"There's often this perception that boating is only for the wealthy. But 95 percent of all the boats in the United States are smaller trailered boats, and 71 percent of all boat owners have a total household income of less than $100,000," said Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If you haven't yet spent time on Lake Erie or Ohio's other waterways this summer, chances are pretty good you will. Ohio is home to more than 440,000 boats, and sales of new recreational boats are up more than 10 percent over this time last year as the industry powers back from the recession. Some trade groups are forecasting record highs by as early as 2015.
View full sizeA boater cruises north on the Cuyahoga River with the Cleveland skyline behind on a beautiful Monday afternoon, July, 2014. "There's often this perception that boating is only for the wealthy. But 95 percent of all the boats in the United States are smaller trailered boats, and 71 percent of all boat owners have a total household income of less than $100,000," said Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association in Chicago.
NMMA's 1,400 members include boat, marine engine and accessory manufacturers that it says make 80 percent of the boating products in North America. "Boating is an American industry with American jobs providing a recreational product for middle-class Americans."
"When people think of recreational boating, they don't really think that it's a big business, but it is a big business, with $36.7 billion in total sales of recreational boating products and services," Dammrich said.
View full sizeA couple on a jet ski cruises on Lake Erie past the Cleveland Lighthouse at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River on July 21. That's 3.2 percent higher than in 2012, and includes sales of 166,800 new powerboats and sailboats in 2013. NMMA says this year's growth could be twice that, between 5 percent and 7 percent.
Ohio ranks No. 18 in the U.S. for its boating activities, with more than $306.8 million in total sales of new powerboats, engines, trailers and accessories.
It also ranks 9th in the nation in boat registrations, with 441,732 boats registered in 2012, up 2.1 percent from the previous year, according to NMMA. Ohio and Michigan together make up more than 80 percent of the boating in the Great Lakes.
Ken Alvey, president of the Lake Erie Marine Trades Association in Westlake, an organization of boat dealers within a 75-mile radius of Cleveland, said most consumers start out with personal watercraft, paddleboards and kayaks, because they're relatively inexpensive and are sold at a number of sporting goods and outdoors stores. They then might upgrade to fishing boats or boats with outboard motors, while younger owners might prefer watersport boats for wakeboarding.
Tom Mack, owner and president of South Shore Marine in Huron, said that "Most dealers are probably back to where they were before the downturn, or better. We're seeing steady growth here," including among them families and younger people.
View full sizeA boater runs by a couple of paddle boarders and kayakers off Fairport Harbor beach on Lake Erie on Monday afternoon, July 21. Chuck Thompson, chief financial officer of South Shore Marine, said sales of new and pre-owned boats have really rebounded in the last year or two. "We had a record month in May, with more sales than any other month in our 25-year history. Things have really picked up," he said.
For people who haven't been boat shopping lately, Mack said there have been a lot of changes in technology. Boats today are "cleaner and greener, they're more fuel-efficient, and they're much easier to operate because of technology."
Over the past six to nine months, Dammrich has seen manufacturers coming out with some "outstanding new boats," with gee-whiz features such as electric retractable shades, hydraulic seats that can be moved around the deck depending on the activity, and joy-stick docking that lets skippers control the boat like they're playing a video game.
View full sizeA boater pulls along a raft near the mouth of the Grand River with the Fairport Lighthouse in the background on Monday afternoon, July 21. "What so many people don't recognize is that for something like a car payment, you could get your family out on the water," Mack said. "The size boat we're selling continues to go down every year. People seem to have a little less free time than they used to, but they still want to fit in time on the water." South Shore Marine also offers to send a captain out with new buyers to teach them how to operate and care for the boat.
On Lake Erie, about half of the boaters are also fishing, Mack said. Other people use their boats to get away, for water sports, or to take day or weekend trips with their family and friends. Ohio offers plenty of public access to its waterways. If you drive along the Lake Erie shoreline, you don't go far before you spot a boat ramp or dock, he said.
But the biggest selling point for some people is that unlike other activities that scatter families in different directions and make Mom and Dad feel like taxi drivers, owning a boat draws families together. "It's the one thing everybody looks forward to; it's a magnet and hub for the family, because everybody wants to go out on the water," Mack said. Of the more than 200 boats they've sold, you can count on one hand the number of people for whom it didn't work out."
