Boating industry facing supply chain, inflation issues in early 2022
Date Posted: February 7, 2022
Source: FOX11

Staff Pick: This is one of the news stories our staff is reading this week.

Boats sit in the Resch Expo on Feb. 6, 2022 at the Green Bay Boat Show. (WLUK/Nick Harrington)

 

ASHWUABENON, WI - After last year's boating boom, the trend continues in 2022.

Mitch Mogensen of Ken's Sports believes people assume boats aren't available, but the Resch was full of Pontoon's over the weekend.

He says like many other industries across the country, some manufacturers are struggling to keep up with supply.

"There's definitely some slowness around some things," said Mogensen. "Especially right now with electronics, fishing graphs and trolling motors, that kinds of stuff."

The boating industry is not immune to supply chain and inflation issues, but there's still time to get your new boat in the water for the start of the season.

Bret Uptagraft of Skipperbud's in Oshkosh says cost hikes are hitting the industry hard, and it goes further than the price of parts.

"There's inflationary costs of labor, there's inflationary cost of materials, you're seeing price increases on a lot of this stuff," said Uptagraft. "There's fiberglass manufacturers that have had a problem getting resin for a long time, there's canvas manufacturers having trouble getting the material, there's engine manufacturers having trouble getting this part or that part or whatever else."

Still, he adds those issues have improved over the last 18 months.

He has this rule for smooth sailing.

"The good news for consumers is if we order the boats early and got them in early," said Uptagraft. "We're avoiding those price increases, so obviously pricing is better now than it's going to be in July."

 

Explore More News & Articles In Specific Cruising Areas
Recent Videos
Plan Your Boating Adventures with Waterway Guide
Waterway Guide's new Mobile App on iPad Mini with maps, data links, and downloadable guide books
Fuel Prices for Boating at Waterwayguide.com
Purchase a Guide
  • 4,000 Marinas
  • Thousands of anchorages
  • Updated Charts
  • Mile-by-Mile Navigation
  • Highlighted Alerts & Cautions
  • Full-Color Aerial Photographs
Download The App

The Waterway Guide App Makes it easy to leave reviews, use our explorer, and view waterway guide materials all on the go!