June 5, 2024 • 19 mins
Welcome to the first episode of the Portside Podcast. This episode features Nick Ohrdorf, the owner of Rocky Mountain Boat Company in Pueblo Colorado.
Nick also dives into the evolution of boating, from the days of direct-drive boats designed for minimal wake to today's advanced models with thousands of pounds of water ballast. They share valuable tips for new boat owners, including the importance of practicing on the water, choosing the right snacks, and the crucial role of communication and etiquette while boating.
The episode also explores the financial aspects of owning a boat, the benefits of buying from a dealership versus private sellers, and the importance of proper boat maintenance. Whether you're a seasoned boater or a curious newbie, this episode offers insights and advice to make your boating experience more enjoyable and less daunting.
Tune in to learn more about the boating lifestyle, the history of wake sports, and much more in future episodes. Don't miss out on the exciting journey ahead!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
What's up, guys? Welcome to episode one of the Portside Podcast.
I'm your host slash facilitator, Mia G.
I've had an awesome opportunity to meet with the owners of boat dealerships.
And we're going to get to chat with some professional wake surfers,
boaters that have been in this lifestyle since like the 80s,
which is super exciting.
(00:20):
And so we're going to jump into our first podcast.
But before I do that, let me give you a bit of a backstory.
Because I'm a total noob, I have so many questions.
And for my family and I, there's a huge learning curve when it comes down to boating.
And so if you have those questions too, I hope that this podcast will serve
as a resource for you to learn more and meet some really cool people who've
(00:41):
been doing this for a long time. So let's jump to episode one.
We're live here at Roam Mobile Co. Inside the Supra SE 550.
Some of you guys listening, watching, are probably going to
remember like the days of you know direct drive
boats back when water skiing was still a thing and and
the point was to not have a wake at all just to
be minimal and then people start stacking lead inside
(01:04):
of them and putting weights inside of them and sand bags
and anything you could to sink it deeper and deeper and deeper to get that wake
bigger as wakeboarding took off and now here we are in 2024 and some of these
boats have as much as 7 000 pounds of water ballast inside of them and And we're
literally paying top dollar to sink our boat.
(01:25):
That's crazy. I imagine that back in the day, people looked at you guys like you were crazy.
I think so. I think there were some that, and maybe we were a little bit.
I know like some of the guys on private lakes and all the guys down in Orlando
and different areas, like where you're on that, that water that's right out
your back door, like maybe not quite as sketchy as,
(01:46):
as those of us going out to the state park and, you know, 150 foot deep water
and, you know, the rub rails underwater the whole time.
And you take a turn to go get a rider and water splashing over and yeah.
Yeah. It got sketchy at times.
I always tell people when they buy a new boat from us, you know,
go out on the weeknight with no friends, you know, just you and your husband,
(02:09):
maybe the kids, if they're in control and practice, get super comfortable using your boat.
And then don't be afraid to be the captain. Everybody has that one friend that
like thinks they're extra helpful and they're trying so hard to,
to, to be the first mate. They're just not cutting it.
Don't be afraid to tell that friend to sit down and shut up. Oh man. Man. Yeah.
Like sometimes it has to happen. Like you're, you're in charge of this vessel.
(02:32):
You're the captain of the ship.
So with that being said, the, the snack thing. Yeah. Boater proof snacks.
You know, some big no-nos like no Cheetos or anything that leaves greasy fingers.
M&Ms and Skittles can fall between the seats and make huge messes.
Red Gatorades, anything with red dyes in them, get rid of them.
