Boater Survey Shows Shifts in Usage

See also the Triennial Survey page

Nearly 60 of every 1000 people own motor boats in Oregon. The average owner is 53 years old, has boated for 26 years and uses his or her boat an average of 28 days a year.

These and a bushel of other boating facts and statistics can be found in the recently published "Boating in Oregon, Results of the 1999 Triennial Survey." The survey, required by state law, is performed every three years to track boating trends. Results were obtained through a questionnaire mailed to nearly 7,000 owners of boats registered in Oregon.

"We use this survey to help us identify where we need to spend money, guide programs and set or adapt policies," says Marine Board Assistant Director Wayne Shuyler. The survey covers all motorized recreational craft and sailboats 12 feet and longer, whether motorized or not. The survey does not cover non-registered craft such as rafts, canoes and kayaks, boats used by out-of-state-visitors using boats not registered in Oregon, and commercial or rental craft. The sample represented 3.5 percent of the registered boat owners.

The final report from the triennial survey is available for download from the Marine Board web site at www.boatoregon.com. Some of the high points are as follows:

* The average age of Oregon's boat owners has increased slightly to 53, up from 51 in 1996, 1993 and 1990. The survey indicates that boaters participate at all ages although nearly 70 percent of all owners are between 36 and 65. There were an estimated 3,258 new boaters in 1998. About 1/3 of all boaters say they have taken a boater education course of some type in recent years.

* Only 27 percent of registered boats were not used during the survey year. Boats that did make it in the water were used an average of 28 days. This is the highest average number of days since the 1972 survey. Most boating activity takes place from May to September, with July the most popular month. Boaters averaged 11.4 trips per boat, which was down from 12.9 in 1996. Fishing is the most popular boating activity, accounting for 57.2 percent of all boats, with cruising next at 19.1 percent, water skiing at 14 percent and sailing at 4.4 percent. Personal watercraft riding jumped from 3.3 percent in 1996 to 4.4 percent in 1998.

* The 10 most-used waterbodies: 1) Willamette River; 2) Columbia River; 3) Lake Billy Chinook; 4) Tenmile Lake; 5) Rogue River; 6) Detroit Lake; 7) Pacific Ocean; 8) Fern Ridge Reservoir; 9) Tillamook Bay; 10) Umpqua River. The Columbia River is the most-used waterbody for fishing, sailing and cruising. The Willamette River leads in water skiing and personal watercraft activity days. These two waterbodies are first or second in every category except sailing, where Fern Ridge is second. Multnomah County is the most heavily boated county, with Lane second, Coos third and Clackamas fourth.

* Over 45 percent of all boaters were stopped by marine law enforcement patrols in 1998 for routine compliance checks. Of those stopped, 5.6 reported being stopped for an actual violation with about a quarter of those receiving citations. Over 85 percent of all boaters stopped reported the courtesy/professionalism and service/information given by the officers as good to excellent.

* Additional statistics indicate that near-collisions with floating hazards were the most frequently reported safety hazard on the water, with near-collisions with other boaters and conflicts with other boaters tied at second and third.

Copies of the report are available on line at www.boatoregon.com, at your local county library or by calling the Marine Board at (503) 378-8587.

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