Fuel prices are shaping summer plans as US boaters get ready to hit the water

DEXTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — On the kind of warm, bright afternoon that Michigan boaters wait all year for, Malik Amine and his brother readied their family’s pontoon boat for the summer.

The cover was off and Portage Lake sparkled in the sun. But before the brothers could leave a narrow wooden dock, they had a decision to make: how much gasoline to put in the pontoon’s 52-gallon engine.

Recreational boaters, like motorists, are feeling a pinch from the Iran war. U.S. gas prices have come down in recent weeks, but a gallon of regular gas still cost an average of 34% more Friday than it did a year earlier, according to motor club AAA. The price of diesel fuel, which is also used by some boaters, is up 53% from last year.

Ethanol-free gas, which many boaters, classic car owners and lawn mower users prefer, is anywhere from 20 cents to $1 per gallon more than regular fuel, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores, which also represents fuel retailers.

One gas station near Portage Lake, which is 60 miles west of Detroit, is selling ethanol-free fuel for $7 per gallon. Amine said he didn't plan to fill the boat's tank ahead of Memorial Day weekend.

“The cost is going to be a lot more than it was last year,” Amine said. “I think it’s probably a little bit smarter to do what you need and fill it as much as you need, because who knows when this conflict’s going to end."

The National Marine Manufacturers Association estimates that 100 million Americans go boating each year, contributing to an industry worth $230 billion annually. The trade group, which represents companies that make boats, marine engines, boating equipment and accessories, said its conversations with boaters indicate that most still plan to head out on the water this year, but in some cases, gas prices are curtailing their plans.

“There were a number of people within that who said, ‘I am going to have to change my behavior’,” said Ellen Bradley, the association’s chief brand officer. “I may not go as far. I may not as fast. I may spend more time anchored and swimming. I may spend more time at the dock.”

Neil and Kathleen Donohoe sold their home in Colorado and now live aboard a 50-foot, diesel-powered boat dubbed the Granuaile, which is the Gaelic name of Grace O'Malley, a 16th century sea captain known as Ireland's pirate queen. They’ve spent the last seven years cruising up and down the East Coast and to the Bahamas.

Maintenance on the boat – not fuel – is typically their greatest expense, Neil Donohoe said. But lately, the cost to fill up the boat — which can hold 1,500 gallons — is eye-popping. They talk to other boaters and use various marine apps to find the cheapest gas.

“It’s not driving us not to cruise, but it’s making a difference,” he said.

This summer, the couple plan to stick around the Chesapeake Bay area instead of heading further north. They’ve already been to Maine and to Canada, they reasoned, and they don't feel the urge to go again while gas prices are so high.

“It seems a little gross to spend that kind of money when so many people are struggling,” Kathleen Donohoe said.

Gas prices are also impacting boating-related businesses. The Seattle Sailing Club, which offers lessons, chartered cruises and rentals, said its fuel bill has gone up 10.7% since the beginning of the war.

Lindsey Brown, the club's office manager, said its fleet of 30 boats usually rely on wind power, but they all have gas or diesel backup engines. In April, the marina where the boats are docked charged $6.50 per gallon for diesel, she said. By late May, that had risen to $7.99 per gallon.

“We are just heading into our busy season, so we may see a more dramatic effect on our business if the price of fuel doesn’t change or continues to increase,” Brown said. Brown, who lives on a sailboat at the marina, said the service she uses to pump out wastewater just added a fuel surcharge to her bill.

It's also the busy season for Melissa Kunnert, who owns NautiMi On the River, an ice cream and gift shop near Portage Lake. She rents out a tiki-themed pontoon boat for parties and hosts three-hour evening cruises for $50 a person starting after Memorial Day.

Kunnert decided not to raise her prices this summer even though it costs more to fill up the pontoon. She wonders if the higher gas prices affecting all forms of travel might benefit her business by keeping more potential customers closer to home.

“I’m interested to see if we’ll have the same amount as previous years (or) if we will have more because people don’t want to use their gas, they want ours," Kunnert said.

In Traverse City, Michigan, a few hours north of Portage Lake, Robert Hinds decided to add a $50 fuel surcharge to the fishing trips he offers as the owner and operator of Central Coast Angling. He tows his 22-foot boat from port to port on Lake Michigan depending on where the fishing is best, so he has to fill up his truck in addition to his boat.

Hinds said he's had multiple cancellations as customers do their own math on gas prices. One regular customer from Nebraska didn't make the trip this spring.

“It’s really tough. People do want to get out and I still believe people will,” he said. “But everybody comes from different walks of life.”

Hinds recently ruled out his own fishing trip to Wisconsin after figuring out it would cost him $400 in diesel fuel for the truck that tows his boat.

“I can just stay home and fish here,” he said.

AP Video Journalist Mike Householder contributed to this report.

