Boating season is right around the corner, and it goes without saying that you’re about to see a lot of parties out on the waves. If you’ve been thinking of making a change this summer, you should definitely consider buying yourself a boat. This is easily one of the best times to get one, and for a variety of reasons.
- Increase of Sales
- Economic Importance
- Easy to Travel
- Riding the Waves
The first reason is that the boating industry is doing very well for itself, standing at a value of more than eight and a half billion dollars. And each boat sold only adds to that sum. The annual sales of boats in the United States, as well as other marine products and paraphernalia, climbed 3% in order $37 billion in 2016. That upward trend is expected to continue throughout 2018, reaching even greater heights. This makes buying a boat a valuable investment, as the industry is only growing by the year.
Going along with the sales revenue, recreational boating also has a large economic impact within the United States, spanning over $120 billion annually. These funds have been shown to support over half a million direct and indirect American jobs and almost 40,000 small businesses. This means that whether you realize it or not, buying a boat is helping the economy and supporting the community, and that definitely makes the increase in sales that much more important, for both the industry and anyone interested in buying. However, the sales for the boating industry aren’t the only important thing.
Boats themselves would be nowhere as popular as they are if we didn’t have the means to move them from place to place. Approximately 90% of the boats you see out on the water are created with this in mind so that they can be hitched up to trailers and driven to the closest body of water. Adding on to this, virtually every American lives approximately an hour’s drive away from a navigable body of water, meaning you never have to travel far to enjoy your watercraft.
Even the recreational pontoon boats, known by many as “party” boats for their ability to easily fit ten of your closest friends for a fun time on the waves, can reach up to 22 mph with the max capacity.
Obviously there are a lot of boats to choose from, and a lot of different options such as choosing to look for a used boat for sale versus finding a boat dealer. There are also several brands to look into such as Artic Cat dealers, but speed and power are definitely factors you want to consider. You’re going to be riding the waves a lot, so you need to make sure you’re prepared for how the boat will handle under different conditions. If you think you’ll have a lot of guests, then pontoon boats are definitely an option. If you have children, then you might want to look into something that can easily handle pulling floats behind it.
There are a lot of considerations to go into buying a boat, but the industry has been booming for the past several years and is only growing with each passing year. Even if pontoon boats aren’t your style, you owe it to yourself to climb aboard while you can and find one that works for you. Happy sailing!