View full sizeBoaters head out to Lake Erie from Whiskey Island Marina in Cleveland on Monday afternoon, July 21. Alvey said one thing many Ohioans take for granted is "the opportunities we have because of our proximity to Lake Erie and our proximity to water. We have an unbelievable fishing resource and freshwater resource, the Lake Erie Islands, Kelleys Island, and the waterfront off of Cleveland."
Besides increasing real estate values, "the waterfront is a huge economic generator for our city." And Lake Erie, the shallowest and warmest of the Great Lakes, also tends to have more people swimming and fishing in it.
"Right now, if we look at through the end of May, we're up 10 percent on a year-over-year basis," and that doesn't take into account that the majority of boat sales take place between April and August, Dammrich said.
View full sizeA boater runs along a breakwall while a jet skier climbs up on the boat's wake just outside of the Whiskey Island Marina, with the Gold Coast apartments behind, in Cleveland on July 21. He credits the jump to rising consumer confidence, a recovering housing market, and a stronger economy. "People are buying more boats now, no question about it. By 2015, we might be back at record levels."
That's a far cry from where the recreational boating industry was in 2009, when sales plunged about 53 percent nationwide, some dealers folded, and people were desperate to sell their boats.
Gary and Sarah Maret of Rocky River bought their boat, a 26-foot Sea Ray Sundancer with a 8.5-foot beam, in 2009 during the midst of the recession. He is an engineer, and she is a nurse-practitioner.
Gary Maret grew up around boats in grade school and high school, and jumped at a chance to buy one through a broker in Sandusky. "We do pleasure cruising," he said. "We go out to Kelleys Island, Put-in-Bay, Huntington Beach or to Shooter's at Whiskey Island." They also swim and go tubing off the back of the boat.
View full sizeA couple of kayakers rest along the eastern bank of the Cuyahoga River near Lake Erie on Monday, July 21. They like being able to decide for themselves where to go, instead of having to depend on ferry schedules or other people to take them out. "Our boat is in the water 24-7 during season."
The Marets are already thinking about upgrading to a larger boat, perhaps a 33-footer with a 10-foot beam. "We want to be able to go farther," he said. "If you run into a little bit of rough water," that can be tough on a smaller boat like his.
"I've seen a lot more newer boats. People are buying new right away. That's a sign that people can afford to purchase a newer one," instead of buying pre-owned like they did, Maret said.
View full sizeA couple of jet skis and a boater cruise just off Wendy Park by the Whiskey Island Marina on July 21. Ohio is one of about 32 states that require owners to take a boating education course and pass an exam. New or prospective boat owners can also log on to DiscoverBoating.com to figure out what boat is right for them, depending on what they plan to do with it, as well as find links to other resources. Dammrich said the industry has tried hard to demystify boating to attract families and new boat owners.
That includes people like Mike and Minh Suster. Mike is a Cleveland Heights paramedic and firefighter and his wife, Minh, manages the operations at a Beachwood clothing manufacturer. They have embraced the boating life and just upgraded from a 16-foot to a 27-foot sailboat, a 1969 Tartan sailboat from a builder in Fairport Harbor.
"When I was in college, I sailed on lots of racing boats, and I fell in love with the idea of buying a sailboat some day," Mike Suster said. After college he worked on a schooner that took people out to see the coral reefs, but "I didn't think I was going to make a career out of being a deckhand on a boat.
View full sizeA sailboat just off the shore of Edgewater Park does not let a huge freighter bother it on Lake Erie on Monday afternoon, July 21. "Then, a couple of years ago, as the kids were getting to the right age, I bought a little sailing dinghy, and everybody kind of fell in love with it," he said. "We trailered it out to Lake Ladue near Punderson [State Park], wrestled it into the water, and by the time we got going it was a two-hour ordeal."
So when they heard about a bigger boat for sale out of Edgewater Yacht Club, they went to check it out and bought it. "There's a pretty loyal following of Tartan boats because they're pretty well built fiberglass boats," Suster said. "There's a whole local racing scene that goes on at the yacht club."
Minh Suster has taken a sailing class, their 12- and 10-year-old sons have taken sailing camp two summers in a row, and now they go sailing at least two or three times a week.
"We're just slowly becoming proficient at boating," Mike Suster said. "We're not going out there when it's 20 knots, but as a skipper, if the lake is nice and it's an easy, breezy day, it's great to just set sail and watch the sun go down together."