Spring is in full swing, but local powerboat sellers are keeping an eye on a stormy economy, hoping sales stay afloat through the summer months.
While some yacht brokers say they?ve seen sales slip slightly, most believe it?s too early to tell what record-high gas prices and tighter finances for many boaters will bring to their business.
“I haven?t seen any concrete leading indicators to suggest we?re in trouble,” said Rod Jabin, president of the Marine Trades Association of Maryland and owner of Bert Jabin Yacht Yard on Back Creek in Annapolis. “But certainly we?re not selling the number of boats that we were a few years ago.”
Attendance at the Bay Bridge Boat Show held two weeks ago on Kent Island remained steady from the year before, said Colin Robertson, director of marketing for the event?s Annapolis-based organizer, United States Yacht Shows.
But Robertson said a greater number of the attendees were serious buyers, rather than browsers just out for a weekend with the boats ? similar to what real estate agents have said they?re seeing in the slow housing market.
“The feeling is kind of mixed between our boat dealers, whether that?s a good thing or not,” Robertson said. “The smaller ones like to turn those tire-kickers into buyers two years down the road.”
Roger Mooney, manager of Jarrett Bay Yacht Sales in Canton, deals in boats ranging from smaller 30-foot craft up to big-ticket yachts of $2 million or more. He said he?s had to adjust prices slightly, but the right boat at the right price will still move.
“It?s slowed down a little bit, but people are still buying,” he added. “[With] the high-end boats we sell, the price of fuel doesn?t faze them, that?s one of the least expensive things.”
Some marinas have begun advertising their other attractions, such as restaurants, pools and family areas, looking to emphasize boating as a lifestyle and keep people coming back, said Susan Zellers, executive director of the Marine Trades Association of Maryland.
Jabin said lifestyle is a major part of the local economy. “The buyers are still there; there is always going to be an attraction for boating in Annapolis and here in Maryland. It?s a powerful industry, and it?s not going away anytime soon.”
