Boat Line Riders, Hotel Visitors Both Down as Wet Days Go on

By JONATHAN BURKE

Starting with the boats, Island businesses are feeling the pinch of
the wet and chilly weather of this spring.

This May, according to the Steamship Authority, there were 201,129
passenger trips to the Vineyard from Woods Hole, down 5.4 per cent from
last year's 212,646. For the first two weeks of June, passenger
trips were off 6.4 per cent, from 109,820 to 102,755.

And the impact of those missing passengers aboard the steamships
ripples out across Island businesses.

Bob Breath, who operates Martha's Bike Rentals at Five
Corners, said, "It's definitely off. There's no doubt
about that . . . The forecasters are killing us."

Mr. Breath said people were canceling trips because of seven-day
forecasts which showed weekend rain. At least one day on most weekends
has been nice, he said; still, there have been 11 wet weekends out of
the past 12.

And this week may prove no better.

The Weather Channel's long-range forecast for this week
predicts partly cloudy skies through Saturday; rain showers due Sunday.
Temperatures will range from daytime highs of 58 early in the week to a
high of 77 expected Friday.

Island hotels also report an impact.

"Our occupancy for June is off about 7 per cent from last year
and it seems to be very much weather-related. Every year in the past,
it's gone up," said Joe Badot, manager of the 90-room
Harborside. "What we're noticing is that people wait until
the very last minute to make a reservation, and what we notice is that,
because of the weather, many times they're deciding not to
come."

"We can absorb this, but if it continues like this for the
rest of the season it's going to be very difficult," said
Mr. Badot.

For Mark Luce, manager of the Dockside Inn and the Oak House, 32
rooms combined, weekends have been okay because they are booked far in
advance and there is a 21-day cancellation policy.

"They come down and in spite of the weather they have a good
time," he said. But, he said, mid-week traffic, more spontaneous,
is off.

"It all starts with us. Because if people don't stay,
they don't buy the ice cream, they don't buy the T-shirts,
they don't rent the mopeds," he said.

Steve Ruley, owner and manager of the Edgartown Dairy Queen, said,
"It's tough. It's tough for everybody on the street.
You can definitely tell the rain days. It's like two different
worlds ... I have no indoor seating."

Giordano's, the popular family style pizzeria and Italian
eatery in Oak Bluffs, is off about five percent.

"Things are starting to pick up. With all the rain on the
weekends, we've definitely been down a little bit ... I have no
doubt as of the 4th of July we'll be rocking for nine
weeks," said Carl Giordano.

Businesses that rely on weekend warriors in their power boats may be
the hardest hit.

Terry McCarthy, owner of the Dockside Marketplace and Marina on Oak
Bluffs harbor, said his business was off 80 per cent for June.

"We had zero Memorial Day weekend and we've had (other)
zero weekends. In June, boaters tend to come down Friday, Saturday,
Sunday," he said. Fortunately, the shoulder season only makes up
15 per cent of Mr. McCarthy's bottom line, he said.

Though it has been felt, the weather's impact has not yet
spoiled the summer. The Oak Bluffs Harbor Festival went off on Saturday,
in spite of rain.

"People did come in, notwithstanding the nasty weather. They
came out and they shopped," said Mr. McCarthy, chairman of the
event.

He did, however, draft a letter to exhibitors at the festival,
reminding them that there are no refunds on application fees. The event,
he said, is not a profit-making one, and bands, supplies, advertising
and administrative costs must be paid rain or shine. "This is the
first time in 12 years that the weather was so miserable and the rain
date (which would have been Sunday) was much worse," Mr. McCarthy
said in his letter. "We did our best to make it happen instead of
canceling all together."

And the Chilmark Flea Market is gearing up to open Wednesday. One of
the parking lot areas is closed and some of the vendors have been
rerouted to their spaces.

Over the last 12 years, according to Phyllis Conway, coordinator of
the flea market, most summers have seen no more than one rainout of the
biweekly event.

Mr. Breath of Martha's Bike Rentals likened the shoulder
season to the gravy of a meal, with July and August the meat."If
it was July and August it would be awful. As far as the spring being
off, we can chew that, because we know the summer is there," said
Mr. Breath.