Sticker sales up, dam traffic down

Clay Hamilton (right) and Sean Keefer of Chicago pull Hamilton's boat out of the water Aug. 29 at Ericson Marine in Algonquin. Hamilton and his friends were out for their final wakeboarding trip of the season because Hamilton is selling his boat. "It's for financial reasons right now, but I plan on upgrading also," Hamilton said. (Nick Dentamaro – ndentamaro@nwherald.com)

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Don Ericson has dealt with skyrocketing gas prices last year and cool weather this year, but never did he expect a boat explosion at his Algonquin marina.

“He had a gas leak in the boat, and it exploded,” Ericson said. “It could happen to anybody. If you turn your blower on and exhaust the fumes, that might have prevented it, but who knows.”

Ericson said the three people on board were able to walk away but a little girl’s hair was singed.

Labor Day weekend is the unofficial end of the boating season, and it’s been a mixed bag of results when it comes to comparisons with years past.

Last year, boating on the Chain O’ Lakes – the busiest inland recreational waterway per acre in the United States – and the Fox River was restricted for most of June because of high water levels. Coupled with high gas prices that were even higher out on the water, it led to a tough season.

This year, boaters and businesses were hit with a penny-pinching economy as well as record-setting cool and wet weather.

Ericson said that he hasn’t seen the economy affect his business this much in the 25 years he’s owned it.

“A lot of people are watching what they’re spending, and boating is a luxury item,” he said. “Fuel is expensive for boating; every time you fill up, you only get 2 or 3 miles per gallon. It’s the same as a concrete truck.”

But he’s still doing OK, Ericson said.

“We’re thinking that we’re going to come out ahead this year, maybe equal,” he said.

Ingrid Danler, executive director of the Fox Waterway Agency, said that the economy actually might have given a boost to sticker sales this year.

Through Aug. 25, 21,051 stickers were sold, compared with 19,009 at the same time last year, Danler said.

“I do think it affected our boating,” she said. “A lot of people did staycations this year; a lot of people stayed local.”

But the number of boats going through the Stratton Bolger Lock and Dam in McHenry was down significantly, said Rita Lee, hydraulic engineer with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Last year, 9,300 boats passed through the dam from May through August. There were only 8,025 during the same time period this year, she said.

Lee pointed to the cool weather, but there also were reduced hours. The lock was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays because of staffing limitations, she said. She was unsure whether that would remain the same for the next boating season.

Rain or shine, hot or cold, and even when the water is closed to the rest of the boats, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Marine Unit is out on patrol.

“We do not, generally speaking, reduce our hours regardless of boating conditions,” Cmdr. Joe Marvin said. “The only time we would stay off the water is extreme conditions.”

The unit conducted 600 safety inspections this year, compared with 415 last year.

About 150 citations were issued, two of which were for operating under the influence, Marvin said. Five tests using a meter to measure noise led to three citations.

Boating accidents were tied with last year’s number at four – none with serious injuries – in the portion of the waterway patrolled by McHenry County, Marvin said.

Although it’s the unofficial end, the season’s not totally over, Danler said.

“We’ve noticed that people are really going boating whenever there’s good weather,” she said. “There’s a lot more people on the water during the week.”