We have seen technological advancements drive tremendous change in the boating world. Most prominently, these new technologies have improved the boats themselves – more on-board electronics and capabilities, better boat building processes and materials, connected apps and more. But outside the boats, technology is helping the businesses who enable boating – marinas! One such area is marina management software. What was once (and still, often, is) done with pen and paper and endless file folders can now be streamlined in a do-it-all marina software suite. Slip reservations, service work orders, inventory management, invoicing, and more are available at the tips of our fingers. This improves the efficiency of the business, surely. But is also improves the boating experience for the customer with easier tracking of billing, online payments and reservations, and the ability to quickly pull up a service history on a boat. I recently spoke with Lucas Isola, founder of Molo (disclosure: we use Molo as our marina management service provider), a management platform for marina businesses. When Lucas saw a marina owner struggling to keep track of their business, he combined his lifelong passion for boating and deep tech background in the medical industry to try to solve this problem. The result, Molo, is an iPad and web-based software that helps marine businesses gain efficiency and offer new levels of customer service. We discuss how software is helping boaters and marina owners, his life in boating, how he got his family into boating, and more. Enjoy!

Anchors Aweigh

Simplifying Marina Management and Boat Ownership

There have been some extremely exciting developments in the electric boating space in the past year. PURE Watercraft raised over $37million to continue their expansion. Vision Marine had a successful IPO. Torqeedo delivered its 100,000th motor. And a variety of smaller companies are making strong plays as the space grows. While the momentum is exciting, it is clear there is still a long way to go to make electric a widely adopt way to power a boat. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Graham Balch, Managing Broker of Green Yacht Sales. Graham is an avid sailor and joined the boating industry after stints as a consultant, educator, getting his MBA and then shifting course and starting in the brokerage business before launching his own venture. Before striking off on his own, Graham distinguished himself in the brokerage world with a variety of performance awards, including Highest number of sailboat sales out of 300 sales reps nationwide. Green Yachts began in 2019 and is dedicated to supporting the electric boating community on the water by selling, servicing, and advocating electric powered boats. Green Yachts aspires to helping customers who want the benefits of electric propulsion while enjoying inspiring, well-made, award-winning boats. I learned a lot from Graham and love his strategy of making sure people who do go electric are successful with it. This means making sure they have not only the right motor, but the right boat, the right technical skills, and the right expectations. Graham and I discussed what drove him to focus on electric boating, design and technological advances and needs, what consumers can look for in the future, and more. Enjoy!

Finding Success With Electric Sailing

In the five years I have spent as part of the boating industry, I have often tried to put into words how impactful boating can be for creating memories, sharing experiences, and just spending quality time with family and friends enjoying the beauty of being on the water. In that time, I don’t think I have ever done it as effectively as Jesse Simpkins does day in and day out. Jesse is the Director of Marketing for St. Croix Rods and was recently named the Chairman of the Board of the American Sportfishing Association. You can tell even from this short conversation that Jesse eats, sleeps and breathes fishing, and loves sharing it with others. From conservation efforts to ensure strong fisheries, to improving rod technology making the experience more enjoyable, access to fishing is a major focus for Jesse in both his product and advocacy roles. We discussed Jesse’s first fishing experiences on a farm pond, his evolution into the serious angler he is today, great products coming out of St. Croix (and what goes into them), and some of the important advocacy issues the industry is tackling around Conservation. Enjoy!

Giving Anglers the Upper Hand

I had a great conversation with Derek Horner, content manager at ANGLR. ANGLR is a fishing intelligence platform built for anglers by anglers that consists of a free fishing logbook, app that syncs across mobile and web devices, optional tracking accessories and community of anglers who are passionate about growing and helping others grow. ANGLRs goal is to empower anglers through measurement, learning, and collaboration using both data and technology, elevating their fishing experience. The app helps plan, record, and relive their fishing successes, and failures, to improve their ability to catch more fish the next time out.   After Derek made the jump from hobby angler to serious angler, he started tournament fishing which led him to Penn State University where he was the Captain of the fishing team. Soon after graduating, he ‘hooked up’ with the ANGLR founders and helped grow the fledgling company to where it is today. We talked about the resources he used to go from amateur to tournament winner, how technology is changing the game in fishing, new things coming from ANGLR in V2 and more!

