Geneva Lake boat count takes dip

From the Janesville Gazette

WILLIAMS BAY-For the third straight year, the annual boat census by the Geneva Lake Environmental Agency and the lake's water safety patrol shows a slight decline in the number of boats on Geneva Lake.

Ted Peters, Geneva Lake Environmental Agency director, said the small drop may have more to do with the way boats are counted or stored offshore than an actual decline in the number of vessels.

The 2006 census counted 4,815 vessels of all kinds, down from the 2005 census of 4,835, Peters said. The official 2004 tally was 5,224, and the 2003 census was 5,057.

The boat total is almost one boat to each of the lake's 5,425 acres, Peters said.

The census usually is conducted on rainy or cool days, when most boats don't take to the water. This year's census was Aug. 2, a day in which forecasts called for rain. But warm, sunny weather that day might have meant more boats were on the water than expected, Peters said.

Only moored or stored boats are counted.

Boats on the lake at the time of the census are not counted.Boats are divided into four categories: Motorboats, sailboats, personal watercraft and other (kayaks, canoes, dinghies and rowboats).

The census notes that sailboat numbers continue to decline, down 83 from last year's count of 532. The largest decline was in the "other" boat class, which dropped by 332 from 695 in 2005.

Personal watercraft totaled 553, down a tad from 577 in 2005. Surging upward were motorboats, which saw growth of 392 units compared to last year's count of 3,049.