
Better Boats
A few magazine gigs and more than 10 years ago, I curated and wrote a monthly report about boatbuilders and repair facilities all around Chesapeake

A few magazine gigs and more than 10 years ago, I curated and wrote a monthly report about boatbuilders and repair facilities all around Chesapeake

Sportfishing interests from around the world will converge in Orlando, Fla., July 11-14 for the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades show, widely known as ICAST. If your business has any connection to the hook, line and sinker set, this is the show to attend.
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.

A few magazine gigs and more than 10 years ago, I curated and wrote a monthly report about boatbuilders and repair facilities all around Chesapeake

Sportfishing interests from around the world will converge in Orlando, Fla., July 11-14 for the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades show, widely known as ICAST. If your business has any connection to the hook, line and sinker set, this is the show to attend.
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.