(02:54):
You know we like to take nuts and different things
like that because they're pretty safe you know my wife
will often bring sandwiches out and if you have a table like this which many
of the boats do you know those can be kind of nice to sit and have a snack but
otherwise like with the kids man sometimes i make them eat off the back oh really
sit back there with your life jacket and i'll eat here that makes sense yeah
(03:15):
so like no soluble like no cheese it's no potato
chips i see potato chips i mean some people would say no problem with them,
they leave a greasy finger but they don't leave like the the cheeto fingers
right like my little boy the stain eats cheetos and he's got orange fingers
and then he touches everything like yeah,
that's a no-go okay well i want to i want to backtrack because when you mentioned
(03:38):
about being the captain the boat i've actually found that you know if i have
a friend on board who's trying to be really helpful they tend to take orders
pretty well i think they can they can i think the harder Part or part is actually
conflict between family.
This is going to go back to one of my life lessons. Okay. Like communication
is the number one key in every relationship.
Right? Sure. Like, you know, if I'm assuming you're talking about dad, right?
(04:00):
And dad probably dropped the money for the boat and her brother didn't. Yeah, absolutely.
So at the end of the day, dad kind of holds the reins on that.
But is there a way to communicate the fact that maybe son is a little bit better?
Could he communicate that with dad? Or is it, is it you that's better that,
you know, maybe didn't have that communication?
Yeah. Assuming that the dealership you bought the boat from really taught you how to use it.
(04:25):
Well, you know, I mean, that's another really good point.
Not to change subjects too fast, but I think a lot of it is bad, not bad information.
I think miscommunication between the dealer and then the buyer. Yeah.
That's what's so hard too. Even from the dealership standpoint,
when a person buys a new or used boat, we take every one of them to the water
(04:47):
with them and teach them.
But what we found is sometimes that can be very, very hard.
You're excited. It's your new boat. You're going out on the water for the first
time. So like how much of that information does one person really retain?
And then that comment comes up to the point where, you know,
maybe your dad says, well, the dealer said this, but was that really what the dealer said?
(05:08):
So I would suggest anybody that if you're buying a new boat or already bought
a new boat, I know we'll do refreshers for customers a lot.
So like if things aren't going the way you think they should and you need that
refresher, you know, it's been six months since you had that thing in the water.
A lot of other dealers, I imagine, would do the same thing we do, but go out and refresh.
(05:28):
And if it's your first time or it's a second trip, I would suggest pulling out
that cell phone and recording what that dealership representative is telling you.
We call them delivery captains. Whatever your delivery captain is,
record him. Be able to go back and watch that and have that better.
That way the misinformation is gone, right? You have it. Well,
(05:49):
let's go back and see what we have. Let's go see what they said.
Yeah, it's definitely retention. to your point and that
was something that was interesting and maybe other
dealers do it but i noticed that you guys will actually have like a
database of content not even just like on social media
it's like a back end that you send customers to that's like hey if you got a
super 550 you know 2024 this is exactly how to you know navigate the screen
(06:12):
this is how to i mean is that is that pretty kosher you know i don't know if
there's another dealer out there that does it to be be honest within our dealer
network, the super movement brands.
I can't think of somebody else that's done it.
Doesn't mean there's not other, you know, Mastercraft dealers,
Malibu dealers, not teak dealers that are doing that.
I will say that, you know, we probably need to update that again,
(06:35):
because there's so much information and these things are changing so fast on
these boats, like the new technology.
So, but yeah, that's something that we created, have a backside kind of a portal
that they can go in and review the how-tos of the basics.
How does this screen work? How do you put it into surf mode? Where are the ballast?
You know, all those things like that's great resources that I would hope other dealers have.
(06:56):
And if they don't, I'd hope they'd get busy creating them. The easier we can
make boating, the more enjoyable it is for families.
I agree with you. And I think that was another question I had because I think,
you know, especially in the Pueblo circle, when people hear that you have a
boat, they're like, oh man, you must be loaded.
What is like realistically, do you have to be loaded to have a boat or what does that look like?
(07:21):
I guess it would just depend on what kind of boat you want.
Sure, sure. So I guess maybe we could, let me reframe that then.
What is the lowest entry point? Like not just the cost of the boat,
but you're thinking now gas, you're thinking about maintenance,
like what do you need to think about financially for you to think that maybe you could afford a boat?
