Boating Trends

[Terry]

A few observation questions.
Aside from the US mortage problems south how do the boating trends appear to be developing. Is there a trend away from power boats due to gas prices? Are marinas filling or emptying due to fiancial constraints or are the richer still filling the marinas. Are the waterways less congested with powerboats due to operating costs?
How about north of 49, does anyone notice changes in boating trends? Where do you think trends are going?
Out here on the west coast north of 49 it is still raining so I don't see as much boating as previous seasons, weather is the main influence on trends. I have heard rumors that the Vancouver area marinas have increased their rates and there are waiting lists at all the big marinas. The last remaining option for a slip in these parts is now under development. The Point Roberts Marina is now in the hands of deep pockets. They always had plenty of slips available for seasonal moorage in the past so it was no problem obtaining seasonal moorage. This may sound contradictive to the waiting lists I mentioned but Point Roberts is not a Canadian Marina, it lies at the end of a small peninsula of USA jutting out from the Canadian side. You cannot access it from USA by land without first crossing into Canada, it is only accessable by water from mainland USA. This makes it mostly a Canadian occupied marina, in fact the whole peninsula is revenue dependant on Canadian $$. This also makes it very remote and undeveloped, mostly summer cabins and a marina with a lot of vacant land and a few campsites & park. Best kept secret around here, (you have to see it to believe it) the border crossing adds an extra level of security.
Anyway the deep pockets have taken out two docks containing aprox 70 24' slips to make room for 50' boats. The trend here is towards bigger boats with richer owners. The Macs that used to occupy 24' slips now have to pay for a 30' slip. So I have room to park my dinhgy!
Well the crunch is on, there are less than 20 slips available all requiring a narrow beam, lucky we have a skinny boat, I had my pick.
I also see an end to seasonal moorage with the trend to bigger boats there are fewer smaller slips available. Will we all hang on to our slips for winter come September? Big gamble.... we could pay anually and reserve our slip for every season or gamble that the smaller sports fisherman will vacate for winter and leave an inventory of slips to choose from next season...., or will they? Some folks (like my wife) perceive the moorage as a cost of owning a boat, it goes with the territory. Is this a widespread attitude or just a minority? What are the attitudes in your area? Is marina space facing extinction like it is out here, seems no one wants a marina as part of their ocean view lot and few marinas are expanding to accomodate seasonal moorage, although dry land storage is being researched as a viable aternative for expansion for small boats. They are not building more marinas even though the demand is there, they are simply reconfiguring the existing ones. I probably sound like I am on a rant but times have really changed since we aquired our Mac in '03 and I am curious as to how the times have impacted other Mac owners.
Did I mention we hate trailering, the Admiral says no trailering no way no how. I should feel lucky for such moorage support, any other husband would be jumping for joy but (I am the tightwad holding out on the annual fees) I'd rather buy seasonal and trailer a couple times. Unfortanatley, times, they are a changin..

[Russ]

It's been too rainy and cold here. Boating in general has not kicked in. Bad season for marinas, but the weather is being blamed for that right now. Talking with the maria owner on Memorial day weekend, they said it's been the worst year since they bought the place. They also operate an adjacent campground. Again, we're blaming weather.

I've been trying to sell our runabout. So far after 3 weeks of newspaper ads, no joy. But that also might be because the weather doesn't inspire boating. They are forecasting snow tomorrow. The weekend looks nice, high 70s. That might help.

Now my father in New Jersey claims that the bay is empty sans for sailboats. He's never seen so few powerboats out this season. He says the marina is full and nobody is out.

--Russ

[EricM26]

Overhere in Quantico VA it is mostly the sailboats that are active on the Potomac, while the motorboats slumber in the marina...

[Uncle Jim]

Overhere in Quantico VA it is mostly the sailboats ...

