the marine industry

[brokensheer]

Please post your take on what things appear to be doing in your marina (neck of the woods) I have been to a few fishing shows, flea markets and the attendance is as large as it has ever been! I guess we will see when the bite is on!

[jawz12]

i'm holding my own...i know other guys in the service biz of the industry,they're dead,as in,dead...i don't know about sales ?? i've got a pretty good back up of work still,so,i'm not complaining...
as far as boat shows are concerned,i heard the ac show was dead...

[Capt.Troy Crane]

Interesting topic,

here on the Outer Banks the boat building, as everyone knows, is the slowest in recent memory. Yes, there are a few boats being built and an order or two coming in here and there, but just by a couple of builders.

There is and always will be, a little refurb and repair work but there are far more folks to do it than there are jobs.

The marina I call home, Pirates Cove, which is part charter and the majority private owned slips is dead as a hammer. I have never seen so many slips empty or so few transient boats coming through.

As far as shows go, I was at the annual Cabelas show up in Pa. two weeks ago, I have been doing this show for four years and this year they set an all time store record for sales in the fishing department alone on a Saturday.
This is the largest store in there chain and they have seen three, million dollar days in sales since they opened and two of them were back to back weekends, all in the past three years, so go figure.

I am holding my own, but after a rough ass winter of chasing Stripe Bass, myself and a lot of others are banking on a good Spring and Summer season.
I have seen a few boats go to auction out of the charter fleet and that, in itself is disturbing.
I take it one day at a time and count my blessings, because when I think I have it bad, I don't have to look very far to see someone who is in worse shape than myself.

Hoping and praying for the best and still waiting on that CHANGE to come.

Good luck to all,
Troy

[plyand glass]

hey bo,
Was certantly a pleasure talking with you tuesday,great to put a face with a name. As i read some of the replies to your post and as a prior boatbuilder and now a "repair industry" i wonder when the tailspin is going to stop, but i guess i cannot complain because i have some small jobs that seem to keep coming in.
What i seem to hear most is that most shops or yards are doing a lot of quotes and/or bids and people are kind of picking and choosing what work they want done , not some of the things that NEED done and are quibbling the labor rate and hours. materials are steady increasing so the labor takes a hit to get the work .
Wish i could get a contract for a new build , but for that to happen i would need to get in the long line behind all the other builders that are surviving by doing repairs or paint or whatever to keep their doors open.
God bless the guys down in Wanchese or the other builders further south that have a family to feed and like most of us have bills to pay,just wish this RECESSION would endor maybe they could come up with a stimulus package for the marine industry, hell , they bailed out the auto industry and the banks, why can't we be next? oh well, my 2 cents worth.
again certainly a pleasure Bo and don't be a stranger! great post , let's keep it going guys!

[jawz12]

hey bo,
Was certantly a pleasure talking with you tuesday,great to put a face with a name. As i read some of the replies to your post and as a prior boatbuilder and now a "repair industry" i wonder when the tailspin is going to stop, but i guess i cannot complain because i have some small jobs that seem to keep coming in.
What i seem to hear most is that most shops or yards are doing a lot of quotes and/or bids and people are kind of picking and choosing what work they want done , not some of the things that NEED done and are quibbling the labor rate and hours. materials are steady increasing so the labor takes a hit to get the work .
Wish i could get a contract for a new build , but for that to happen i would need to get in the long line behind all the other builders that are surviving by doing repairs or paint or whatever to keep their doors open.
God bless the guys down in Wanchese or the other builders further south that have a family to feed and like most of us have bills to pay,just wish this RECESSION would endor maybe they could come up with a stimulus package for the marine industry, hell , they bailed out the auto industry and the banks, why can't we be next? oh well, my 2 cents worth.
again certainly a pleasure Bo and don't be a stranger! great post , let's keep it going guys!

real true here...i gave an estimate for replacing a fuel tank recently,the deck needed to be cut up-big job...owner of the boat,offered me half of the estimate,to complete the entire job...

[marlineer]

Depends on what Your product is...in general, sales still are below par. Everyone in the market for a boat will use the economy blues to thier advantage. I'm not saying thats wrong...I'm just sayin'. If You want to make a million dollars in the marine biz, start with 2 million!

[jawz12]

Depends on what Your product is...in general, sales still are below par. Everyone in the market for a boat will use the economy blues to thier advantage. I'm not saying thats wrong...I'm just sayin'. If You want to make a million dollars in the marine biz, start with 2 million!

man !! how true is that big mike !!

[Mike15]

Depends on what Your product is...in general, sales still are below par. Everyone in the market for a boat will use the economy blues to thier advantage. I'm not saying thats wrong...I'm just sayin'. If You want to make a million dollars in the marine biz, start with 2 million!

Boats are depreciating assets and always will be

Given that we just went through the worst asset bubble and burst in the history of this country isnt helping things either. The price of all those boats that hit the market 5 to 10 years ago were artificially inflated by easy and overplentiful credit.

[Docked Wages]

Boats are depreciating assets and always will be

Given that we just went through the worst asset bubble and burst in the history of this country isnt helping things either. The price of all those boats that hit the market 5 to 10 years ago were artificially inflated by easy and overplentiful credit.

So does that mean that prices are coming back to reality sometime soon? I mean, who honestly has the cash to cough up $1M for something reasonable like your average 40' production Sportfish?

For example, an 1990 45 Viking Convertible was listed for somewhere around $350K brand new (asking price). How is it that a reasonably equipped new one is pushing 3x this number today? Not being "in the industry", I'd love to know the true cost of what it takes to build one of these things... Today's prices seem way over-inflated to me, but then again, what do I know?

[Mike15]

So does that mean that prices are coming back to reality sometime soon? I mean, who honestly has the cash to cough up $1M for something reasonable like your average 40' production Sportfish?

For example, an 1990 45 Viking Convertible was listed for somewhere around $350K brand new (asking price). How is it that a reasonably equipped new one is pushing 3x this number today? Not being "in the industry", I'd love to know the true cost of what it takes to build one of these things... Today's prices seem way over-inflated to me, but then again, what do I know?

Yes, for larger boats out there, I think prices are wayyy overinflated. People are now actually looking at what they can use a particular boat for versus the price.

For example I can go out and buy a 35 carolina classic for 150k or maybe even lower and do everything in that boat that one could do in that 45 viking.

And, no one is going to spend half million dollars on a boat. It takes years to build that kind of wealth, so it will take years for that buyer to come back to the market for half million dollar boats. Unfortunately, it took just days to losse that wealth.

Stocks are traded everyday and because of this they reflect their true prices. Boats are not traded every day and as a result it takes longer for prices to come back to reality.