Becoming a Better ANGLR

It has been a very interesting time to be in the boating industry. Right when we would normally be ramping up and commissioning boats for the spring, doing the boat show rounds, and seeding future sales, Covid-19 hit and we were shut down. Soon after, the term ‘social distancing’ became part of our lives and it became more and more clear that outdoor activities, away from other people, were the safest ways to have fun this summer. Boating quickly saw a surge in interest like we have never seen before and we have had our busiest summer yet! From initially thinking we may lose an entire season of boating, to setting sales records, it has been a roller coaster ride but we are thrilled to see so many new people getting hooked on boating. I recently spent some time chatting with Skip Sorenson with this as a backdrop. Skip started his career as a fourth-generation shipbuilder and since has achieved proven value creation results for both public and private equity companies. He has been involved in multiple restructuring and process improvement initiatives as both a CEO and CFO. Sorenson has been involved in a multitude of M&A transactions during his career, selling and purchasing both private and public companies. He was awarded "CFO of the Year" by DCEO Magazine in 2011. Skip launched Anchors Aweigh Capital in 2013. Anchors Aweigh Capital is a boutique investment banking firm formed to pursue the buying and selling of maritime related businesses, including shipping, tankers, and ship and boat building companies, as well as industrial, alternative energy, and technology companies. Since the founding of the firm, AAC has investigated and facilitated multiple boat and shipbuilding transactions, including the facilitation of the acquisition of Intrepid Powerboats, a major, center console boat brand. The firm has recently been hard at work acquiring notable boating companies, including Century Boats and Vanquish Boats. Skip is also hard at work building membership in the Club Yacht Charter business, making luxury yacht charters more accessible through fractional charters. Skip and I discussed growing up in a boatbuilding family, the recent M&A push in the boating industry, how the pandemic has affected boaters and boat companies, the impact technology is having on boating, and more, enjoy!

Investing in the Growth of Boating

Boating to the Rescue Boating has long been thought of as a great way to enjoy nature, spend quality time together with loved ones, and disconnect from our busy lives to get away from it all. Now, more than ever, those qualities of boating are the reason it is positioned to be the perfect social distancing activity in our Covid-19 world. We, like many, have been homebound for a month plus. All social engagements and activities for our kids have been cancelled. Cabin fever is real. And now, with warm weather approaching, along comes boating! We know that boating is going to look different – for example we won’t be inviting anyone outside our immediate family on board any time soon – but it remains the number one thing we are looking forward to doing over the next several months. And, we are happy that marinas have been considered essential so that we can work to provide the same relief to others! In this context, I was able to speak with David Gee, Editor-in-Chief of Boating Industry Magazine, to discuss his life on the water and the current state of the boating industry. David has tremendous enthusiasm for boating and particularly watersports, and his optimism about the future of boating as a family pastime and as an industry where we make our living is highly encouraging! As he said when discussing how boating is positioned to meet the need of the moment, ‘Boating to the Rescue!’ Enjoy and stay healthy!

Boating to the Rescue!

Bringing Generations Together With the Waketoon What do you get when you combine two of the fastest growing segments in boating? The Avalon Waketoon! Combining all the elements that made pontoons popular – space, comfort, increased power, and extra amenities – with the ability to surf behind the boat led to an NMMA Innovation Award at the recent Minneapolis Boat Show and lots of headlines after. The waketoon does not use ballast to accomplish its surf wake, providing many benefits including time savings and limiting the transportation of invasive species. Jim Wolf is the President and CEO of Avalon & Tahoe Manufacturing. Jim grew up boating on lakes big and small throughout Michigan and still enjoys many of those same bodies of water today. Jim has grown Avalon from 70 employees to over 400 while increasing sales revenue almost 20x since purchasing the company in 2002. Jim and I spoke about growing up as a boater, how he ended up at Avalon, and some of the key engineering innovations behind the waketoon. Enjoy!  