Eric,
were are you in Quantico? we are looking to move the boat from Mayo, MD to a slip on the potomac, one place had a 13 YEAR waiting list and it was junk! another had two slips open (40's ) at $4800 year, they did say that they would pro rate it as the year begins in March! Even at that there was some good size debris floating around the boats.
everything is either under a low bridge or $$$$$$$$

Anyone else with a reasonable cost option in the DC area feel free to let me know 70 miles in the beast is getting expensive and I'm not even pulling the boat more than 100 yards from the storage area.

Jim

[USAF M26X sailor]

Since you are driving as far as you are you might want to try Aquia. Not many and most are behind a bridge. Try www.activecaptain.com as a resource.
I'm on the Base (and it was full last year).

[JaimeG]

I've owned a M for 2 years here in Vancouver. It rains a lot up here, as it does right now when I write this note.

We trailer the boat a lot, my wife turned out to be a great enthusiast of the concept, knows how to rig the whole thing, helps whenever she can, no problems there.

I've given up on waiting for the perfect sunny week (but they do come in July/August), I make my plans to trailer the very far, rain or shine, and this approach has taken us to places most boaters can only dream about. (Desolation Sound, Princess Luisa Inlet, etc). Up there in those far away places is hard to find a small boat the size of a MacGregor, people in larger boats wonder how the heck we got there, not knowing we trailered most of the way in a single day. Last year, in Desolation Sound, we were the smallest boat anchored there. They kind of gave us an amused look, as we anchored besides their floating mansions, some with tenders as large as our boat!

On Fridays I sometimes do sail solo, or with friends. Some summer weekends and long weekends I go with my wife, daugther and dog to nearby islands (San Juans, Gulf Islands), on short 3-4 day trips.

The rest of the year I keep the boat in my driveway. I find it hard to justify paying for a slip and not keep the boat there, just to save a spot for next season. I wouldn't sail in winter, it's too cold, although some people do it in great comfort (in bigger boats loaded with conveniences, heat and hot water)

The trend I note in the Pacific Nortwest is the same as Terry: larger boats, power and sail, very expensive, rarely used, acting as weekend cabins on the water.

Trailering at first was an odissey, rigging and derigging was a real pain, but now we feel we have mastered the process somewhat. It's not a pleasant activity, but the payback in terms of reaching unbelievably beautiful destinations it's worth the effort.

Jaime
M26, blue.

[EricM26]

Jim from Ashburn, I work in the Ashburn, Reston, Chantilly area and live in Haymarket so I appreciate your distances. I bought my boat from a guy at the Washington Sailing Marina just south of Reagan airport. I had the rights to retain his slip. (Google: washingtonsailingmarina) Nice marina and restaurant, but significant jet noise and soot on the boat deck. I like looking at the DC skyline while sailing but there is too many sandbars (even for the M26 cause of the centerboard) and congestion. It was pretty expensive. Since I'm retired Air Force I moved it down to Ft Belvoir. (google: Ft Belvoir Marina) The sailing was better, still congested between DC and Occoquan, but the marina is poorly maintained and last summer many boats were beached since it is so shallow and needs to be dredged. So this year I moved it to the USMC facility on Quantico. (google: quantico usmc mccs Marina_Brochure07) It is a much better setup with deep, wide waters right out side the marina. I happy with the staff and there is a real sense of community there. Good luck trying to find a decent slip Jim.

Chief Stewart, if you are an AD/retired E-9, you'd qualify if you want to try Quantico. I think there maybe a slip or two left.

Jaime, I wish I could trailer too, but several challenges: my Home Owners Association flips just when I pull the boat up in front of my house for a few hours to pack it for a weekend, I only have minivan to haul the boat and don't like to do that a lot (and am glad now with US$4+ gas/gallon that I didn't buy a real boat puller...), and finally I have to agree that set-up/take-down is not nearly as easy at it seems on Roger M's video....

