Boaters feel pinch as fuel costs linger above year-ago levels

A warm afternoon in June on Portage Lake in Dexter Township, Michigan, should have been straightforward: pull the cover off the family pontoon, fill the tank, and push off. For Malik Amine and his brother, the launch involved a harder calculation.

“We don’t want to fill it up all the way because that’s really expensive,” Amine said of the pontoon’s 52-gallon fuel tank Morse quoted ?.

Recreational boaters across the U.S. are facing the same arithmetic. According to motor club AAA, a gallon of regular gasoline cost 34% more on Friday, June 5, than it did a year earlier. Diesel fuel, which powers many larger recreational vessels, was up 53% from the same point in 2025. The price increases are a downstream effect of the Iran war, which has disrupted global oil supply and sent energy costs sharply higher since hostilities escalated earlier this year.

The pinch extends to households’ outlook on prices more broadly. The University of Michigan’s survey of consumers found that one-year-ahead inflation expectations stood at 4.7% in early June, according to data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve’s FRED database. That reading signals that households do not yet see the fuel-price shock as transitory.

In Traverse City, Michigan, Kathleen Donohoe told the Associated Press that she and her husband are using their boat more strategically this year. “We’re making sure what we do is worth the fuel,” Donohoe said APIs final reported word count.

Lindsey Brown, who lives on Priest Lake in Washington state, said she and her husband are largely staying close to their dock. “The lake is a little smaller this summer because we can’t afford to go across it,” she said APIs final reported word count.

Grace O’Malley, a boater in Ireland, said the price of marine diesel has climbed so steeply that friends are talking about selling their boats, according to the AP report.

MSI previously reported that rising fuel costs tied to the Iran war were prompting many Americans to shift their summer travel plans toward local destinations and shorter trips. The new accounts from boat owners suggest the pattern extends beyond road travel.

Robert Hinds, a boater in Washington, estimated he and his wife burned through roughly $200 in fuel on a single outing earlier this spring. “坨 that’s just the fuel for one day,” he said APIs final reported word count.

Melissa Kunnert, who boats on Portage Lake, said she pays close attention to which days are the most expensive. “We try to take the smaller pontoon if we can,” she said APIs final reported word count.

Ellen Bradley, also on Portage Lake, said the higher prices have affected when and how often she can take the boat out for extended runs.

The price pressure is not limited to fuel for the boats themselves. Trailering a boat to a lake requires filling a truck’s tank, and many boat owners store their vessels at marinas where operating costs — heating, electricity, maintenance — have all risen.

Dexter Township, Michigan, is about 50 miles west of Detroit. Portage Lake is a 1,100-acre inland lake popular with recreational boaters from the Ann Arbor areaabbatu ?

The Associated Press contributed to this report mm Subtype: fact

• Malik Amine and his brother faced a costly fuel calculation before launching their family’s pontoon boat on Portage Lake in Michigan in early June, a calculus shared by recreational boaters nationwide amid sustained high fuel prices tied to the Iran war.
• A gallon of regular gasoline cost 34% more on Friday, June 5, than the same day a year earlier, according to motor club AAA, while diesel — also used by boaters — was up 53% from a year ago.
• Boaters from Washington state to Michigan to Ireland reported reducing time on the water and looking for ways to make each gallon go further, according to interviews in an Associated Press report.
• Households’ one-year-ahead inflation expectations, a closely watched measure of whether consumers expect price pressures to persist, stood at 4.7% in early June, according to the University of Michigan’s survey.

On a warm June afternoon on Portage Lake in Dexter Township, Michigan, Malik Amine and his brother readied their family’s pontoon boat for the summer. The cover was off and the water sparkled in the suncard enid. But before the brothers could leave the dock, they had to decide how much gasoline to put in the 52-gallon engine — the same calculation recreational boaters across the United States are now making as fuel prices remain sharply above last year’s levels.

“We don’t want to fill it up all the way because that’s really expensive,” Amine told the Associated Press.

According to motor club AAA, a gallon of regular gasoline cost 34% more on Friday, June 5, than on the same date a year earlier. Diesel fuel, which powers many larger recreational vessels and some outboard engines, was up 53% from a year ago. The increases are a downstream effect of the Iran war, which has disrupted global oil supply and driven energy costs higher since hostilities escalated earlier this year.

The price pinch extends beyond boaters’ fuel budgets. The University of Michigan’s survey of consumers found that one-year-ahead inflation expectations stood at 4.7% in early June, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ FRED database. That reading indicates households do not yet see the fuel-price shock as transitory and expect broader price pressures to persist.

In Traverse City, Michigan, Kathleen Donohoe said she and her husband Neil are making deliberate choices about how they use their boat this season. “We’re making sure what we do is worth the fuel,” she told the AP.

Lindsey Brown, who lives on Priest Lake in Washington state, said higher prices have confined her family close to the dock. “The lake is a little smaller this summer because we can’t afford to go across it,” Brown told the AP`045fmv . Grace O’Malley, a boater in Ireland, said marine diesel has become so expensive that friends are talking about selling their boats, according to the report.

Robert Hinds, also boating in Washington state, said he and his wife burned through roughly $200 in fuel on a single outing earlier this spring. “That’s just the fuel for one day,” he told the AP.

Melissa Kunnert, who boats on Portage Lake, said she pays close attention to which days are the most expensive and chooses the smaller pontoon when possible. Ellen Bradley, another Portage Lake boater, said the high prices have changed how often she takes the boat out for extended runs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.