Bringing Generations Together - The Waketoon!

From Shark Fishing to Shark Tank   We talk about technology in boating a lot, and will only continue to do so more and more. The genius in Vance Zahorski’s invention is that he saw people with thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in electronic technology designed to aid them in catching fish, and when they got them on the boat or to shore, they were fumbling with nail clippers or knives or you name it to cut the line. He thought there had to be a better way and went out and created it.   Line Cutterz are sleek, adjustable rings with a double-sided blade perfect for quick and efficient cutting of mono-filament and braided fishing line and they can now be mounted to virtually any smooth, flat surface. Line Cutterz can cut light and heavy fishing lines used in most types of freshwater and saltwater fishing. They can also be mounted to fishing rods, boat rails, and even kayak seat posts. Vance got his big break after appearing on prime time hit show Shark Tank. He has now expanded the product line and grown the business significantly.   Vance discovered his love of fishing at a young age fishing on the lakes of Wisconsin with his grandpa catching sunnies, bass, walleye and northern pike. He fished year-round including ice fishing in the Wisconsin winters. As he got older, he expanded his love of fishing to include ocean fishing and kayak fishing.   We had a chance to talk a LOT about fishing and his really cool experiences in the sport, how Line Cutterz was born, what they are doing to give back and get more young people involved in fishing, and more!

From Shark Fishing to Shark Tank

Amazon, Google, Facebook….Brunswick. What do all these companies have in common you might ask? All will be exhibiting at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. While you don’t often see marine brands lumped in with these technology titans, Brunswick has made innovation a key focus as technology becomes a bigger and bigger part of boating. From launching an innovation lab in partnership with the University of Illinois, to leading the way in connected boating with Nautic-On, Brunswick has recognized that in order to continue growing boating participation, technology must play an important role. Lee Gordon has been able to combine his passion for the boating lifestyle with his skills as a communicator and storyteller honed from years as a journalist to take on the role of Director of Marine Public Relations and Communications for Brunswick Corporation. Lee Manages global public relations, communications and media activities to support all marine brands under the Brunswick portfolio including Mercury Marine, Brunswick's boat group and Business Acceleration division. Lee is in charge of communications for, it is safe to say, one of the largest marine companies in the world. Lee had a 15 year career as an Emmy nominated TV news/sports anchor for CBS and FOX, winning 25 Associated Press awards while covering some of the world's biggest events such as Hurricane Katrina, 9/11 and various Super Bowls. All the while, he took every opportunity he could to get out on boats after having great boating experiences growing up in Chicago. I recently had an opportunity to meet Lee, and to see him present, at our franchise conference as Brunswick purchased Freedom Boat Club this year, and after seeing him present I knew I had to have him on the show. He did not disappoint, as we talked about what got him into boating initially and the positive impact it has had on his life, fun stories from the boating industry life, some of the key Brunswick initiatives including presenting at the Consumer Electronics show, and more!  

Innovation and Inspiration on the Water

Anyone who has been following the podcasts probably can tell I have a particular interest in electric boating. That's why I was so excited to connect with Mark and Tim from Templar Marine.  Templar - whose mission is to eliminate our carbon footprint on global waterways and provide affordable, year round, eco- friendly, low maintenance electric boating to the general public, for personal use and for small commercial use such as water taxis, eco lodges and sightseeing tours - has designed a very unique and innovative electric boat line. Utilizing the same hull design but offering several versions and styles, they have been able to economically build stylish electric boats for personal and commercial applications. Tim Bieber has been boating his entire adult life and when we saw the concept being rolled out he instantly knew that this was the future of boating that he hoped for.  Tim and I discussed his passion for boating, the attributes of the Templar line, and much more! 

