Boats still big for those with the income

According to the National Marine Manufacturers Association, things are looking up for the recreational boating industry.

Its report from mid-May showed a 3.2 percent increase in retail spending between 2012 and 2013. This includes new and pre-owned boats and engines, trailers, accessories and services.

The NMMA anticipates the momentum to continue with an additional 5 percent to 7 percent increase in retail of new boats for 2014.

The 10 states that lead the nation in sales of new powerboats, motors, trailers and accessories for 2013 were Florida, Texas, Michigan, Delaware, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Louisiana and California.

What about Iowa?

'In our particular circumstances, our service department is still relatively busy, but the sales part of it has not recovered to what it was in the pre-2008 time period,” said Steve Leathers, general manager for Kennedy Marine in Cedar Rapids.

While Leathers said everything still is selling - from the lower-end plain Jane fishing boats to the upper-end fishing boats and runabouts - he noted that it comes down to the matter of disposable income.

'That is what we deal with,” he said. 'Boating is pretty much 100 percent disposal income.”

The cost of fuel

Leathers didn't believe that the cost of gasoline was as big an issue as it has been in the past.

'Gas prices will have an effect,” he said, 'but gas prices right now are not as bad as compared to what they were two, three years ago ...

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'When you start looking at people who are working in an industry where they are not seeing a lot of growth, then their income is not going to grow, reducing their discretionary spending dollars, so then, yes, of course, gas prices will affect things overall.”

'Boat-wise, whether you are buying a boat or just using and maintaining it, it is still part of that discretionary money issue.”

But not everyone agrees.

Dan Rogers works at the Coralville Lake Marina in Iowa City, and he's encouraged.

'The boating industry improved drastically last year,” he said, 'and this year has continued to improve. We are flowing our docks and our business is really good.”

The pontoon business in particular is up from years past, he noted.

'We are selling a lot more pontoons than we normally sell, and I think that is due to the performance that (manufacturers) are putting into them now.

'The manufacturer we sell for has seen a 40 to 50 percent increase in their growth, and the pontoon business is incredible right now.”

Leathers added that 'the pontoons have gotten more powerful and fast. They are not your granddad's pontoon anymore,” he said.

'You are looking at some serious costs involved here, too, though,” he added, 'because when you start throwing 300-horse engines on them, the engines alone can cost $25,000 a piece.”

Some customers spend from $50,000 up to $100,000, Leathers added.

'But,” he stressed, 'you do not have to spend that kind of money if you want a pontoon.”

Rogers said that while baby boomers dominate today's buyer's market, they are not the only ones.

'We sell a lot of pontoons to the young folks in their 30s,” he noted.

'They are buying expensive pontoons in the $30,000 to $40,000 price range.”

In addition to the higher horsepower engines, the range of neat stuff in the line of amenities that come on these floating party barges today can include loungers in the back, electric blenders and grills.

There are slides that come off the top with wakeboard towers and hard tops and vinyl floors.

'We've got bamboo snap-in carpet,” Rogers said, 'and teak-looking vinyl - and all this on top of putting 300-horse motors on them.”

Rogers said a marketing tool that has really helped business is pontoon rental.

'We have four that we rent, and that has driven our sales of them,” he noted.

'People are going out on these pontoons and they are finding out how cool they are.

'They have stereos, they have iPod plug-ins, they have changing rooms, and they are easy to drive and, best of all, they are cheap to rent,” Rogers said.