You know, I think it's important to factor in the gas money.
(07:43):
One of the things, you know, I've been selling boats for a long time,
would always kind of pride myself in the fact that we put a person in the right
boat for them, not just the boat.
Whereas I think sometimes, you
know, dealerships, I always think about the certain car dealers, Right.
Like the movies of the used car salesman that's just there to hook you and trap
you. And it happens, unfortunately, humans are human. So we all fall short.
(08:06):
Sometimes you can get a salesman that just wants to drive you into that more
expensive boat because it has his pocket more or whatever that might look like.
But maybe you can barely afford that more expensive boat, but now you get that
and you can't afford the gas to put in it.
That's crazy. We should have looked at something a little bit less,
right? So obviously gas is an issue.
(08:27):
Typically, I found that most people end up getting a boat, all of a sudden they have more friends.
So make sure as the captain of your vessel you let
them know that your boat runs off of gas and not thank you because
thank you is great but it doesn't put gas in the tank so to
do that for sure but as far as like an entry point if you get into surfing and
(08:48):
you want something that's surfable i mean you can get into a good used v-drive
boat anywhere from 25 to 35 000 i would say that makes sense For something fairly decent.
And then there's probably some better deals out there if you're searching.
You can get into a really nice new surfable boat with a warranty for $89,000, you know, in a heyday.
(09:15):
You know, you can get into a really nice Mumba for around $100,000 and up.
And then, you know, everything just goes up from there. So again,
like, what's your budget, right? There's some great value lines out there.
A lot of different manufacturers make value lines.
And a great product with great bells and whistles and great features.
It's just not as expensive as the high-end stuff.
(09:36):
And the other thing to keep in mind too, like if you're considering buying a
new boat, a lot of times on the new boats, those price tags seem so daunting.
But what people don't realize is that often they'll loan those out for 20 years.
That's a long time. It's not like a car where it's like, you know,
every five and, you know, getting new and it's worn out by then.
(09:58):
Like, you take care of a boat, it'll last you a very long time.
So then if you're looking at that 20 to 40 range, and let's just say you're
thinking, you know, I want to maybe get a used, you know, an older Mumba or maybe a Taiga.
Is it better to go through? I guess like my thought is if I were looking for
a boat like that, I would not come to a dealership.
That'd be my first thought. Is that a misconception? Yeah.
(10:19):
There's a lot of peace of mind in a dealership, honestly. The one thing I'd
say about that is that, you know, I think when you buy from an individual,
there's some individuals out there that, you know, have taken really good care
of their boats and you can see it the second you go up.
And if you feel comfortable and you know a little bit about boating already, that's nice.
(10:40):
But if you don't, the dealership's going to do, like I said,
like we're going to take you to the water and teach you how to use it.
I don't know too many owners of boats who are selling through Facebook Marketplace
that are going to go take the time to teach you. They just want it gone.
It's going to be a transaction.
You're hooking up to the truck. You're giving them the check and you're rolling out and good luck.
And we saw a lot of that through COVID, right? A lot of people that got boats
(11:03):
that are out there on the water and they don't have the proper etiquette.
You know, they don't necessarily know what they're doing. They don't understand what the buoys mean.
You know, they can be reckless at times.
There's a lot to learn. There's a lot to know. So I think that the peace of
mind of buying from a dealership, A, because you know that that boat has been
inspected and serviced by the service department, and B, that you're going to
(11:28):
get an education on the water.
I think that that has some weight to it. And I think realistically,
most dealerships are going to
be in tune with the pricing that that individual's offering as well. sell.
So I don't think that you're going to be far off. Like on a comparable boat,
I know that anytime we take a boat in on trade, like we are searching to see
(11:51):
what else is out there for sale,
so that we know that we're going to be competitive with the pricing on it.
So I don't think you're going to pay much more at a dealership.
I think that's a misconception.
I think most dealers out there across the nation are going to be competitive
when it comes to used boat.