Electric Boating From the Ground Up

Alexander Watson is an entrepreneur, adventurer, and lately, an author. With his wedded partner Dale Harris, Alexander rescued his family business, a furniture studio, built a portfolio of rental properties, and then sold it all to restore a vintage motor yacht and travel ‘The Rivah’. Watson’s book, River Queens – Saucy Boat, Stout Mates, Spotted Dog, America tells of their escape from the urban jungle and passage through the nation’s midsection. It is full of stories from the finding of the boat, to the characters they met along the way, to the challenges presented on the river. Their boat, Betty Jane, A forty-five-foot wooden motor yacht built in the height of the Korean War is hardly an extravagance; it is an obscenity. Promoted as part of Chris Craft’s "Freedom Fleet" for 1955, it had all the conveniences of a well-appointed home at twice the cost. She had fitted carpets, polished mahogany paneling, an en-suite for the owners, and quarters for the crew. The journey starts with an over-the-road transport from Lake Texoma, the impounded Red River on the Texas/Oklahoma border, to Applegate Cove Marina on the Arkansas River, one hundred miles south of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The journey ends at Cincinnati, Ohio on Labor Day Weekend 2009.  Alexander is primarily the deckhand. He is better able to shinny down docks and throw lines. He swabs the decks and shines the brass. He is also the painter, plumber, and carpenter. His upbringing in the world of fine furniture and interior design gives him intrinsic understanding of fine joinery and finishing. We discuss how Alexander got into boating, and specifically how he and Dale decided to take this journey. The book is full of colorful characters and vivid experiences from their time on the river and though you will get a sense of it from our conversation, we very specifically left a lot of the book in the book so that you can pick it up and give it a read. Enjoy!

River Queens - Saucy Boat, Stout Mates, Spotted Dog, America

Alex Caslow, with his wife KC, founded and owns Red Beard Sailing, the official US dealers for MiniCat, Xcat, Reverso, and RowOnAir brands. Alex was introduced to sailing by his grandfather at a young age and has been able to turn that passion into a career, helping others experience the same joy he gets out on the water under sail. In 2015, they did some extensive research looking for a portable sailboat option as consumers, and were so blown away by the MiniCat that they built a business around it. They then added XCat and later Reverso and RowOnAir, and Red Beard Sailing started to take off. The flagship line, Minicat, is a unique, small and light, but full-bodied sailing boat – a catamaran with inflatable floats. With excellent sailing characteristics and simple control, MiniCat appeals to young budding yachtsmen, experienced sailors, and even world explorers such as Laura Dekker. All MiniCat models fit in a car, camper, yacht, or on a plane. They can be assembled in 30 minutes or less, with no extra tools required. Alex and KC have decided that will be involved in many charitable sailing events nationwide and have made it part of their mission to keep today's youth involved with sailing and provide children everywhere with an opportunity to experience the sport. Hope you enjoy my conversation with Alex ‘Red Beard’ Caslow.

