Bill Sisson

The marine industry continues to struggle with finding qualified technicians. Older techs are retiring, and it’s been an ongoing challenge to find and train younger workers.

Who foresaw the big surge in outboard-powered boats when the first generation of 4-strokes was initially introduced?

Hurricanes Irma and Harvey spun their way into the books well before the final toll of the destruction had been tallied.

IBEX is shaping up to be one strong show. Sales figures, consumer confidence and other indicators leading into the three-day show Sept. 19-21 are all positive. Space has been sold out for some time. There will be more than 100 new exhibitors in Tampa, and the waiting list is 75 companies and counting.

We all agree the industry needs to increase the number of first-time boat buyers to ensure healthy long-term growth. That’s going to require a bit of a course correction from our current trajectory.

The late Coast Guard captain and navigation expert Bill Brogdon used to say that if you want to stay dry, you should buy a horse, not a boat.

When the subject is the economy and business trends, I gravitate to numbers, percentages and the plethora of analysis over what they mean and where we’re likely headed.

I’ve been reading a lot recently about automation, creative destruction, artificial intelligence, globalization, reshoring, job loss and the like. So are you and me and my brother-in-law the boatwright going to be replaced before too long by robots? I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.

The industry lost one of its most authentic voices and ardent practitioners late last year with the death of Jack Sherwood.

Prediction time, once more. Barring an unexpected economic jolt or a black swan event, most signs point to continued growth in our industry in 2017.

With millennials marshaling on the horizon, everyone, it seems, has an eye on younger buyers. But here’s the thing: Younger, by definition, will also mean more diverse.

Could we be in the midst of the new “good old days” without fully recognizing them? Perhaps. Time will tell, but you could certainly make a case for it.

As we move into the heart of boat show season, much of the focus is on new boats and the latest technology and features that builders have packed on board. So it seems counterintuitive to suggest that builders and dealers not concentrate their marketing efforts on the latest and greatest improvements in propulsion, performance, layouts and the like.

The post-recession mantra for success in new-boat sales has gone something like this: People want new, and they want innovation.

Boating and fishing draw participants with the same strong magnet. Both activities promise fun, relaxation, family time, the great outdoors, adventure and so on.

Boats don’t like to sit for extended periods of time on the hard or in their slips. Things deteriorate faster during prolonged idleness — systems and parts stiffen, freeze, gum up and so on. Boats like to be underway.

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so, too, is affordability. After all, one person’s yacht is another’s runabout. It all depends on your perspective — and what you can afford.

Early this year, when the financial markets were plummeting and the “R” word was back in the headlines and in conversations, I spoke with a boatbuilder who referred to himself and his colleagues as “canaries in a coal mine.”

Success in our industry will continue to be determined by the economy and its allies, from consumer confidence and employment to the stability of financial markets.

Going into the Miami boat shows, economic uncertainty was again in the air, ratcheted up this time by concerns about the degree to which global economic problems might weigh on U.S. growth.

So what are buyers looking for in a new boat today? Value? Innovation? Performance? All three and more, perhaps?

Barring any unforeseen globe-rattling economic shocks, we should see a continuation of the slow to modest growth the industry has experienced over the last five years.

Who isn’t rooting for a successful comeback from Bertram? The iconic brand was such a big part of this industry, starting in the early fiberglass years, that it seemed a shame to watch it wither away. And the deep-vee hull that Dick Bertram built his company’s smooth-riding reputation on (kudos to designer Ray Hunt) is evident in the numerous iterations found on scores of boats today.

Boats are to our industry what elephants are to a circus. They’re the big draw, the main attraction.

The waters in the waning weeks of summer were brimming with boats. Warm, dry weather in the Northeast and elsewhere brought out boaters by the score.

The conversation took place maybe a dozen or more years ago at a Trade Only roundtable meeting at the Miami boat show. We were having a discussion with industry leaders on a wide range of issues, including the ascendancy of the baby-boom generation.

We casually toss around words like innovation, quality and adaptability today as if they were so much small change. But how many companies are really doing the hard work of innovation?

The question has been on the table for some time: What happens when the members of the large generation of baby-boom boaters swallow their collective anchors and exit stage left?

I was having dinner recently with an industry veteran when he shifted the trajectory of our conversation and said, “You know, Bill, you and I are stuck in this industry. We’re lifers. We’re not going anywhere.”

I visited the boatyard recently to pay my slip bill for the season, to catch up with old friends and to see what happened since winter. Tom’s 40-foot Cabo has a new teak swim platform and washboards. I eyeballed the yard’s new hydraulic trailer, which was moving boats from the off-site indoor winter storage shed to the water. Smart purchase.