State of the pleasure boat cruising economy

Four Suns

Four Suns

Not a pot stirrer
TECHNICAL Contributor
Oct 4, 2006
10,533
Williamsburg, VA
Boat Info
2003 480 DB
Engines
QSM-11 Diesels
We got back last week from a quick 2 week trip from SE Virginia up to the western end of LI Sound. The highlight was 5 days in the middle in NYC with Broadway and a few other cool things there.

It was amazing to me how empty the marinas were everywhere we went. A few years ago, even right after the crash, there weren't many boats out but the marinas were still relatively full up that way. You had to make reservations at the "hot spots" months in advance. This year, for the 4th of July we were in Liberty Landing Marina and it was about 3/4 full. Absolutely amazing. Where have the boats actually gone? They on the hard somewhere? In a repo's yard?

Times are so tough that at the crab house in Rock Hall, which is normally packed, was pretty much empty the week before the 4th. I've been to Rock Hall a few times and the week before the 4th is usually a zoo... this year... ghost town. It was so bad that I had one of these fruity sissy boy beers with an orange in it:

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The next time I ordered... I asked for "two orange slices." This is what I got:

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I don't even like oranges in my beer... but wow..

It seems the "cruising economy" has gone from bad to worse. I have to wonder how many stores and such will make it. I know when we were in Essex, CT, several of the stores had been vacated... Very sad.
 
........"Who the hell does he think he is? Asking for two orange slices. These guys float in here acting like they own the freakin place. They order our dock hands around. They think everything should be working just perfectly. Like we are just waiting on them to use everything from power stations to water hoses."

"Two slices! What does he think, these things grow on trees?"
 
Gary, YOU had a sissy girl drink ??. I'm in shock over that one !!. :wow:
 
When we were at Essex Island Marina, I talked to one of the workers there and he said it was really slow this year. Slower than last year and the year before. I guess it's PC to vilify the people who have built businesses around this industry as they "cater to the rich" and deserve to go out of business.
 
We just finished 11 days on south Lake Michigan. The marina we based out of has 450 filled slips out of 1000+. Dock carts were not hard to get. We saw several vessels at events and near marinas but cruising between we saw few boats, even in ideal waters and very hot temperatures. The marina staff said that the launch hosted mostly wave runners in contrast to trailer boats a few years ago. Friends at the marinas did not want to go out even 20 miles or so miles due to fuel costs. I guess that is a factor for us too as we would rather trailer to a location for $200 than go by boat for $1000. It is sad, but quite nice for us out on vacation. Drill baby drill!!! MM
 
FYI the situation is just the same over here! The boat community seems dead. People are using their boats just for the week end trying to burn as little fuel as they can. Even charter companies have their sailboats unrented. Slips at the islands are almost empty... sad!
 
Where I boat, it's been busy. The two major marinas in the area (Aqua Yacht and Grande Harbor) have a handful of open slips, but that's it. Getting a table at the marina restaurant on the weekend means waiting in line. I don't know why it's different, but I'd hazard a guess that boating on an inland lake down South is probably a lot cheaper than coastal boating.
 
mddickens said:
Where I boat, it's been busy. The two major marinas in the area (Aqua Yacht and Grande Harbor) have a handful of open slips, but that's it. Getting a table at the marina restaurant on the weekend means waiting in line. I don't know why it's different, but I'd hazard a guess that boating on an inland lake down South is probably a lot cheaper than coastal boating.
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+1 Very full at where we are.......Restaurant line also at the marina......
 
Our marina stepped up their amenities this year to try and attract cruisers and keep the locals coming back next year. Lot less boats heading out on the weekends, no wait at the fuel dock, mooring fields that used to be packed are half full, and I could be wrong but I even think there are a lot less crab pots out. Getting work done on the boat is really hard now, half the shops are gone and the ones that are still open have a month waiting list.
 
Four Suns said:
...It seems the "cruising economy" has gone from bad to worse. I have to wonder how many stores and such will make it. I know when we were in Essex, CT, several of the stores had been vacated... Very sad.
Click to expand...

Gery, when we went to Essex in the last week of June the first question we asked was where's everyone? The town was empty. The marina staff manager told us that it's due to the last two days of school. It doesn't sound like much have changed, based on your report.

I was also expecting more crowds at Mystic. But, at least there was some live there.

I think it's not a good judgement of a place when transieting only for couple of days during the week. Most likelly things are a bit different during the weekend, but in any event if the slips are empty even weekend won't change it that much.

We're paying close to a dollar more at the pumps compare to last year. This is 100% creates major impact on everything.
 
Turtlesboat said:
... Getting work done on the boat is really hard now, half the shops are gone and the ones that are still open have a month waiting list.
Click to expand...

I called for KVH service and have been placed on 4-6 weeks waiting list for two authorised dealers.
 
fuel was a consideration before buying my 240
at this point we trailer where ever we go but with tow fuel, boat fuel, launch fees and all the other misc things
a day run can be $150-$200 easily.
and this is just to putt around a small lake for a day or 2 ...I can't imagine a week or 2 down the coast on on the great lakes
Guess I need a better paying job...and more vacation

but BY GOD !!! no one will EVER shortcut the oranges in my beer !!!!
(like I would ever drink some flu-flu beer with oranges in it) lol
 
Somewhat the same here at Prairie Harbor which is a private dockuminium assoc. Since all the slips are owned by individuals or the assoc. itself, I was surprised at the 10 empty slips or so on my dock alone. I went out yesterday by myself and I think I was the largest boat to leave the marina. The only craft I saw coming or going were under 28', waverunners or dingies. I filled up 3 months ago and still have 2/3's of my tanks left and have only been able to put 9 hours on the boat due to such poor weather until 3 weeks ago.
 
We have been going out salmon fishing about 4 days a week since the 1st our marina is inside storage they say it's the slowest it's ever been here and the first time they have any racks left for the summer. During the week we might see 3 or 4 boats out weekends maybe 20 you can dock at any restaurant without reservations which is very unusal we've been eating at a lot of those restaurants for years by car always needed a reservation. The weather here has been so crappy we have only had 3 days above 80 either rain or cloudy while the rest of the country is frying.
 
One thing I observe where we boat is that big boats are not selling at all. There appears to be decent selling activity in the smaller runabouts and can boats, but almost none on the cruisers. Our local Sea Ray dealer has no 2011 Sundancers or Sedan Bridges on his dock, because he still has a number of 2010 Sundancers and one 2010 390 Sedan Bridge. The brokers have a full contingent of larger boats for sale as well. No question, if you have the money, now's (or perhaps in the fall) a good time to drive a hard deal.
 
One of the guys on my dock made a comment this weekend how there hasn’t been many Mega Yacht visiting our marina this year.
 
I haven't done any traveling outside my little world this year (aka Manasquan, Metedaconk, and Barnegat Bay) but I think it's more crowded now than it's been in years!
 
Yep, interesting times we are in? The main marina on lake Chatuge is only about 75% full, before there was always a waiting list to get a slip.
 
Where we boat on Lake Superior there never is much activity but now it seems even a little less, even the small boat activity inland on the canal is less. I've made a couple longer runs where I haven't seen another boat on the water all day long. It seems the reason runs a little deeper than just the high price of fuel.
 
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