There's book values that are set on used boats, whether it's wakeboard boat,
(12:12):
a pontoon inboard, outboard, you know, those jet ski things,
they all have values that are set, but the market can also determine that, right?
So we always take a look, you know, what else is out there?
What other ones of this model are for sale across the nation,
whether it's from a private owner or from another dealership,
(12:34):
you know, and then we price ourselves to be competitive.
So the value of buying from a dealer is, you know, that it's going to be inspected.
You, hopefully the dealer's a dealer that takes you to the water and teaches
you about that boat, teaches you how to use it.
And then you get to, you know, make sure it's the boat that's right for you
when you go on that on water delivery and demo, if you will.
(12:57):
So, yeah. And that, that's across all of our boats, right? Like whether it's
pontoon boat or, or a runabout or, or the inboard, like I think you'll find
dealers to stay competitive even with the private sale market.
And then, yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense because I'm already thinking about
now, okay, I've got a boat, you know, I've bought it, you know,
whether it be at a dealership or private owned, now I'm kind of ready to trade up.
(13:21):
And I know, I know in the wake boat world, it's, you know, you kind of want
to trade up in that 200 hour range, 100, 200.
Is that, is that accurate? there's there's a there's a lot of different theories
on that right we used to say in in colorado anyway we would say that about 50
to 70 hours a year on a wakeboard boat was,
(13:42):
kind of an average whereas the runabout boat would get like 20 to 30 but typically
when you're buying a tow boat you know it's towing all day long right people
are surfing people are wakeboarding so it's constantly in motion so the hours
rack up a little bit higher once covid hit and came through,
it started to see like more like a hundred hours a year,
(14:02):
came more of a standard. Now this is in our region, right? We're in Colorado.
We obviously are not summer all year round, but very active lifestyles out here.
So a lot of customers getting a hundred a year. I think there's a threshold.
How well you take care of it can make a difference.
The one thing that I can say about a boat with high hours, the one thing I like
(14:23):
about a boat with higher hours is that tells you that it's been on the water doing its job.
Sometimes I I think a boat with more hours can actually be more appealing than
the one that has almost none.
You know, that's crazy. Something that you guys taught me was that sometimes
like you're, you're more likely to have issues with your boat within the first
few times of taking it out.
That's crazy. Yeah. Things like have to break in and settle in and do things.
(14:46):
The other thing we're finding too, especially, I mean, these boats that have
the superchargers and all these different things on them, those boats are designed to run.
They're designed to tow. They're designed to have loads on them.
So we're finding that our customers that maybe don't serve for wakeboard as often as other ones,
and they idle around a lot more, are having more issues with fuel delivery systems
(15:08):
and different things like that because they're not actually getting that boat and running it.
It that can also be we'd have to pull some of the service guys in
but that can also be true for a boat that
maybe doesn't get ran up to speed very
often right like you've ever heard the old saying of like grab grandma's car
and you know go blow the cobwebs out of it run it down the interstate because
you know i'm much older than you so but that was always like a thing i remember
(15:34):
people saying right like blow the cobwebs out of it because because grandma
never went past 35 miles an hour.
So go put that thing on the interstate and shake everything out of it.
Kind of the same theory. Like even with those people that are putting a hundred
hours a year on it, if you're only idling out of the no wake zone and then putting
it into surf mode at 11, 12 or 13, whatever miles per hour you surf at,
(15:55):
like you're not exercising the legs on that thing, right?
Like you want to get that boat up and run once in a while.
So drain your ballast, run it across the lake at 35 miles an hour,
vary your RPMs. Like, and I would say that's true with all boats,
not just the wakeboard boats.
Common misconception is that pontoon boats don't ever have to be serviced.
Well, they're in a wet environment all the time.
(16:17):
At some point in time, oil's going to get, you know, moisture in it.