Making Sailing More Portable, Affordable, and Accessible

Kelsey Albina is currently the Communications Manager for Seakeeper, Inc. Seakeeper is the global leader in marine stabilization. Seakeeper’s innovative technology changes the boating experience by eliminating up to 95% of all boat roll, the rocking motion that causes seasickness, fatigue and anxiety. Kelsey is responsible for all internal and external communications for Seakeeper including:  Public Relations, social media, email, their ambassador program, corporate communications, and corporate responsibility. Prior to Seakeeper, Kelsey worked at Bonnier as the Marketing Manager of the Fishing Group. Kelsey grew up on and around the water and always knew she wanted to find a career that harnesses that passion. In fact, she has enjoyed boating trips with three generations of family members aboard so she never really had much of a choice! Kelsey’s mother grew up boating in the Bahamas and passed that passion right down. Kelsey was racing sailboats with her mother at a young age, became scuba certified and still enjoys big diving trips. She currently has a boat of her own with her fiancé, and truly lives the boating lifestyle. We discussed her days spent on the water as a child, great boating and diving trips she’s had, the incredible innovations happening at Seakeeper that are allowing more people to enjoy boating, and more! Enjoy!   Growing up Boating..... I’ve been on the water longer than I can actually remember. The first thing that really comes to mind was when I was five years old and my mom had a Hobie 16 and we were going camping off one of the little islands where I grew up. This was Easter weekend and I was devastated that the Easter bunny wasn’t going to be able to find me. She assured me that the Easter bunny has a canoe and I have nothing to worry about and of course I woke up that morning and the Easter bunny had found me on the island and the basket was waiting for me! Learning Boating Skills..... My mom has a passion for boating as well, she grew up in the Bahamas so it’s been something that’s been a part of my life for my entire life. I did sailing lessons when I was little. We’ve always had boats. We started out in sailing then became traitors and got into power boats. She’s the one who taught me everything pretty much. We became this well-oiled machine of me crewing for her on our own boats. By the time I got old enough to do it myself, I knew what I was doing. Boating in the Bahamas..... We went to Freeport, Nassau, and Eleuthera growing up and more recently she took me to the Abacos and we rented a boat over there and did some snorkeling and saw the Green Turtle Club. It’s a big boating and fishing club on Green Turtle Quay. Her mom and dad ran it for over a year. Life Below the Water..... My favorite thing is scuba diving. I now have my advanced open water certification and try to plan a trip every year. This past year my fiance and I went to Belize to do the Great Blue Hole which is just about the depths of recreational diving limits. It’s this big sink hole where when you get down to the right depth there’s these big stalagtites that hang down and stalagmites and you can swing among them and then maybe 20 feet below you there’s sharks circling this giant black pit. It was a little bit scary but exhilarating. There's something called the Wreck Trek which you can do in the keys. You go from the upper keys to the lower keys and they stop at all the different wrecks on the reefs there. Favorite Places to Boat and Dive..... Diving it would be Belize, there's just so so much life there. My favorite place to boat is in my home waters. Somewhere where you know what the weather has done to the landscape, and you can predict when a storm is coming through and you just know the area. That’s the easiest and most comfortable place for me to boat so just being home on my boat is my favorite place. Current Boating Lifestyle..... We have a 15’ Boston Whaler. We adopted it from my mom. She upgraded from the Whaler and has a 25’ Rosborough which is a more Northern Trawler style boat so she can spend the weekends on the boats. I think the people who live on their boats are so, so awesome. Having the ability to just go out whenever you want and all your stuff fits in this compact place. I think that lifestyle, even if it is just for a short period of time, would be such a challenge and you learn so much about boating and yourself, I think it sounds awesome. Seakeeper's Role in the Boating Experience..... Seakeeper is the global leader in marine stabilization. It takes all the side to side roll out of your boating trip at rest or under way. It is a gyroscopic stabilizer so it has no external appendages. We can stabilize boats as small as 27 feet up to over 200 feet. It has an active computer control so it can automatically detect the sea conditions and react instantaneously, there’s nothing you have to set. Seakeeper's Growth..... The growth is booming. It’s hard to keep up with how fast we are growing. In February we launched the Seakeeper 2 and that’s our smallest Seakeeper to date for boats 27-32 feet. We launched the Seakeeper 5HD which is our heavy duty model mostly for commercial and military applications in July. We expanded the factory and added twelve new assembly lines. We opened an office in Italy and grew out of our headquarters in Maryland and got a larger office there. And have had a couple of OEM manufacturers that have standardized Seakeeper. Bertram standardized across their entire fleet and Scout standardized on some of their models as well. Our goal is to get down to about 21 feet. We want to make the water accessible for as many people as possible and make Seakeeper a reality for the average boater. We even have somebody on the Keys who is going to be one of our Ambassadors this year. He has a 23 foot Sailfish and he has a Seakeeper on it. The lengths are a guideline but if you have the space that thing will work on a smaller boat. Seakeeper's Corporate Responsibility..... We’re going to have two different areas that we want to give back to. One of them will be the more environmental organizations that are making sure that our waterways are around for future generations so that everyone can continue to enjoy them. The second factor will be focusing on the ways that we can give access to everybody and making sure that their time is enjoyable on the water. How to Join the Lifestyle..... For a lot of people, and I speak from a woman’s perspective - just start small. You don’t have to go out and buy a brand new 27 ft center console and launch it by yourself the first day. There are so many ways you can start small. Whether that’s getting a kayak or canoe or something you can manage yourself, or something like joining a boating club where you have help and assistance and somebody to do some of the work so you can get used to being on the water. Inevitably when you start small, you’re going to want to get bigger and bigger as you learn more. You’re going to want to go farther and stay out later and break those boundaries and that’s when you get the confidence to take the next step.

