Naples resident Frank White took a long walk to the end of a long pier, then stretched out as his black lab, Argos, looked out over Long Lake.

On the Thursday after Labor Day, White was enjoying an uncluttered morning in a town where the clutter of visitors can make or break a season for many merchants.

The vagaries and variables are numerous when considering a season boom, bust or somewhere in between, and tabulations on the summer of 2007 are still being made.

Steve Lyons, director of marketing for the Maine Office of Tourism, said figures for restaurant and lodging taxes are available only through July right now, but his indicators such as Maine Turnpike toll receipts, state park visits and word from inn and lodging associations indicate a successful summer.

“People may have been coming through the toll booths, but they weren’t coming up here,” said Arlene Stetson, owner of the Augustus Bove House, a bed and breakfast just off the Naples causeway on Route 114.

A rise in gas prices before Memorial Day, having the Fourth of July fall in the middle of the week and the start of school coming before Labor Day combined for some unfavorable conditions for the tourist season, but restaurant, inn and marina owners who were asked concluded whatever decreases in business that may have occurred were generally slight.

A mid-week holiday, such as Independence Day was this year, can prevent families from staying through the week, and observers said the crowd for the fireworks was down this year. Yet the second annual blues festival was a hit, with music spread throughout town on the village green and local restaurants June 16, providing an early economic boost.

Stetson and her husband David have owned the inn for 28 years, depending largely on return business and word-of-mouth referrals from customers to others for their trade.

The inn guestbook shows visitors from as far away as Japan visited in the summer, but Stetson said many of the guests came as couples sharing vehicles and made day trips throughout the area, meaning at least some of their money was not spent in town.

Across the causeway, the Keens have owned Bayview Cabins for 10 years. Their cabins look over Brandy Pond, they offer boat slips for guests, but that allure seemed diminished this year as the average stays by guests were shorter.

Fran Keen said the season, which begins in earnest in mid-June was a busy one, but wondered if gas prices, which did level off, were still so high that guests stayed for shorter periods and spent less in restaurants.

“It’s too soon to say on the season totals,” Keen said. “Drop-ins are always a factor.”

Those drop-ins, comprised of retired couples taking a vacation or European visitors may not help the Causeway Marina, where Shauna Palanza said the season was definitely a weaker one this year.

Gas prices for boats and low lake levels making it difficult for boaters to reach Sebago Lake from Brandy Pond added to the hardships of a holiday in the middle of the week and an early start to the school year. Ultimately, Palanza said rentals decreased while the marina saw an increase in shipping boats to other areas for owners. While the service may have augmented the company’s bottom line, it again showed how money that could be spent on boating accessories or in local restaurants at the end of the day could easily flow out of town.

Low water levels were less of a problem for Nick Moore and Richard Mason, who bought RAD Jet Ski Rentals from Causeway Marina two years ago. They were left with only the weather to fret about. Stationed between the town dock and Songo River Queen II, the business is well situated for families walking by, and Moore said he worked plenty of 70-hour weeks as business peaked through July and August.

Yet the peak dropped sharply at the end of August as chillier weather and a return to the classroom cut down on family visits. The prospects of a warm spell last weekend were not enough to keep them from closing down last Thursday.

Nowhere was the unpredictability more evident than at the Freedom Cafa, where owners Ali Leen, Brian Heyworth and Darryl Murray assumed ownership of the town landmark in May.

“Every time we tried to predict something, it didn’t go,” Heyworth said. “Be prepared is what we learned.”

All three are restaurant veterans, and Leen has also worked hard to establish a convenience store serving breakfast as they seek a customer base beyond the tourist trade. While pleased at the response so far, some variables have been vexing.

Heyworth cited hot days when it seemed no one wanted to come off the water combining with fuel costs preventing other spending as detriments to the profit margin. Conversely, a stretch of rainy weather could pack the house as families sought to get out of the cottages or homes they rented.

Even as he enjoyed a peaceful morning, Wright kept the summer season in perspective.

“You may wait 15 or 20 minutes on the causeway,” Wright said, “but it’s not like it is L.A.”

Frank White and his dog Argos enjoy a quiet moment by Long Lake in Naples last week. The towns quieted after Labor Day, but local merchants still hope visitors and workers at the Fryeburg Fair and the Columbus Day weekend will extend the tourist season.