opportunity.

At Apopka Marine, owner Joe Bega watched the boat sales rise as the property boom did in recent years. "Now it's slowing down just like the real estate," he said.

New boat sales from Pro-Line Boats, one of Citrus County's largest private employers, were also slowing in 2005-06, according to Joe Grano, corporate spokesman.

Interest rates, insurance costs and the recent strong hurricane season had some buyers waiting to see what 2007 would bring, he said.

But a successful boat show in Fort Lauderdale several months ago is fueling optimism for strong sales in the new year, Grano said.

While the east coast has seen most of the debate about how to get all of Florida's new boats to the water, Maidhof said some of that is starting to move into Citrus County as well.

Elsewhere there have been many marinas and private waterfront areas sold and converted into condominiums. A developer floated a similar proposal to redevelop Pete's Pier in Crystal River but that idea fell through.

Some boat storage in other places is also going condominium, making boat ownership increasingly difficult for lower- and medium-income residents, he said.

Add to that the reality that, especially during holiday weekends, existing boat launch areas in west Citrus especially are far past capacity, Maidhof said.

That cannot be easily fixed because the county's Manatee Protection Plan limits the number of boat launch facilities.

Maidhof said that there could be some relief for that launch site crunch at the Barge Canal, where the county has been talking about developing a launch site. But officials from the Save the Manatee Club have already questioned whether that too would put manatees in that area at risk.

Balancing the growing boating community with those other environmental and financial pressures is a challenge.

"It really puts local government in a bind," Maidhof said.

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at 564-3621 or behrendt@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 22, 2007, 07:22:25]