I would suggest you do an oil change every other year. We're in a very tri-climate,
the impellers, the heart of the motor, you know, whether a V-drive, a pontoon boat,
you know, outboard, inboard, outboard, they all have impellers that are made
of rubber and then dry climb wear out.
(16:38):
And if you lose that, then you can overheat rather quickly.
So cycles and things like that, make sure you're paying attention to impellers
as well. There is some value in a boat that's been run 100, 200 hours.
That said, how much can I actually get if I were to trade in,
let's just say like a 2022 Supra? There's so many variables.
(17:01):
What I would tell you is that what I find is that typically on our repeat customers.
You bought that boat new from us in 2022 and now you're coming back in 2024,
2025 to trade it in. We really care about our customers.
Sure. So the trade-in price that you're going to get is going to be,
(17:21):
Maybe not as much as you could get if you sold it yourself, because we are in business.
But you're going to be treated really, really fairly. And the big thing,
I think, for people there, no matter what kind of boat you have,
if you're looking to get a new boat, the one thing you might consider about
in the trade-in is the fact of the tax savings.
(17:44):
So when you buy a new boat, if it's a $100,000 boat, you would pay tax on $100,000.
If your trade-in is worth $70,000, you're only going to pay tax on $30,000.
So there's a delta there that sometimes can make up the difference of you selling it on your own.
That makes sense. You know what I mean? Sometimes it makes sense to sell it
(18:06):
on your own, and I'm always willing to be super honest with the customer if
they want to, you know, like, this is what I can give you for it,
but there's no doubt in my mind you could sell it on your own and make a lot more.
Some customers just don't want to hassle with that. they don't
want to agree about selling themselves they just trust
in the dealership they come back every two or three years and they
trade in and get it you just keep rotating
(18:28):
but there's ticks and chips ticks tips and tricks yeah yeah that um we can talk
about in other episodes you got it of things you know backing the trailer docking
the boat things like that like i've done it by myself for a lot of years and
you know hez has as well and i know any salesman out there.
(18:49):
Delivery captain that's been doing this professional wakeboarder
professional surfer like we can all take care of the
boat on our own if we need to yeah but yeah it's nice to have a team around
you that's helping absolutely well thanks for tuning in i think in the future
we're going to talk about the history of wake we're going to talk about um kind
of what you've seen in in the history of you know boats on the water and what
(19:10):
that's looked like because i think it's has changed a surprising amount.
Yeah, and we're, you know, some great guests gonna be coming up.
Music.
What's up, guys? Welcome to episode one of the Portside Podcast.
I'm your host slash facilitator, Mia G.
I've had an awesome opportunity to meet with the owners of boat dealerships.
And we're going to get to chat with some professional wake surfers,
boaters that have been in this lifestyle since like the 80s,
which is super exciting.
(00:20):
And so we're going to jump into our first podcast.
But before I do that, let me give you a bit of a backstory.
Because I'm a total noob, I have so many questions.
And for my family and I, there's a huge learning curve when it comes down to boating.
And so if you have those questions too, I hope that this podcast will serve
as a resource for you to learn more and meet some really cool people who've
(00:41):
been doing this for a long time. So let's jump to episode one.
We're live here at Roam Mobile Co. Inside the Supra SE 550.
Some of you guys listening, watching, are probably going to
remember like the days of you know direct drive
boats back when water skiing was still a thing and and
the point was to not have a wake at all just to
be minimal and then people start stacking lead inside
(01:04):
of them and putting weights inside of them and sand bags
and anything you could to sink it deeper and deeper and deeper to get that wake
bigger as wakeboarding took off and now here we are in 2024 and some of these
boats have as much as 7 000 pounds of water ballast inside of them and And we're
literally paying top dollar to sink our boat.
(01:25):
That's crazy. I imagine that back in the day, people looked at you guys like you were crazy.
I think so. I think there were some that, and maybe we were a little bit.
I know like some of the guys on private lakes and all the guys down in Orlando
and different areas, like where you're on that, that water that's right out
your back door, like maybe not quite as sketchy as,
(01:46):
as those of us going out to the state park and, you know, 150 foot deep water
and, you know, the rub rails underwater the whole time.
