Sightseeing, socialising push fishing aside in US boating survey
People prefer fun over fishing, latest survey of US recreational boat use showsMore people went cruising, sightseeing and socialising on boats than they did wetting a line to catch a fish, a survey of recreational boat use in the US has found.
The latest US Coast Guard National Recreational Boating Safety Survey, based on 2018 data and released this week, showed fishing (29.9 per cent of participants) was the fourth most-popular boat-based activity behind cruising (43.4 per cent), socialising with friends (31.5 per cent) and sightseeing or observing nature (30.4 per cent).
The low number for fishing is attributed to the fact that it is a mainly male-related activity with a low female participation rate.
Of note, fishing has declined from 56.5 per cent of participants surveyed in 2012.
The changing face of boat ownership is also highlighted in the report, with only 42.9 per cent of those surveyed saying they, or someone in their household, owned a boat.
The rise in the shared economy was also apparent in the survey: 41 per cent of people chose to just rent their boat, while the remainder was evenly split between joint or shared ownership and bare boat chartering.
Online buying
The survey suggested a contributing factor to the rise of shared boats was a growing familiarity with online purchasing using services such as accommodation booking groups AirBNB and Vacation Bookings by Owners, with users able to access boats “without the responsibility or costs to purchase them or pay the costs of storing and maintaining them”.
Those people who owned their boats on average used them almost 26 days a year, compared with 13 days for people who did not own a boat.
People who could drive a boat were also out on the water much more than those who could not, hinting that people with boat licences tended to be the ones who also owned a vessel.
Growing numbers
Overall, recreational boating participation in the US has increased from 74.5 million in 2010 to 84.54 million in 2018, following closely on a 3.0 per cent rise in the US population over that time.
It is estimated that there are 23.78 million boats in the US, compared with 22.22 million in 2011, the boating survey shows.
Anyone who argues that boating is a rich person’s game will be surprised to note that boat owners in the US tend to have a household income below the 2018 national median of about $US61,937 ($A82,000), with a third earning less than $US50,000.
The 2018 National Recreational Boating Safety Survey is the first one the US Coast Guard has collated since 2012.
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