Fishing and boat expo lures local buyers

J. L. Benson knows he probably shouldn't buy another boat -- and again make himself the butt of that old joke about a hole in the water that its owner fills with money. His 15-foot bass boat hasn't seen water in three years, and his tree service business has been slow.

But he was still tempted by the prices at this year's Bass and Saltwater Fishing Expo -- a spate of bargains that underscore the economic uncertainty that has made many leery of making such luxury purchases.

"It's a buyers' market, but only if you have the money to buy," said Benson, who is from the Johnston County town of the same name and said prices at the show Sunday seemed to be as low as those of five years ago.

After several years of booming sales, fewer boats were sold nationwide in 2007 than in 1991, according to the trade publication Boating Industry. And boat sales were down nearly 30 percent through May of 2008 from the year before, the publication reported.

The low sales have caused many boat makers to lay off workers and close factories -- including in North Carolina, where manufacturers have shut down several factories and laid off hundreds of workers. That's a drastic downturn from 2007, when the state had more than 100 manufacturers employing more than 4,000 workers.

Signs of the slump at the show on Sunday included a backlog of saltwater boats from 2008 and 2007 for sale -- a hardship for dealers who pay interest on their inventory much as a consumer would. Incentives to buy, a staple of the boat show, were more generous than usual.

"These are survival times," said C.W. Hamilton, owner of Angler's Marine in Supply, a town in central Brunswick County.

Hamilton saw hopeful signs at this weekend's show -- the first of the season in North Carolina, which many dealers use to gauge prospects for the year's sales. He made several sales and said more people than he expected seemed serious about buying.

Several factors have improved since last year, which most dealers said was the worst they'd seen: gas prices and interest rates have both dropped dramatically.

And there's a certain sporting type who sees a 20-foot bass boat as just the ticket to escape the endless doom and gloom of bad economic forecasts.

"Some people are ready to get past all that and go have some fun," said Henry Sikes of boat maker Pioneer, who said his sales were better than at last year's show.

Several dealers said that big-ticket deep-sea sportsfishing boats and relatively cheap bass boats were selling well, evidence that the wealthiest buyers are undeterred by the hard times, while others are perhaps waiting to upgrade to bigger boats.

Robbie Wooten, owner of Wooten's Marine in Rocky Mount, said the economic ripple effect, particularly from the housing industry, is simple.

"If plumbers and electricians and carpenters don't have jobs, they can't buy boats," Wooten said.

Still, many buyers eyeing the deals at this weekend's show said they could afford the boats they wanted. They were more concerned about taking on a monthly payment with economic forecasts calling for more layoffs in 2009.

"It's a gamble," said Lloyd Mares of Wilmington, who nonetheless was edging his wife toward taking the plunge.