And you take a turn to go get a rider and water splashing over and yeah.
Yeah. It got sketchy at times.
I always tell people when they buy a new boat from us, you know,
go out on the weeknight with no friends, you know, just you and your husband,
(02:09):
maybe the kids, if they're in control and practice, get super comfortable using your boat.
And then don't be afraid to be the captain. Everybody has that one friend that
like thinks they're extra helpful and they're trying so hard to,
to, to be the first mate. They're just not cutting it.
Don't be afraid to tell that friend to sit down and shut up. Oh man. Man. Yeah.
Like sometimes it has to happen. Like you're, you're in charge of this vessel.
(02:32):
You're the captain of the ship.
So with that being said, the, the snack thing. Yeah. Boater proof snacks.
You know, some big no-nos like no Cheetos or anything that leaves greasy fingers.
M&Ms and Skittles can fall between the seats and make huge messes.
Red Gatorades, anything with red dyes in them, get rid of them.
(02:54):
You know we like to take nuts and different things
like that because they're pretty safe you know my wife
will often bring sandwiches out and if you have a table like this which many
of the boats do you know those can be kind of nice to sit and have a snack but
otherwise like with the kids man sometimes i make them eat off the back oh really
sit back there with your life jacket and i'll eat here that makes sense yeah
(03:15):
so like no soluble like no cheese it's no potato
chips i see potato chips i mean some people would say no problem with them,
they leave a greasy finger but they don't leave like the the cheeto fingers
right like my little boy the stain eats cheetos and he's got orange fingers
and then he touches everything like yeah,
that's a no-go okay well i want to i want to backtrack because when you mentioned
(03:38):
about being the captain the boat i've actually found that you know if i have
a friend on board who's trying to be really helpful they tend to take orders
pretty well i think they can they can i think the harder Part or part is actually
conflict between family.
This is going to go back to one of my life lessons. Okay. Like communication
is the number one key in every relationship.
Right? Sure. Like, you know, if I'm assuming you're talking about dad, right?
(04:00):
And dad probably dropped the money for the boat and her brother didn't. Yeah, absolutely.
So at the end of the day, dad kind of holds the reins on that.
But is there a way to communicate the fact that maybe son is a little bit better?
Could he communicate that with dad? Or is it, is it you that's better that,
you know, maybe didn't have that communication?
Yeah. Assuming that the dealership you bought the boat from really taught you how to use it.
(04:25):
Well, you know, I mean, that's another really good point.
Not to change subjects too fast, but I think a lot of it is bad, not bad information.
I think miscommunication between the dealer and then the buyer. Yeah.
That's what's so hard too. Even from the dealership standpoint,
when a person buys a new or used boat, we take every one of them to the water
(04:47):
with them and teach them.
But what we found is sometimes that can be very, very hard.
You're excited. It's your new boat. You're going out on the water for the first
time. So like how much of that information does one person really retain?
And then that comment comes up to the point where, you know,
maybe your dad says, well, the dealer said this, but was that really what the dealer said?
(05:08):
So I would suggest anybody that if you're buying a new boat or already bought
a new boat, I know we'll do refreshers for customers a lot.
So like if things aren't going the way you think they should and you need that
refresher, you know, it's been six months since you had that thing in the water.
A lot of other dealers, I imagine, would do the same thing we do, but go out and refresh.
(05:28):
And if it's your first time or it's a second trip, I would suggest pulling out
that cell phone and recording what that dealership representative is telling you.
We call them delivery captains. Whatever your delivery captain is,
record him. Be able to go back and watch that and have that better.
That way the misinformation is gone, right? You have it. Well,
(05:49):
let's go back and see what we have. Let's go see what they said.
