State of the pleasure boat cruising economy

[C-SIDE]

I fear this is only the beginning. From an economic prespective, what is there to get excited about: Federal government is broke, a ton of state and local governments are broke, entitlements going up, all the population growth is at the lower-economic/lower education levels, which means more wealth transfer in the future. In short, taxes will rise and wage growth will decrease as productivity goes down. Even if ones wages do increase more than inflation, then any additional monies will go to ever higher taxes.


I'm short America and that is a sad fact :smt089

 

[mistercomputerman]

I was on the way home from Atlantic City and these two big ole 480DBs went flying by me at about a thousand miles an hour burning fuel to beat the band. Looked like they were having a drag race to somewhere.

They didn't seem too worried about the economy...

 

[mistercomputerman]

When I finally got into Baltimore Inner Harbor, there they were again, just pulling into the marina:

 

[Four Suns]

Damn... those are some good lookin' boats.

When I finally got into Baltimore Inner Harbor, there they were again, just pulling into the marina:

Actually, I think by the time we were pulling into our slips, we had already stopped off at another marina, grabbed some dinner and went to a movie.... then you showed up.

 

[Tonka Boater]

This is purely anecdotal but I know that a lot of people sold (or lost) their boats during the worst part of the downturn and haven't returned. Some people that I know decided to stay out of boating and have found new hobbies and others bought inexpensive smaller boats and spend their weekends trailering.

My boating app is at best a micro-microcosm of the boating industry but I can say that my sales have remained steady for the past 16 months. So steady that I can predict with 99% certainty what my sales will be tomorrow before getting the report. I have a Mac app that tracks my sales and my graph is literally a straight line. The only time that it moves is when I get a major press-mention -- then it spikes for 3 days and then it's back to normal. I have no idea what this means to the boating industry at large but it seems people are still boating and buying i-devices.

 

[AKBASSKING]

It seems to be the same on the Columbia River. More smaller boats and things I think are boats are out. The bigger boats if you see them are not on step, rather just going slow. The price of fuel, in my opinion is the one big driving factor in this country. Want economic recovery, bring the cost of fuel down.

This last weekend cost me over $400 in fuel. If I had taken my 20' river boat it would have cost me $45. So the price of fuel is a big big factor.

 

[Iprof]

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.

Our local Sea Ray dealer has new 2009's in stock the Sea Ray Bayliner dealer over by Peterborough has a lot of 2010 and a 2009 305 that I thought about buying at the boat show in 2009. They turned down my offer which was 20 grand less than the show price, it is now 5 grand less than I offered, wonder how much they made sitting on it for 2 years :grin:.
I heard from friends of mine that are right now in the north channel, it is dead up there, the Sportsman Inn had 6 boats there and they have 200 transient slips, no season rentals. There were a week in the Bai Fine and only 1 boat came in, a week in Covered Portage Cove 5 boats. I would be there now but because of the wedding this summer and 4 heart attacks it made it impossible. We will be going north next summer for 7 weeks again, the fuel cost is the cheapest part of the trip if you work it out per day.

This started way back in 2008 and the end is not near. I have an offer in on a place in Florida it's a foreclosure and the bank keeps changing the dead line on the bids. I found out that for the first 4 months of bids I was the only bidder, if they don't do something by the first week in August I will withdraw my offer and look for another property. I use a search program call Zillow com and you can look at the foreclosure rate in the states, Florida is 1 in 600 homes are in foreclosure, scary.

We are headed out on the boat today for the second time this year, sure have missed it.

Ken

 

[carterchapman]

Great picture!

Greg - were you tabbed down - and Gary - were you tabbed up?

I was on the way home from Atlantic City and these two big ole 480DBs went flying by me at about a thousand miles an hour burning fuel to beat the band. Looked like they were having a drag race to somewhere.

They didn't seem too worried about the economy...

View attachment 20733

 

[rcknecht]

At Aquapolusa this Saturday, I was talking the MM regional VP and he told me they had there best June ever... Mostly Brokerage and Maintenance, but it may be starting to turn around. I was packed this past Sat at the raft up here on NJ shore... Must have been close to 2,000 boats...

 

[Alex F]

I was on the way home from Atlantic City and these two big ole 480DBs went flying by me at about a thousand miles an hour burning fuel to beat the band. Looked like they were having a drag race to somewhere.

They didn't seem too worried about the economy...

View attachment 20733

That's a calendar photo. Nice job, Rick.

Great picture!

Greg - were you tabbed down - and Gary - were you tabbed up?

