I was talking to the boat broker here at Kingman yesterday. He had just
attended the boat show in Newport, RI. He reports that despite high fuel
prices, boats are still selling briskly up here.

Eisboch

Eisboch wrote:
I was talking to the boat broker here at Kingman yesterday. He had just
attended the boat show in Newport, RI. He reports that despite high fuel
prices, boats are still selling briskly up here.

Eisboch


Fuel prices have done very little to hurt "big boat" sales.

If you've got the $miliion plus it takes- (and we're talking throw away
money here, not net worth) to buy a larger boat these days, and you
burn 2000 gallons of fuel in a year it frankly won't make any
significant difference to you whether that fuel costs $4k, $6k, $8k, or
$10k.

The Wally Lunchbuckets of the world will be stressed out a lot more by
fuel prices.
Between payments on the F250 trailer hauler, the monthly payment on the
boat, and the monthly payments on everything else "owned" by the
stereotypical middle class family the paycheck is often stretched to
its breaking point before fuel prices go north.
For a lot of middle class wage earners, the difference of even
$300-$400 per month in summer fuel costs will keep a lot of boats on
the hard.

Based on the last couple of years, it looks like the oil companies are
establishing a
pattern of pushing prices through the roof in the summer and then
moderating during the winter months. Not so good for boating, where
most fuel is consumed during the summer.

However, boats were selling very well at the recently concluded Boats
Afloat Show in Seattle- and not just in the $1mm and up range.
Everybody I've talked to this week seems to have sold at least one boat
during the five day show, and I know for a fact that one of our local
dealers sold three (!) in a single day. (That's darn good in the boat
business).

So far, the biggest impact of increased fuel costs seems to be some
changes in the way people use their boats, not whether they own a boat
or how often they use it.
People are still getting out on the water, and are saving fuel by not
ranging as far or going as fast.

Try selling a mid sized (48') older sport fish right now.....

at 2 gallons per mile.... I bought the boat when I could get diesel
delivered at 72 cents/gallon ($1.44/mile) BTW... that was only 6 years
ago when oil was about 35/barrel. NOW when oil hit 70/barrel,
delivered untaxed red diesel hit $2.85 at it's peak.... How did Diesel
go 4x when oil went 2x.... anyway... now instead of 1.44/mi it's 5.70/mi.

Some are selling but many people are going for the newer ones at 1.5
gal/NM for 1M to 500K vs 2gal/NM for 300K. The economics don't work
out but it is an excuse to get a newer boat.




Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 09:53:58 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:


I was talking to the boat broker here at Kingman yesterday. He had just
attended the boat show in Newport, RI. He reports that despite high fuel
prices, boats are still selling briskly up here.


Here's how it happened.

1 - Partner calls - we have a long talk and I agree it would be best
for him to do his thing. He's a very bright guy, solid education and
he's done his fantasy - it's time to git 'r dun as it were with
business and family.

2 - I'm at the marina and I mention it to the broker - he asks if I'm
willing to sell the boat - he's got several buyers that he thinks it
would be perfect for.

3 - Talk it over with my better half.

4 - Call broker - go for it.

5 - Broker calls back same day - got two, yada, yada, yada...

6 - They bid each other to what I basically paid for the boat - one
guy pulls the trigger.

Total elapsed time - two weeks start to finish.

Can't be all that bad out there.