Yeah, it's definitely retention. to your point and that
was something that was interesting and maybe other
dealers do it but i noticed that you guys will actually have like a
database of content not even just like on social media
it's like a back end that you send customers to that's like hey if you got a
super 550 you know 2024 this is exactly how to you know navigate the screen
(06:12):
this is how to i mean is that is that pretty kosher you know i don't know if
there's another dealer out there that does it to be be honest within our dealer
network, the super movement brands.
I can't think of somebody else that's done it.
Doesn't mean there's not other, you know, Mastercraft dealers,
Malibu dealers, not teak dealers that are doing that.
I will say that, you know, we probably need to update that again,
(06:35):
because there's so much information and these things are changing so fast on
these boats, like the new technology.
So, but yeah, that's something that we created, have a backside kind of a portal
that they can go in and review the how-tos of the basics.
How does this screen work? How do you put it into surf mode? Where are the ballast?
You know, all those things like that's great resources that I would hope other dealers have.
(06:56):
And if they don't, I'd hope they'd get busy creating them. The easier we can
make boating, the more enjoyable it is for families.
I agree with you. And I think that was another question I had because I think,
you know, especially in the Pueblo circle, when people hear that you have a
boat, they're like, oh man, you must be loaded.
What is like realistically, do you have to be loaded to have a boat or what does that look like?
(07:21):
I guess it would just depend on what kind of boat you want.
Sure, sure. So I guess maybe we could, let me reframe that then.
What is the lowest entry point? Like not just the cost of the boat,
but you're thinking now gas, you're thinking about maintenance,
like what do you need to think about financially for you to think that maybe you could afford a boat?
You know, I think it's important to factor in the gas money.
(07:43):
One of the things, you know, I've been selling boats for a long time,
would always kind of pride myself in the fact that we put a person in the right
boat for them, not just the boat.
Whereas I think sometimes, you
know, dealerships, I always think about the certain car dealers, Right.
Like the movies of the used car salesman that's just there to hook you and trap
you. And it happens, unfortunately, humans are human. So we all fall short.
(08:06):
Sometimes you can get a salesman that just wants to drive you into that more
expensive boat because it has his pocket more or whatever that might look like.
But maybe you can barely afford that more expensive boat, but now you get that
and you can't afford the gas to put in it.
That's crazy. We should have looked at something a little bit less,
right? So obviously gas is an issue.
(08:27):
Typically, I found that most people end up getting a boat, all of a sudden they have more friends.
So make sure as the captain of your vessel you let
them know that your boat runs off of gas and not thank you because
thank you is great but it doesn't put gas in the tank so to
do that for sure but as far as like an entry point if you get into surfing and
(08:48):
you want something that's surfable i mean you can get into a good used v-drive
boat anywhere from 25 to 35 000 i would say that makes sense For something fairly decent.
And then there's probably some better deals out there if you're searching.
You can get into a really nice new surfable boat with a warranty for $89,000, you know, in a heyday.
(09:15):
You know, you can get into a really nice Mumba for around $100,000 and up.
And then, you know, everything just goes up from there. So again,
like, what's your budget, right? There's some great value lines out there.
A lot of different manufacturers make value lines.
And a great product with great bells and whistles and great features.
It's just not as expensive as the high-end stuff.
(09:36):
And the other thing to keep in mind too, like if you're considering buying a
new boat, a lot of times on the new boats, those price tags seem so daunting.
But what people don't realize is that often they'll loan those out for 20 years.
That's a long time. It's not like a car where it's like, you know,
every five and, you know, getting new and it's worn out by then.
(09:58):
Like, you take care of a boat, it'll last you a very long time.
So then if you're looking at that 20 to 40 range, and let's just say you're
thinking, you know, I want to maybe get a used, you know, an older Mumba or maybe a Taiga.
Is it better to go through? I guess like my thought is if I were looking for
a boat like that, I would not come to a dealership.
That'd be my first thought. Is that a misconception? Yeah.
