the marine industry

[Mike15]

Did you ever hear of hedge funds. Guys are still making that money a month. [/

That is the one area of the finance industry that actually is making a comeback in terms of compensation.

However, we will see how much this group spends when Obama is taxing them back to the stone age at 60% - IMO The higher taxes are a direct hit to this group's desire to spend.

[Docked Wages]

I think the boat industry in general is having a reality check. For too many years boat builders have charged overinflated prices for boats and in many instances boat mechanics have charged excessive hourly rates.

This recession will bring many boats back to prices that are more reasonable for what you get for the money. When builders are charging $7-10k per foot for a typical fiberglass boat, that is excessive!

Builders are going to have to come to grips with the economic concept of lower profits/more sales/stay in business. Continue charging rates as they always have will put them out of business. It is a simple matter of supply and demand.

I'd gladly fork over $7K-$10K/ft for a new high pedigree production 40-50' SF. The problem is when the builders are trying to charge 2x, 3x or more... If you are talking about a 20' class boat, then I'd agree that price point is more than a little excessive!

[brokensheer]

In my micro boatbuilding mecca I see matirial prices have gone through the roof, Great suppliers are out of biz or changed the way they do biz that I can no longer buy from them. case in point the Mahogany Co. all the great sales people left . not long ago I needed some 8lb den. foam and the the supplier told me I had to buy the complete box when I only needed two sheet, that was not Mahogany but back when Jimmy keef (spel) and Ted Johnson were there you got what you needed! when you needed it

My labor hasn't gone up too much, , I like real estate if the media would say its getting better it would !

[perfectscore]

In my micro boatbuilding mecca I see matirial prices have gone through the roof, Great suppliers are out of biz or changed the way they do biz that I can no longer buy from them. case in point the Mahogany Co. all the great sales people left . not long ago I needed some 8lb den. foam and the the supplier told me I had to buy the complete box when I only needed two sheet, that was not Mahogany but back when Jimmy keef (spel) and Ted Johnson were there you got what you needed! when you needed it

My labor hasn't gone up too much, , I like real estate if the media would say its getting better it would !

you hit the nail on the hand with that one "if the media would say its getting better it would" so so true, the pavlonian dogs

[DRIFTWOOD]

Tough times for some. I heard from a friend who does biz with Hatteras and they layed off 300 plus people. It has too hurt a small town like that. I was in Merrits yard after Christmas and they have 3 86 footers in production. They have to be around $$10 million each. Richie Holwell is selling and building boats. . I know Yellowfin is busy, Contender is building. Ninety percent or more of the boats in the U.S. are made in the U.S. They will never get a bail out fom Obama for they are not union boobs, like the auto makers. Are anyboat builders union shops ?

[plyand glass]

hey driftwood,
As a former shop owner and boat builder, i don't know of ,and don't think that any shop that is "unionized", especially now with the "adjustment" that is going on in the marine industry.
The materials keep increasing,insurance and the associated cost of doing business keeps going up and the employee base keeps shrinking because you cannot pay competitive wages.
Most of the bigger builders seem to be holding their own because of larger new builds , the shops building 30' to 55' boats are few and far because of the glut of new/used repos the banks own that are for sale.
I think some of the people that want new , seem to want to "beat down" the builder on costs that the builder doesnt have control over in the first place.
Just walk into some of the shops and try to see how many legals are employed , not saying it's a bad thing, it's just that most kids off the street don't want to do "dirty work" that is involved in the boat building industry and the builder cant afford to pay big wages to "get it out the door".
Just my 2 cents worth! what do you other builders think?

[worldcat lemon]

The government, at least North Carolina, has grants that they give to businesses who operate and bring jobs to local economies, such as boat building.

World Cat boats got a $130,000 grant from N.C. when they bought Glacier Bay boats. The grant was sponsored by Senator Clark Jenkins who lives in Tarboro, which happens to be where World Cat is headquartered. Although to me it seems a conflict of interest for a state senator to sponsor a grant for a private business especially from his own voting precinct,but I guess it is done this way. I bet it also helps Senator Jenkins re-election bid somewhat too.

Besides, we all know that our politicians in Washington DC would ever make any kind of deals behind closed doors, or do anything that appears to be illegal in politics right? Not our US politicians!

Other boat builders should call Andrew Brown at WC to see how he managed to work out this nice little bailout grant, and they could follow suit. Especially if they are Obama supporters like Mr. Brown claims to be!

My .02 cents