Boat dealers in Delaware are seeing the kinds of trends that a National Marine Manufacturers Association survey recently identified. People are buying fewer new vessels, but they’re not giving up recreational boating.
Boaters are finding ways to remain on the water despite the effects the recession has had on them.
Ted Link, of Link’s Marine in Newark, told The News Journal of Wilmington that service business has been steady and that his steadiest customers are fishing boaters.
“One thing about the fisherman, he doesn’t want to cut any costs,” Link said. “He wants to know his equipment is going to work, that it’s going to get him back.”
Don Short, who owns Short’s Marine in Long Neck, said customers are trying to downsize and that pontoon boats now are more popular.
“People are just changing. They’re still boating,” he said. “If you’re a golfer, you’re going to golf. If you’re a hunter, you’re going to hunt. If you’re a boater, you’re going to find a way to boat.”