From Sick to Smiling, Transforming the Boating Experience

Matt Putnam is a founding partner and Managing Director of the Leisure Property Advisors. He specializes in the sale of marina, golf and leisure properties throughout the United States and Canada. Prior to becoming a broker, he served as the financial analyst and marketing coordinator for the National Golf and Resort Properties Group for two years. Matt has held an active real estate license since 2006 and been in the Leisure Properties industry since 2009. In addition to investment sales, Matt and his team focus on building advisory relationships with clients and routinely provide market research, financial analysis and management best practices at every point through the property ownership life cycle. Matt has served a wide range of clientele from single property owner-users to $100B pension funds and everything in between. Matt has been a part of transacting more than 40 leisure properties since 2011. Matt served as the national marina director at Marcus & Millichap and was an integral part of launching and building the marina division there.  Matt grew up in Florida on and around the water starting boating and fishing from a young age with his grandparents. Matt’s had lots of experience owning his own boat and as a Freedom Boat Club member and still gets out on the water and makes it a big part of his family’s life with his wife and his daughter. Matt and I talked about his experience growing up around the water, how he got into leisure properties, some really great insight into what’s going on in the marina ownership world, and most importantly for boaters, advice on how to pick a marina and what to look for when you’re deciding on where to keep your boat. Growing up in Florida….. I am in Tampa and I’ve lived my whole life in Florida. I grew up in Dunedin, on the water on the west coast. I grew up with an appreciation for the water. My grandparents grew up in Englewood and we did a lot of fishing and boating and developed an appreciation for the water early on. As far back as I can remember I was fishing at the dock at my grandparent’s house. My grandpa had two boats so we would go fishing regularly and if I wasn’t on the boat I was on the dock or the seawall fishing. They also had a home up on Saginaw Bay and we spent a lot of summer time there in the water and on the water. I didn’t start fishing in the area I live until early high school when some of my friends started to have access to parents’ boats so I’ve been fishing in this area about 20 years. Learning to drive the boat….. We had a couple experiences here and there from a pretty young age but it didn’t always go well. My grandparents lived in a canal and there was always the prospect of turning a boat around in a tight space. I remember trying to help my grandpa do that on a couple occasions that always ended with him taking the wheel and setting the boat back in the right direction. Owning a boat….. My first experience with my own boat was once I moved back here from the Panhandle. I tease my wife, we had dated for quite a while and I bought my first boat before I bought her engagement ring so that was the tone that I set and she always teases me about that. We had a Maverick flats boat that we spent a lot of time fishing here locally and trailering down to the Keys for lobster season and to fish and dive down there. The family boating lifestyle….. My wife didn’t grow up boating in the capacity that I did but she took to it from early on in our relationship. She loves being on the water. We’ve got a four-year-old little girl that now has the same affinity for being on the water whether it’s fishing or just cruising out to an island and spending time in and around the water. And our dog is the same, he loves to be on the boat as well. Joining Freedom Boat