At the onset of the pandemic, Randy Young, one of the two boatbuilders behind Friendship Boats, thought demand for new boats would trail off. He was wrong.
Boatyards up and down the coast say that business is busier than ever. Young, now in his 60s, feels guilty even taking a day off.
“It’s as good as it’s ever been,” he said. “I haven’t even been advertising.”
Despite the surge in business, the industry has now-familiar challenges being felt by many sectors: trouble finding staff and major supply chain issues, leading to longer and unpredictable production times. But even that isn’t stopping the customers from placing orders.
The exact reason for rising demand isn’t clear, though some boatbuilders have theories.
“We’re seeing a lot more demand now than we were pre-pandemic, for sure,” said Steve White, the president at Brooklin Boat Yard. “I think there is just sort of a rethinking of people’s lifestyles.”
What some people might have spent on vacations in the past, they are now putting into boats, said Sara McCorkle, one of the owner’s of Padebco Custom Boats and Full Service Boatyard in Round Pond.
In addition to increased orders for new boats, she’s also seen more people reinvesting in their old boats, finally dealing with pushed-off maintenance and nagging issues.
While builders are enjoying the new clients and renewed interest, they can only take on so much work. They are limited by space, the scarcity of parts, and an apparent dearth of people trained in boatbuilding. Many are at capacity and waiting lists continue to grow well past pre-pandemic length.
“It’s great and scary at the same time,” said JB Turner, the president of Front Street Shipyard in Belfast.
Getting engines, in particular, has been a huge headache. Two major engine manufacturers aren’t even taking orders, according to McCorkle. Turner asked one of his suppliers about shipping an outboard engine and was told it would take 76 weeks. There wasn’t even an estimate for a larger engine.
Even when an engine is ordered, it can still be rough going. White at Brooklin Boat Yard has a $35,000 engine that’s missing somewhere along the shipping route.
“When you order something, you have no real idea when it’s going to get here,” he said.
Turner now stockpiles when he can, though boatbuilders said there are some products that have a shelf life and can’t be tucked away for too long.
Even with the growing backlogs, potential buyers don’t seem to be scared away. Orders keep coming in and, for the most part, customers understand the rising costs and longer build times.
“They get it,” Turner said. “They don’t like it, but they get it.”