Malik Amine sits on his family's boat Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Dexter Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

Myles Amine sits on his family's boat Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Dexter Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

Kay Worsham cleans her boat Sunday, May 31, 2026, in Dexter Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

The World Cup pitches cover so much ground they'll be hard to ignore. The crews that put them there would prefer if fans didn't notice them at all.

While it took a herculean effort to engineer the right grass for the different stadiums and to make sure it's in pristine condition for the duration of the tournament, the goal is that it never really attracts attention.

After all, there’s nothing worse than uneven patches, divots and worn spots that can affect a player’s footing when the focus should be on the games themselves.

"We want to give credit to the pitch managers who do an amazing job to get these canvases presentable, to be beautiful, but also play perfect, and people see it and admire it. But then they go on and say, 'Oh, what a great goal that was, and what a great header that was,'” said John Sorochan, professor of turfgrass science within the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Tennessee.

Tennessee and Michigan State have been working for some eight years on the perfect hybrid grass surfaces for the 16 stadiums spread across Canada, Mexico and the United States that will host World Cup games.

FIFA has strict requirements for the pitches, which must all be mostly natural grass and play the same so as to be competitively neutral. This World Cup is especially demanding for grounds crews with an expanded field of 48 teams and 104 total matches.

Eight of the World Cup stadiums — seven in the United States and one in Canada — normally have artificial turf. All of those eight venues, with the exception of Vancouver’s BC Place, are home to NFL teams. Five of them are covered or partially covered or have retractable roofs.

Seattle's Lumen Field, home of the NFL’s Seahawks, was one of the first stadiums to make the switch from artificial turf to grass ahead of the tournament that begins Thursday.

The process involved laying a crate-like drainage and ventilation structure over the existing field, then covering that with more than 10 inches of sand, rolling out locally grown sod, and stitching the whole thing together with artificial fiber reinforcement.

Seattle is set to host six matches. Work to install the grass started in March, and in April the U.S. women’s national team got the first chance to play on it.

U.S. captain Lindsey Heaps gave just the assessment the grass gurus had hoped for.

"I didn’t notice it at all, so that means it was a good thing,” Heaps said.

SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles was among the last to get grass, with the sod from Washington state delivered May 13, 30 days before the stadium’s World Cup opener between the United States and Paraguay.

Not only were the turf experts charged with covering artificial surfaces, but the geographic expanse of this World Cup also meant varied climates. Monterrey, Mexico, is hotter and more humid during the summer, while BC Place is in a cooler, northern region.

As a result, they came up with two different blends. Bermuda grass will be used for the warmer climates, while perennial rye mixed with Kentucky bluegrass was installed in the cooler climates and indoor venues. The grass for both the stadiums and training sites was grown and harvested at 10 turf farms across the three host countries.

AT&T Stadium, renamed Dallas Stadium for the tournament, will host nine matches, more than any other venue.

The home of the Dallas Cowboys had its new sod installed in early May. It was grown in Colorado and shipped in refrigerated trucks to the stadium in Arlington.

There was one notable challenge: the stadium has a retractable roof that doesn’t allow sunlight to reach the field. So engineers hung pink grow lights from the ceiling to keep the grass pristine. The result is sort of Barbicore meets the World Cup.

"They’ve never been hung from the ceiling before, so basically, what’s fantastic out of that is that typically these systems have a set of wheels that they’re wheeled on in and out of the facility, and so these are able to be lifted up, and it means that we’ve just got one less thing on the field," said Ewen Hodge, the World Cup's head of pitch infrastructure.

Sorochan became fascinated with turf management when the United States last held the World Cup in 1994. A student at Michigan State, his job was to help lay the sod and mow the field on game days.

At the end of the tournament, he surveyed the grass from the top of the Pontiac Silverdome.

"We moved it in, it was inside for 30 days, and we didn’t have the grow lights, we didn’t have all the technologies that we have today with the hybrid reinforcement, so those 30 days with no sunlight, it just kind of deteriorated and went down,” Sorochan said. “It held up for those four games they had and practice sessions, but you could definitely see the wear and tear on the field, and I thought, How do we make that better?”

The grass surface and the turf management science that Sorochan and his colleagues perfected for the pitches at this World Cup means different venues can now entertain a wider variety of events.

The grass system can be installed and broken down quickly, so stadiums can host tight schedules of tractor pulls, NFL games and elite soccer matches. But the technology can also be used at the municipal level.

“We can now develop hydroponic systems where we grow grass and recycle water below, and instead of watering from above, and we can use the same water back and forth, and we can have a pitch that’s going to be more sustainable, and really a benefit to the community,” Sorochan said. “So that’s kind of some of the cool stuff coming out of this research that's just starting to explode over the next five, 10 years. It’s gonna be an unintended game changer.”

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

A worker mows the grass at Toronto Stadium, Thursday June 4, 2026, in Toronto, in preparation for World Cup soccer tournament. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)