Club….. We sold our boat when we were pregnant. It was a flats boat, very low to the water gunwales and we didn’t want a toddler moving around on a boat that didn’t offer a whole lot of protection. We sold it with the idea that we would get a bigger boat and life got in the way. Earlier this year we finally said - we're sick of not being on the water in the capacity that we're used to and we love doing - so we joined Freedom Boat Club and we’ve gotten a heck of a lot of use out of it, both personally and I’ve gotten to use it for business. A typical day on the water….. Our day out on the water consists of fishing for a couple of hours, probably boating to a restaurant to grab lunch, and then spending time on our barrier islands here. I’ve got a friend of mine who owns a charter fishing business down here so the more serious fishing is done with him. We go offshore so we’re typically targeting grouper or snapper and every once in awhile we'll catch a cobia or kingfish. Current state of the ‘hot’ marina market….. These generational assets that have been in families for multiple generations and for whatever reason the next generation doesn’t have the interest, passion, or desire to take over the family business, we see that a lot. And there are a couple of big groups that are very well capitalized buying marinas in scale trying to execute on a business plan. You’ve got this top down consolidation, two or three big groups out there actively acquiring marinas. And it’s just like anything else. Once people see these big firms going after a product type, it becomes more desirable to them as well. At the end of the day, worst case scenario in a lot of cases, you end up with waterfront property! Helping marina owners….. We are a true full-service real estate firm. That means we’ve got folks that focus solely on debt and equity, we’ve got a valuation team that does appraisals, project management, all the way through the gauntlet of an ownership period. We’ve tried to position ourselves to add value through that whole period. Marina industry trends….. I see the marina space trying to transition to more of a country club type atmosphere. People don’t want to just show up, get on their boat and never interact with anybody. A lot of times it’s folks bringing clients to the marina and they want that high level of service, they want their boat to be gassed up, they want ice, they want the dockhand to know their name. Beyond that, having other service lines gives somebody a reason to store their boat at a particular location. Investors often times are looking at a marina and thinking – what else can I do here? Marina owners are looking at how they can get more potential boaters to their property. Helping boaters choose a marina….. You want to look at the age and condition of the facility. If you're going into a dry stack, age and condition of the forklift. You don’t want an old beat up fork lift that could scratch and ding your boat. Same thing goes for wet slip marinas. Old beat up docks can beat up your boat pretty quick. And then it's just, how is it staffed, what is the level of service. Those things are pretty easy to tell just walking in, talking to people behind the desk. Then it's - what comes with storing my boat here, when you pull it out of the water, are you going to flush the engine and hose it down. What hours are you available to put my boat in and take it out. Advice for boaters or aspiring boaters….. The best piece of advice that I’ve ever received is just take it slow. Boats don’t have brakes so trying to do anything too quickly generally works out pretty poorly. And be open to constructive criticism. The people that I see pick it up the quickest and become the safest boaters are the ones who are willing to learn and take advice from people who have been doing it a long time.  

