Mary, I heard once from one of our natural resources officers that Franklin County (Columbus, OH) had one of the highest boats per capita ratios in the US... something like in the top 3. That is for a city with two rivers with just a handful of boats on them. There is a parade of boat trailers heading north, south and east every weekend. When it is nice weather, people want to take every advantage of the weather and of course a boat is a way to do that. I agree with your assesment of the northern climate folks.