SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONSThe findings of this study suggest that a boater's reaction to any given set of boating conditions will be a function of his proximity to the conditions. From afar, people will wax poetic on the imagery of boats on the horizon and, perhaps, find a sense of security in discovering that the water is indeed safe. Up close, boaters become considerably more apprehensive as the number of boats increases and as the complexity of boat distribution and activity and directional mixing increases.The inverse nature of this distance decay function between boat density and. perceived satisfaction presents an interesting paradox for the boating resource manager. The strongly negative reaction to those conditions which do not permit the maintenance of a boat space of .87 to 1.15 hectares per boat suggests that management efforts might best be concentrated on those constricted areas of a water surface where these violations are likely to occur. Marina and launch ramp siting decisions could then be evaluated not so much on the effect they will have on adding more boats to the total water surface, but rather on the effect they will have on maintaining minimum boat space in narrow channels and other physiographically and/or culturally limited water areas.