You Bought a Boat, Now Where do You Put It?

Matt Sellhorst is the founder and CEO of Boat Dealer Profits and the creator of the SPLASH System guaranteed to help select dealers sell more boats, make more money and have more fun. Matt is the sales and marketing columnist for Boating Industry Magazine, host of the Boat Dealer Profits podcast and Boat Dealer Profits TV where he shares tips, tricks and tactics to boost profitability in any dealership willing to implement the ideas. Sellhorst has also been featured in the Movers and Shakers edition of Boating Industry and has spoken multiple times at the Marine Dealer Conference and Expo, Marine Retail University, dealer and manufacturer events and other industry conferences. His journey from a 'no-boat-selling-son-of-a-gun' to a top producer at a 6 location dealership to sought after coach and consultant to dealers around the world mean all of his strategies are based on real world, nose-to-nose, toes-to-toes experience that have been proven to work in today's changing boat sales environment. Matt grew up boating and still has a great love for being out on the water with family and friends. We talked about podcasting, how to have fun working in the boating industry (hint, it's not really work), the positive feeling of putting families in the right boat to start making memories of their own, and more. Enjoy! On his boating start......As a kid I remember it vividly. I was five years old, I had an older brother and a younger sister and my uncle talked my parents into getting into boating. I remember climbing up on the wheelwell, it was a 16’ Larson tri-hull, and I’m barely seeing over into the boat and from that day forward the Sellhorst family was boaters and I thought I was in Heaven. From that day forward its been a part of our family. Growing up in Nebraska, I went to little tiny lakes. Day one, I learned how to ski. My brother learned right away and I started on a little sled that you would pull behind and stand up on. My brother and I taught ourselves how to barefoot when we were about eighteen. It’s always revolved for us around family and friends. On his current boating lifestyle.....We have a lake place on the Lake of the Ozarks where we have a 22’ South Bay tritoon that we go out on all the time and we have a 32’ bowrider. If you’ve ever been on the Lake of the Ozarks, it can get pretty rough so that’s the cruising boat if you want to go explore. I’ve been going down there since I was five years old and I bet I haven’t been on a third of the Lake. It’s still my favorite place to be on the water. On fitting your boat to your lifestyle.....I’ve got two little girls and for me, it’s a tritoon. I can’t even believe I’m saying a pontoon is the way to go but just a 25-footer with the big outboards, that’s perfect for my lifestyle right now. I remember when I was actively selling and we could take the boats out and there would be a 28’ or 30’ cruiser out and I would pick the pontoon or the tritoon. Don’t get me wrong. Getting in the bowrider and putting the hammer down and hearing that thru-hull exhaust and those twins rumbling, that’s fun too but 90% of the time, it’s the pontoons. On getting into the boating industry.....When I was in college I worked at a local marina and it didn't feel like work. I got into finance and went through an IPO and started my own mortgage company. Everything was going great until the financial crisis hit and I had to make the hard decision to close the business. After struggling with that I decided I wanted to go to the Lake to work and do something I really love. My first year was nothing to write home about but the second year, there was a conversation I remember with Jeff Hall, he said you have to ask for the sale. You have to help them buy a boat. You have to actively ask them to take the next step of getting them involved with the lifestyle otherwise you are doing your client a disservice. On feeling good about putting clients in boats.....That vision of me at 5 years old and all the memories I made. Having all my college buddies coming out on the boat with my parents and my brother and sister, I mean who is hanging out with their family that much when they’re twenty years old? If you’re a boater, you probably do. If you know in your heart of hearts this is the right match for them, and they are capable and financially able to buy the boat, it’s your duty to get them to do it. It’s your job to get them through that fear so that they can have those memories. On the importance of having fun at 'work'.....There are a lot of ways to make money and with running a business, there’s challenge after challenge. Too often, all of the drudgery and wearing seventeen different hats, sometimes you’ve gotta step back and say, 'we don’t sit in a cubicle. We get to go to the lake and ride on boats and help people get involved in the boating lifestyle.' That’s pretty darn fun. It's so much fun to talk about how can we get this industry to grow, how can we get more people involved. There’s somebody that’s gonna make a memory that’s gonna stick for decades. On boat safety.....When we were at the lake, you wear your lifejacket from the time you leave the cabin and you take it off when you walk in the cabin and you’re ready to go to sleep. If you’re a kid and you’re at the lake, you’re wearing your lifejacket. It’s a non-negotiable rule. Several of things with kids, they know if it’s negotiable. When the boat’s moving, you’re sitting down. It’s what I would teach my clients when I did deliveries. Mom and Dad, whoever is handling the boat, you make the rules and you make the rules for all guests and all kids on the boats. Here is what I recommend – life jackets, always sitting, don’t reach your hand outside the boat when you’re coming to a dock. Just little things that you have to set the rules for your boat and your boating environment.   Matt has an incredible enthusiasm for the boating lifestyle and for spreading that love of boating to others. If you're a dealer, check out his site and find out how he can help grow your business. If you're a boater, find a salesperson whether you are buying a boat, joining a boat club, or any other way of joining the lifestyle who cares as much as Matt does about finding the right match for your lifestyle.   

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Anchors Aweigh is a podcast for all boaters, from aspiring to experienced. Featuring in-depth conversations with boating experts and industry leaders, and packed full of tips, tricks, gear, and industry info, boaters of all levels will come away with new skills and knowledge each episode.

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Anchors Aweigh

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