Boat sales are booming ...

There will be some great deals to be had in a few months.

4 hours with a captain is worth its weight in gold and I commend Marine Max for including that (many dealers give a 20 minute orientation by a salesman and hand you the keys). In 4 hours I could (and have) definitely teach a new owner about every system on their boat, how to dock it and a lot about the local waters and general boating knowledge. Even my general chit-chat was designed to slip knowledge in. Of course the smart new owner or new boater then hires the captain for additional lessons as needed. As for the "there is surprisingly little to learn when driving a boat" comment, rarely in my 30 year career and 60+ years of boating did a day go by that I didn't learn something new. That was a particularly ignorant and dangerous statement and should tell his friends that his invitations to go boating would be a good ones to refuse.

Actually after reading the article the comment was less stupid than it sounded out of context. Still boating is a little like playing guitar, easy to get a nice sound out of but really hard to make it sound like Eric Clapton does. However guitars rarely kill and maim those who play with them.
I also caught from the article that it's mostly small / starter boats being bought with budgets already planned for vacations that were cancelled. Kayaks and paddle boards sound like good ways to get out but still distance.
Given what's going on with So. Florida's rate of infection and disappearing hospital beds I'm surprised you're still drinking the Kool aide. Guess you won't believe until it hits close to home. At NY's height EMTs responding to heart attacks were instructed not to resuscitate victims because there was no place to treat them, . My own cancer surgery was put off "indefinitely". You don't want to find out what that feels like. But NY'ers didn't know what they were dealing with and were caught by surprise. Personally I think hospitals should stop treating Covid-19 patients since they're intentionally inflicting it on themselves now. Your mayor deserves praise.

Okay, so then you'll agree that hospitals should stop treating tobacco users since they're intentionally inflicting it on themselves, right?

How did we go from booming boat sales to Covid-19? Let's stay on topic.

Boating is a great getaway and people recognize it. There is nothing like being at the helm as you point the bow out of your marina or harbor on to the open ocean and then chose your own highway, thanks be to God we still have that freedom on this 4th of July weekend !

Although I blame the society of the 1950's and Madison Ave. for addicting me to cigarettes at the age of 6 I accept my fate and would agree to that because most people who smoke today chose to with full knowledge of the consequences. I call it being too stupid to live. However there are more than enough hospital beds available for cancer victims and seldom is there a single cause for it unlike Covid 19.

" Inexpensive way to get out on the water when local dictators close beaches and boat ramp."

UUUUUGGGHHH, the problem with that is nobody teaches them to stay out of the way of boats. I had one try to paddle against the current through the middle of Hillsboro inlet bridge when the bridge was open and I was inbound with the current............then the guy looked at me like I was crazy.

4 hours isn't enough for a new boater, unless you're talking about a 20' boat. On a yacht, you need 1/2 a day just to go over how all of the systems work. Let alone run it, dock it, etc. But it's better than nothing.

S

Stupid though the move might have been he had right of way.
4 hours is a half day, but yes more instruction is definitely better, but on the dealership's dime it's a nice start.

No, he did not. I was with the current, already committed, and restricted in ability to maneuver due to conditions. Had to come to all stop, yachts committed behind me had to come to an abrupt stop also, almost piling into me. And he went from behind the very wide bridge support at Hillsboro Inlet where you couldn't see him right across and into the middle of the channel and narrow bridge opening, then spent several minutes paddling against the current. He could've gone down the side of the bridge where yachts can't go through. They need to make the kayaks fly a bright flag on a 4' pole or something also, so you can see them. So many kayaks are blue or green and in the middle of the ocean, even as far out as 150' of water, and you can't see them at all until you're right on top of them.

Good luck arguing that RAM defense. Many do it just to push their right of way like the Prius driver who drives in the left lane doing 50 mph. I've seen sailboats 5-10 miles away in L.I.Sound alter their course attempting to meet my bow. Of course I could alter my course and speed more than they could same as you could apply reverse and sound 3 on your horn easier than someone who rented a paddle board an hour ago could fight the current or even figure out how. So yes he absolutely did have right of way. I hope you were joking with that Captain.

I don't buy the "boat sales are way up" premise at all. I am sure that's the case with select dealers and some size boats. I hear of dealers low on inventory but it's largely because they've received no boats. Every builder of small boats I know had down time.

It is self serving for dealers to talk about how business is booming. There were dealers in many areas closed during a shut down period.

As to Marine Max spending four hours, as the article concentrates more on the small boat segment, I applaud that (and I hate ever applauding them). That is much more than most dealers of small boats, 30' and under, tend to do. In fact, I know of none who do more. Now, on larger boats, that's clearly not enough. I do know of one dealer who has a captain spend two days with buyers.

Our Kayaks and Paddleboards are all bright colors, attention getting colors, just for that reason. An example.

Agree 100% Their orders were placed a year ago and just didn't anticipate vacations would be cancelled now. Shows more about the state of sales last summer than this. They'd like to catch the wave, but with production spotty good luck with that. So they're now trying to pump sales for next year on this year's panic. Of course that's a dangerous strategy, also since they have to order ahead they risk being stuck with unsold inventory the next year. if the kiddies can go to camp then. But that's the boat biz. As they say 'the best way to be worth a million dollars in the boat biz (or anything else where you're chasing a Fad) is to start with 3 million.

Good color, but it still depends on someone standing a good watch and not believing that a motor yacht has right of way over it.

Incoming tide behind me, bridge opens and I am underway, I'm inside the bridge piers and there's a big motoryacht directly behind me, both doing 5-6 knots and he whips around the bridge pier into the middle of bridge opening, I come to all stop. Motoryacht behind me came to all stop 30' from my stern, and all we could do was hold position while he took his sweet time to get through the bridge. SO yes, cutting across a channel, from outside of the channel in front of a yacht that was underway and restricted in ability to maneuver as it was inside the bridge piers.