Local Marinas Struggle with Inventory from Supply Chain Shortages

A boom for boat buying occurred in 2020, as people sought ways to socialize outside and safely during the first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic, causing a massive sale of available inventory.

Two years later, the demand for boats has not waned, and the supply chain issues that have led to shortages in baby formula and high gasoline prices have trickled down to local marinas, who report having difficulty maintaining inventory and keeping parts and pieces ready for repairs.

“In mid-April, end of April, of 2020, interest in boating just shot crazily up,” said the director of marketing at Strong’s Marine, Bridget Rymer. “Because it was one of the things you could feel relatively safe doing.”

The boom in boat buying was something expected to pass last year, but supply chain shortages have continued, while the demand for new vessels remains high.

Strong’s Marine, which is based in both Mattituck and Southampton, continues to aggressively pursue buying used boats outright, whether owners want to take advantage of the market high or just want to take a season off from boating.

Strong’s Marina is thankful to have long-standing relationships with manufacturers, says Rymer, so that while there have been challenges, they have boats. Their selection is still plentiful, although not as diverse as usual, she said.

“Clearly, supply remains an issue,” said Rymer. “Along with supply, there are price hikes left and right.”

Strong’s Marine stocked up on parts when the boat buying boom started, to be prepared for the increase in demand and the fact that boats could still be missing pieces at the factory, preventing them from being delivered.

And that appears to have paid off. According to Rymer, Strong’s Marine currently has 122 available boats, including boats that are in production.

Spellman’s Marine in Hampton Bays features dual-console and center-console boats, and their busy season starts once the weather warms and people want to start spending time on the water.

“It’s still a very limited inventory based on the pandemic,” Kent Spellman, a sales and marketing specialist with the company, said.

Spellman noted that many of their incoming boats are missing pieces or are without motors because of supply chain issues. The parts they need are back-ordered or there are difficulties shipping them to the United States.

“It’s not business as usual,” Spellman said. “Normally, we would have a ton of inventory right now, and there are a lot of holes that are empty.”

Hamptons Marine Center in East Quogue is waiting for boats ordered 18 months ago, with supply issues making it difficult to get delivery.

According to owner Liz Scopinich, Hamptons Marine Center sells the Release line of high-performance fishing boats, and went from selling 16, 20 and 24 boats a year to selling just one or two.

“The line of boats that we sell is a small line — it’s not like Grady White or Boston Whaler,” said Scopinich. “All those companies get preference. “So even though we sell a lot of these boats when there is inventory, they can’t get motors, they can’t get windshields. The supply chain is all over the place.”