I regularly call clients and colleagues just to take the pulse of the industry. On one of those calls last week to get a reading on sales, a major dealer said something that so stunned me I asked him to repeat it to be sure I hadn’t misunderstood.

I have written about this subject before, and some of you may be growing weary of hearing me talk about it. Nonetheless, I will risk becoming a bore (defined by my hero, Ambrose Bierce, in his “Devil’s Dictionary” as “a person who talks when you wish him to listen”), because the question keeps popping up.

Stability (sweet word). Growth (also sweet). National optimism (remember when?). Full employment (global competition has eroded this concept). Retirement anticipation (yesteryear).

Every month the calendar seems to serve up a holiday or other occasion that provides a good excuse for enjoying a fantastic meal. After these adventures in caloric overload, you begin to strategize how to compensate for them.

Volatility has been the flavor of the day, the week, the month in both the global economy and on the block where you and I go about the business of boating. Despite the economic uncertainty, one proven prescription for success hasn’t changed, even if there are fewer buyers in showrooms and on the docks.

We’re in the midst of tough times once more, nothing new for veterans of this industry. The economists refer to our ups and downs as cyclical, a nice clinical term but one that really doesn’t begin to describe the roller coaster most of us have been riding for the last year.