Boat sales in Waco are on the rise after a three-year lull caused by unfavorable climate and a weak economy.

At Marineland Boating Center gross revenue from boat sales has increased 18 percent the first quarter of 2010 compared to 2009, said owner Ken Sorley.

He is anxious to see how the second and third quarters shape up.

Marineland Boating Center general manager Steve Dickerson tidies up the interior of a boat.
Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune-Herald

“The second and third quarters make your business,” he said.

Two 31-foot pontoon boats recently sold to a tour operator in Mexico contributed to putting 2010 sales through May 24 to a 48 percent increase, but the sales were an unusual bump and don’t reflect normal business, he said.

Sorley declined to say how many boats he sells each year. He said he’s expecting this year to be about 25 percent better in sales income than 2009.

There are two other boat sellers in town — Prikryl Marine and Yowell’s Boat Yard.

Tom Prikryl, owner of Prikryl Marine, said he also has seen sales increase. His year-to-date sales are running 50 percent ahead of last year, when he had sold 20 boats. He has sold 30 already this year.

Slowed sales since 2007

The sales increase is a good sign after each of the last three years showed its own brand of trouble, Sorley said. The last really good year was 2006, he said.

Heavy rainfall put water levels so high on many Texas lakes that they were closed or had little or no ramp access in the spring of 2007.

Then, 2008 was an election year, bringing a sense of uncertainty that blunts consumers’ desire to write checks for luxuries.

Finally, the economic recession and a lake-draining drought kept wallets closed through 2009. Even credit was tough to get.

“Last year it was a triple hit, with the drought, the economic situation, and the financing,” said Michael Marks, executive director of the Boating Trades Association of Texas.

Favorable conditions

Lakes this year are at normal levels and that alone is a big help for boat sales, Marks said.

“Most of the lakes across the state are full or almost full. That has helped considerably,” he said.

Sales tax figures for new and used boat sales kept by the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife for fiscal years illustrate what happened with the recession and the drought.

In the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2009, sales tax totaled $43.9 million, a large decrease from the two previous fiscal years, when the sales tax total was more than $57 million each year.

People just north of Waco along the Interstate 35 corridor are more interested in buying for one reason other than just economic recovery, Prikryl said. Natural gas leases have meant payoffs for some property owners, he said.

The Waco dealers’ experience with increasing sales is representative of the boat industry in many states, said Phil Keeter, president of the Marine Retail Association.

National picture

Nationally boat sales were down 35 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.

In 2010, first quarter numbers were down only by 12 percent as compared to 2008.

The strengthening isn’t uniform across the country. The increase is stronger in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and through the Midwest.

One local boat dealer says sales are up 18 percent over the same time last year.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald, file

Keeter said the boat industry, which does about $70 billion in annual sales of new boats, has changed dramatically in the last two years.

About 900 dealers have gone out of business. Many of the higher-paid middle class workers lost income to job loss and have not been able to find work that pays as well.

Auto workers and non-managerial white collar jobs are two areas that were important to the industry and those were hit hard, Keeter said.

There are nearly 3,000 boat dealers in the United States, with about 350 of them in Texas, according to figures from the Marine Retail Association and the state Boating Trades group.

In new models, pontoon boats are the biggest sellers these days, followed by aluminum fishing boats. Fiberglass, center-console fishing boats are third, Sorley said.

An average sale is about $23,000, he said.

Used boats

The used boat market has stayed strong through it all, but that inventory is limited and running out, Keeter said.

The fact that an expected, robust supply of repossessions never came through has contributed to the tightening of the used boat market.

“The delinquencies weren’t as bad as we thought,” he said. “That’s good and that’s bad.”

There are also few trade-ins, he said.

Many boats are kept garaged and are only taken out a few times a year, so often there’s not much wear and tear. So a good boat can be had for often half the price of a new boat.

bteeter@wacotrib.com

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