Looks like Gary's 4 extra antennas weight more than Greg's dinghy....LOL

 

[C-SIDE]

This is purely anecdotal but I know that a lot of people sold (or lost) their boats during the worst part of the downturn and haven't returned. Some people that I know decided to stay out of boating and have found new hobbies and others bought inexpensive smaller boats and spend their weekends trailering.


I sold and now I'm an avid beach go'er. Paying to park at beach $10-$15 vs. boat payment, slip, winterization, maint. **** that breaks, gas, insurance, etc.... Yeah I miss her, but I do not miss the cash burn, and I was never one that lived paycheck to paycheck. Plenty of cash and sufficient income, but I'm not positive on the future. Maybe I'm to pessimistic, but I can't get in trouble from being too conservative

 

[1956olds]

We were in tawas the week before the 4th and there were about 20 boats at the state docks,last year they were almost full at the same time.A guy that stays there all season on his 53 hatteras sport fisher had just brought a buddies 500 blue hulled sundancer up from baycity and it has just been listed for sale,man that is a georgeous boat.

 

[Gunn]

Was at a local marina just yesterday and had the same thoughts about how empty it was with boats in slips. I'd say the marina was only 25% full, at best. I wondered what happened to them all. In years past, the marina was pretty full; no one took their boats out but at least they were in the slip.

Or maybe it could be that the marina piers are falling apart...

 

[Gofirstclass]

Our local economy has been pretty healthy throughout this past 3-4 years but even with that it's obvious that boating is down. The local small boat dealer didn't order many boats for this year and has been lucky in selling most of them. The July 4th fireworks on the river was well attended as always, and weekends on the river seem to be busy, but not as busy as usual.

I'm not sure it's the increased cost of putting gas in the boat that's keeping people off the water as much as what the overall effect on a family's budget the increased gas is having. If it's a decision between groceries or doing recreational things, groceries will almost always win.

The street price of gas here has dropped from $4 (regular grade) to around $3.60. Most people are pretty happy about that, but I'm still pisssed because it's still way more than it was last year and way more than it should be.

 

[northern]

We went out from mid May to mid July. There are less boats and the marinas are not full. Fuel was all over the place. The marinas that were lower said buisness was good ones that were higher were not doing well. We now phone and ask the price of fuel before we fill up, difference can be as much as 25 cent a liter ($1/gal)when you take 600 to 800 liters at a time it makes a difference. Put 130 hours on the boat and spent $3,700 on fuel. We normally would have run more but it rained most of the time.

 

[CJ Martin]

Was at a local marina just yesterday and had the same thoughts and so how empty it was with boats in slips. I'd say the marina was only 25% full, at best. I wondered what happened to them all. In years past, the marina was pretty full; no one took their boats out but at least they were in the slip.

Or maybe it could be that the marina piers are falling apart...

Let me guess - Dennis Point Mar...I mean St Mary's Yachting Center?

-CJ

 

[C-SIDE]

You are welcome to come to Michigan City and hang out with us anytime. I'll even let you chip in for fuel so that you aren't tempted to buy again!

Now that's not a bad deal. Get to hang out with cool boat people, hop a ride on their boat, pay $240 for gas (assume 60 gallons x$4 for a days worth of boating) then go home with no future boat commitments. Sold - when's the charter? :lol:

 

[Pseudomind]

This is purely anecdotal but I know that a lot of people sold (or lost) their boats during the worst part of the downturn and haven't returned. Some people that I know decided to stay out of boating and have found new hobbies and others bought inexpensive smaller boats and spend their weekends trailering.

I sold and now I'm an avid beach go'er. Paying to park at beach $10-$15 vs. boat payment, slip, winterization, maint. **** that breaks, gas, insurance, etc.... Yeah I miss her, but I do not miss the cash burn, and I was never one that lived paycheck to paycheck. Plenty of cash and sufficient income, but I'm not positive on the future. Maybe I'm to pessimistic, but I can't get in trouble from being too conservative

I think we have two similar but different quotes mixed together, it should be fixed.

I believe Tonka Boater still has his boat and C-side sold his?

 

[Tonka Boater]

I think we have two similar but different quotes mixed together, it should be fixed.

I believe Tonka Boater still has his boat and C-side sold his?

Correct, I have not sold. I will sell for the right price though. Last year I was looking to downsize but this year I want something bigger.

 

[CV-23]

Our docks are full but less boating going on....my 454 is doing it's part to keep the Gas Dock in business. Sales are down a bit this year so far as far as gallons sold per weekend. The bad May/early June weather did not help either, Mike.