[bastonjock]

i read on another forum about a guy who was complaining that it was going to cost him $7000.00 to fill his 3.5 million dollar boat up,i almost bust a gut laughing,he was expecting a sympathetic reaction from guys who own sailing boats costing from $10,000 to $100,000.

my suggestion of employing highlander to cutter rig his sunseeker did not go down well

most of the fuel guzzlers sit in the marinas as its cheaper for them just to sit there

i dont see the fuel costs hitting sailing,but for myself,im not prepared to spend $1000.00 on fuel to trailer my boat down to the South of England for a 3 day Jolly with the UKmac owners.Id spend the $1000.00 for a weeks familly sailing,im going to trailer the boat 200 miles there and back in a couple of weeks,with launch fees and fuel thats about $250.00,not something ill do every weekend but ill do it for some.

The rising costs of fuel will have an effect on boating,people will trailer less and motorboats are all heading to the bone yard,folks will still sail

[EricM26]

I'll bet we see an up-tick in the resale value of sailboats and steep drop in used motorboat values ala hybred cars verses pickups/SUVs...

[tangentair]

A coworker went out yesterday on his 28 Erickson without checking the conditions, hit 4 - 5 foot waves so decided to come back in. Since he had motored up to Wuakegan from Chicago last weekend (maybe 35 miles) and his tank was a little below 1/4 he decided to fill up and pump the head, his gas cost $51.00 and it was more than he had spent the entire last season. It will affect our sailing because we will be checking the conditions to be sure we can sail and not have to motor. No more sail down and motor back kind of runs.

[EricM26]

Errrrh... To "USAF M26X Sailor" I guess I'm showing my 'Just Enlisted' newbie ignorance. I didn't catch on 'til I just got that rank (guess I was rankless on this site for the first 10 posts), but now I see that your name isn't "Chief Steward".... I highly respect USAF chiefs and didn't mean to confuse.

[mikelinmon]

I still remember the last major gas crunch when gas shot up from 30 cents to over one dollar. And try waiting in a gas line and be allowed only 10 gallons! Trail N Sail was my MacGregor, at that time Venture business, and I had a waiting list, the most boats I've ever sold. The motor boat dealers were going out of business right and left. I was discussing becoming a motorhome dealer. A bank loan was being arranged for me to buy a minimum initial order of motorhomes. When the crunch hit, the motorhome factory was in a panic to get my deposit, my banker advised waiting a few days, turned into months, then forever. I am still a MacGregor dealer and no longer even think of travel trailers and all. We lost many motorboat dealer friends then, going to lose some more now!
One of the biggest factors for us, you Mac owners and we Mac dealers, is the ratio of new boat sales, 90% motorboat and 10% sailboat. If 5% of the motorboat folk think about sailing, we get 50% more business! I hate the gas at the pump just like you, but business is brisk.
Mike Inmon

[Terry]

One of the biggest factors for us, you Mac owners and we Mac dealers, is the ratio of new boat sales, 90% motorboat and 10% sailboat. If 5% of the motorboat folk think about sailing, we get 50% more business! I hate the gas at the pump just like you, but business is brisk.
Mike Inmon

According to some NMMA data there is also an increase in paddle craft, kyacks & canoes but I would assume it is the younger more fit generation that are buying them.
On another note it is baby boomers who are buying all the higher priced toys and once they get beyond 80 YO they will start to divest themselves of their toys. Imagine a market place flooded with used power boats, motorhomes, motorcycles, fifth wheels, trailers, sailboats etc and a buyers market that is too small to accommodate it. Baby boomers are still the bulge in the population and they will leave many toys unsold!

[bscott]

Terry, my son lives in CoeurD'alene and has his eye on my but he'll have to wait until they load my stiff body onto the barge and light the fire.

Bob

[NiceAft]

Our marina is fairly full. At least as far as I've seen. The power boaters just sit around the dock talking. They do go out once in awhile, but most of the time it's just talk, talk, talk.

When they do go for a trip, it's about a 40 mile run, one way, to an overnight spot. That's got to cost them

EricM26. Just be glad his rank wasnt admiral. That would have twisted your mind

Ray