Anyone who has wandered along the North Shore riverside before a Pirates game or event at Heinz Field might think Pittsburgh boaters are content with short trips that keep them comfortably in their own backyard. Kenny Chesney's concert last month at the stadium drew more than 100 houseboats, cruisers and yachts to the waterfront.

But there are also boaters like George Bonnar. The Bethel Park consultant spends most of his summer weekends on the 31-foot Doral Intrigue express cruiser he bought four years ago and docks at Greene Cove Yacht Club in Millsboro, Greene County. Some of the time is spent swimming or fishing on Ten Mile Creek or the Upper Monongahela, where after dropping anchor he "raft ups" with other boaters or takes a spin on a personal water craft. And at least one night a week, Bonnar says, he and his wife, Michelle, sleep on board.

"It's mandatory," he says.

Pittsburgh is growing into a long-distance boating town. On the Allegheny River, eight locks and dams provide 72 miles of navigation from the Point north to above East Brady in Armstrong County. Nine locks and dams on the Monongahela River get boaters 128.7 miles upriver to just above Fairmont, W.Va. From the Point, boaters can travel 981 miles down the Ohio River to Cairo, Ill. Turn to port and it's about 1,000 miles downstream on the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. Turn to stern and motor up the Missouri and Illinois rivers, through a canal to the Great Lakes and down the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Atlantic Ocean.

Last week, the Bonnars made a modest 68-mile trek down the Mon to Riverfront Park on the North Shore to attend yesterday's 2009 Rockin' the River Boaters' Bash for Charity, sponsored by BoatPittsburgh and Fox Chapel Marine. Pittsburgh is a nautical destination the pair pursues several times a year, despite the journey gobbling up almost 140 gallons of fuel mixture and taking anywhere from 4 to 12 hours, depending on how long it takes to lock through four sets of locks and dams.

"It's a blast," says Bonnar.

Ray McDonald, a retired auto dealer who lives in Valencia, likes to boat longer distances. He and his wife, Carol, have taken their 41-foot Silverton Flybridge Motor-yacht as far away as Louisville, Ky., and Cincinnati. They've also traveled many times to Marietta, Ohio, a "great" boating destination that takes three short days or two long days from their slip at Fox Chapel Marine.

Much of the appeal is in simply relaxing on the water, especially the stretches when there's not a lot of marine traffic, says McDonald. But they also like the changing scenery a long trip affords.

"You go through metropolitan cities, of course," says McDonald, who just got back from a nine-day boat trip that included visits to the marinas at Station Square and Greene Cove. "But you also spend days in desolation where you don't see buildings or people or even have cell service. We never get tired of it."

A river rat for more than 30 years, McDonald also does boat deliveries for the marina's snowbirds who winter in Florida. Last month, he piloted a 65-foot yacht from Fort Lauderdale to Pittsburgh, a trip that took 31 days and found him cruising not just in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico but the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers.

"And then it was just 925 miles up the Ohio to Pittsburgh," he says.

Higher gas prices in 2007-2008 led to a decline in transient boater traffic along the East Coast, according to a recent survey by Applied Technology and Management. Even so, Pittsburgh remains a popular destination for boaters

Dave Gregory, general manager of Washington's Landing Marina on the Allegheny River, says his facility gets boaters from out of state every weekend, and not just for special events like the Chesney concert or Fourth of July fireworks. Transients are also eager to take advantage of all the activities on the 24.1 miles of navigable waterways in The Pittsburgh Pool, which stretches upriver 6.9 miles above the Point to Lock & Dam No. 2 on the Allegheny River at Sharpsburg; 11 miles upstream to Lock & Dam No. 2 on the Monongahela River at Braddock; and 6.2 miles downstream on the Ohio River to the Emsworth Locks and Dams.

On the Mon, for example, boaters can anchor off shore and take in a concert at The Chevrolet Amphitheatre, tie up to a courtesy dock at Sandcastle Water Park, or dock at Station Square for an afternoon of shopping and dining. On the Allegheny, wall dockage at PNC Park and Heinz Field gives easy access to sporting events and the Carnegie Science Center, and more than a dozen nearby restaurants and bars. On the Ohio, there's Paradise Beach at Neville Island.

Gregory says, "There's just so much to do."

Boaters enjoy free passage through 23 locks and dams on the Allegheny, Mon and Ohio rivers. Commercial traffic has priority, of course -- the Port of Pittsburgh is the second busiest inland port and 17th busiest port of any kind in the U.S. But anyone who has ever had to pony up $20-plus for the trip to Philadelphia via the Pennsylvania Turnpike can appreciate being able to explore more than 328 miles of navigable waterways in the Pittsburgh district for nary a penny, except for the cost of gas. And many of the tie-ups along the way are free, too.

If you have the time and energy, it's possible to boat the 1,881 river miles to New Orleans via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and from there motor to Mobile, Ala., or Panama City, Fla.

Or, you can follow in Irvin Kaufmann's wide wake and go northwest toward Canada. Two summers ago, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra cellist traveled from Mount Clemens, Mich., just north of Detroit, to a slip at Silky's Crows Nest in Sharpsburg in an antique, 46-foot aluminum Chris Craft Roamer he had purchased and plans to restore. The first half of the 2,250-mile cruise took him through Lakes St. Clair, Huron and Michigan and included stops in Mackinac Island, Green Bay and Racine, Wis., and Chicago; the second part of the journey found him navigating the Chicago, Des Plaines, Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio and (finally!) Allegheny rivers.

It would have been easier, and not that much more expensive, for the musician to pay someone to haul the 20-ton boat to Pittsburgh for him (the trip took 2,800 gallons of diesel fuel, plus nightly marina costs). But what fun is there in that? Kaufmann, after all, has been driving boats since he was 5 years old and over the years has taken many long-distance cruises. What was one more?

"It was great," he says. "Just being on the water makes me happy."