Sarasota Bay, Florida, is situated on the southwest coast of Florida south of Tampa Bay (figure 1.1). It is ideal for studying recreational boat traffic. It is a microcosm of Florida's coastal embayments, their reliance on marine tourism, and reliance on recreational use of marine resources (Antonini and Box, 1996). Its conversion from a pristine area to an ``urban sea'' is occurring at a rate similar to the entire Florida coast (Roat et al., 1993). It is at a somewhat intermediate state of development, more urbanized than many parts of the coast but significantly less so than the state's southeast Gold Coast or neighboring Tampa Bay. Urbanization has created many threats to the bay's health (Roat and Alderson, 1990), though the present economic vitality of the region is dependent on the quality of environmental conditions.