By Jay Lloyd

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Power boaters may feel squeezed by stratospheric fuel prices, but it won’t keep them off the water.

Just think about a cruising machine that burns 20 gallons of gas an hour, at over $4 a gallon.  Many power boats do.

“We don’t give up boating,” says Dave Ellison, a Chesapeake Bay boater who’s looking at savings in other areas to offset the fuel bite.

“Anchoring out is an option,” he tells KYW Newsradio.  Anchoring in the many pristine coves and creeks for an overnight stay is free.  It will be a viable alternative this season to heading for a destination marina, where fees and restaurants burn into the boating dollar.

Other boaters have different strategies.  Bernie Richards and his colleagues will employ the boat buddy system.

“We’ll bundle up in one boat rather than taking our own,” he explains.  “It will cut the price in half, because everyone will pay half the fuel.”

Some boats are left home, but everybody gets to cruise. It’s simply a matter of seaconomics.

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