Humanity has long since had a close relationship to water, such as lakes, oceans, and rivers for everything from fishing and whaling to exploration, trade, and warfare. Today, more industrial uses for boats are relegated to shipping companies or national navies, but the world’s waters are still open for everyday citizens who love to visit marine environments, and among Americans in particular, there is a great love for boating, such as on pontoon boats, speedboats, or even kayaking. Some people today choose to rent boats for recreation or sports, and they may simply borrow or ride on a friend or relative’s boat. Others, meanwhile, have the budget and the interest in buying a boat for themselves, and there are some things to know before going out to find marine pontoons for sale or premier pontoons for sale. Other times, a buyer might be looking for a speedboat for sports such as wakesurfing, wakeboarding, or jet skiing. What might someone keep in mind when looking up marine pontoons for sale? What might pontoon dealers offer?
On Boats
Many Americans are on the market for boats of all kinds, such as marine pontoons for sale or speed boats or even kayaks, and this makes for a large 8industry, especially since most Americans live within an hour’s drive of a navigable body of water. For example, the National Marine Manufacturers Association, the NMMA, has said that they expect sales of new powerboats to climb around 6% or so, and an total of 260,000 new powerboats were expected to be sold in 2017 alone. The NMMA expects boat sales to grow elsewhere, too; it predicted another 5% to 6% climb in new boat sales in 2018, and there are plenty of Americans who are looking to buy. From 2015 to 2016, for a recent example, recreational marine sales rose 3.5%, and this brought them to a high of $36 in revenue in 2016. Many pre-owned boats sold well in this time frame, too; in 2016, around 981,600 pre-owned boats were sold across the United States for a total of $9.2 billion in sales. And overall, nearly 11.9 million registered boats could be found across the United States as of 2016, a number that is growing partly due to the increased interest among younger buyers such as the Millennial generation. Young adult buyers aged 25-35 or so often capture the interest of markets, since these young adults are just now becoming a major demographic of spenders. Young or not, how might someone today find the right marine pontoons for sale or powerboats on the market?
Finding the Boat Deal
Boats can be purchased on dry land often, and at larger retailers, they are often found on trailers designed to carry them around. Often, a boat can be taken to and from storage and bodies of water while it is loaded on a trailer with a hitch, and this is a common tactic among boat owners, and many boats may be bought with a trailer as a packaged deal, such as new boats. Marine pontoons for sale may come with such a trailer, and there are other advantages to buying new as well. A new boat will not have any maintenance or performance issues at all, and new boats will also have a full factory warranty and will also meet current standards for features, speed, power, and safety. For those who can afford new boats, they may be the most appealing option.
Some marine pontoons for sale may be used models, and this too can be a lucrative option, especially for those who consider a new boat out of their price range. A used boat can be a great deal, but it should be looked over and also taken for a test drive to ensure that the performance and motor are not impaired. The boat can also be looked over for leaks or holes, barnacles or mussels, sun-bleached surfaces, or even bad carpeting. Some issues are easier to fix than others. For example, worn out or dirty boat carpeting can be either cleaned out, or it can be torn up and replaced with brand new boat carpeting purchased from marine retailers.
