Going boating...?

I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that all the slips in the marina where I keep my boat have been renewed for the upcoming season. Granted, this is a small, town-run facility with minimal services, but 100% renewal anywhere right now is a good thing. Given the market conditions, a nation's gross domestic product that decreased at an annual rate of 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter last year, the 10.3% unemployment rate here in RI, and the ever-increasing number of “out of business” signs on main street, it’s encouraging that boaters are still going boating.

My boat goes in on April 15th. (Yes, tax day!) I’m already counting down the days until I’m spending my afternoons aboard working on this or that. I look forward to that first gathering of friends to celebrate a Friday afternoon and the first trip to my favorite anchorage with my family. For me, it’s never been a matter of if I’ll put the boat in the water, but rather when. Sacrifices abound, but stop short of laying up the boat. Apparently, given the renewal rate at my marina, I am not unique.

Boats in the water keeps yards busy with launches and spring commissioning and may create some repair work. A family that uses its boat (as opposed to keeping it in the backyard) will spend money on boating supplies, fuel, food, ice, perhaps transient dockage, equipment upgrades (not everyone can resist the current sales on boating gear), and possibly—and positively for boatyards—service and repairs from those accidental groundings.

Considering all that’s happening around us, the fact that every slip in my marina has been renewed says a great deal about the nature of boating in general and is incredibly good news for our industry this season. At least for this moment, I’m allowing myself to be hopeful.