On Thursday morning at IBEX, I’ll have the pleasure of moderating a seminar discussion that includes an industry veteran and one of the really good guys in our business. Bing Fishman, who was the longtime Northeast regional sales manager for Grady-White, will be talking about the finer points of delivering great customer service and being an effective problem solver. (Read More…)

Last week we talked about the increased number of new models being introduced at the fall shows and we looked at new-boat forecasts for the year. (Read More…)

The round of fall shows got under way last week with the Newport International Boat Show, which drew good crowds and showcased more new models than I’ve seen since the start of the Great Recession. (Read More…)

My son and I spent the last two evenings scurrying around a dock, carrying a long-handled net and wearing headlamps as we checked lines baited with chicken legs. We were crabbing in the waning days of summer. And, yes, these were school nights for my seventh-grader, too. (Read More…)

My inbox after the holiday weekend was filled with enough incidents, accidents and cautionary tales to keep a boating safety class busy all winter. (Read More…)

This is a story about one of my grandfathers that I think illustrates a real strength of our sport and our industry. (Read More…)

Don Hyde knows that properly maintaining the systems on a boat is more difficult than keeping up with those in a big house that sells for 10 times the price of the boat. (Read More…)

The Queen Bee has returned to the hive in North Carolina, ending one of the strangest, most unlikely small-boat journeys in recent memory. (Read More…)

When does caution in hiring or expanding one’s business because of concerns about a stalling economy become a self-fulfilling prophecy? And when is that caution justified? (Read More…)

Ethanol was back in the news recently when a Phillips 66 service station in Lawrence, Kan., in July became the first in the country to offer E15. The station, which has 14 gas pumps and four for diesel, allows motorists to choose E10, E15, E30 or E85, with the higher levels suitable only for so-called “flex-fuel” vehicles. (Read More…)