(10:19):
There's a lot of peace of mind in a dealership, honestly. The one thing I'd
say about that is that, you know, I think when you buy from an individual,
there's some individuals out there that, you know, have taken really good care
of their boats and you can see it the second you go up.
And if you feel comfortable and you know a little bit about boating already, that's nice.
(10:40):
But if you don't, the dealership's going to do, like I said,
like we're going to take you to the water and teach you how to use it.
I don't know too many owners of boats who are selling through Facebook Marketplace
that are going to go take the time to teach you. They just want it gone.
It's going to be a transaction.
You're hooking up to the truck. You're giving them the check and you're rolling out and good luck.
And we saw a lot of that through COVID, right? A lot of people that got boats
(11:03):
that are out there on the water and they don't have the proper etiquette.
You know, they don't necessarily know what they're doing. They don't understand what the buoys mean.
You know, they can be reckless at times.
There's a lot to learn. There's a lot to know. So I think that the peace of
mind of buying from a dealership, A, because you know that that boat has been
inspected and serviced by the service department, and B, that you're going to
(11:28):
get an education on the water.
I think that that has some weight to it. And I think realistically,
most dealerships are going to
be in tune with the pricing that that individual's offering as well. sell.
So I don't think that you're going to be far off. Like on a comparable boat,
I know that anytime we take a boat in on trade, like we are searching to see
(11:51):
what else is out there for sale,
so that we know that we're going to be competitive with the pricing on it.
So I don't think you're going to pay much more at a dealership.
I think that's a misconception.
I think most dealers out there across the nation are going to be competitive
when it comes to used boat.
There's book values that are set on used boats, whether it's wakeboard boat,
(12:12):
a pontoon inboard, outboard, you know, those jet ski things,
they all have values that are set, but the market can also determine that, right?
So we always take a look, you know, what else is out there?
What other ones of this model are for sale across the nation,
whether it's from a private owner or from another dealership,
(12:34):
you know, and then we price ourselves to be competitive.
So the value of buying from a dealer is, you know, that it's going to be inspected.
You, hopefully the dealer's a dealer that takes you to the water and teaches
you about that boat, teaches you how to use it.
And then you get to, you know, make sure it's the boat that's right for you
when you go on that on water delivery and demo, if you will.
(12:57):
So, yeah. And that, that's across all of our boats, right? Like whether it's
pontoon boat or, or a runabout or, or the inboard, like I think you'll find
dealers to stay competitive even with the private sale market.
And then, yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense because I'm already thinking about
now, okay, I've got a boat, you know, I've bought it, you know,
whether it be at a dealership or private owned, now I'm kind of ready to trade up.
(13:21):
And I know, I know in the wake boat world, it's, you know, you kind of want
to trade up in that 200 hour range, 100, 200.
Is that, is that accurate? there's there's a there's a lot of different theories
on that right we used to say in in colorado anyway we would say that about 50
to 70 hours a year on a wakeboard boat was,
(13:42):
kind of an average whereas the runabout boat would get like 20 to 30 but typically
when you're buying a tow boat you know it's towing all day long right people
are surfing people are wakeboarding so it's constantly in motion so the hours
rack up a little bit higher once covid hit and came through,
it started to see like more like a hundred hours a year,
(14:02):
came more of a standard. Now this is in our region, right? We're in Colorado.
We obviously are not summer all year round, but very active lifestyles out here.
So a lot of customers getting a hundred a year. I think there's a threshold.
How well you take care of it can make a difference.
The one thing that I can say about a boat with high hours, the one thing I like
(14:23):
about a boat with higher hours is that tells you that it's been on the water doing its job.
Sometimes I I think a boat with more hours can actually be more appealing than
the one that has almost none.
You know, that's crazy. Something that you guys taught me was that sometimes
like you're, you're more likely to have issues with your boat within the first
few times of taking it out.
That's crazy. Yeah. Things like have to break in and settle in and do things.
(14:46):
The other thing we're finding too, especially, I mean, these boats that have
the superchargers and all these different things on them, those boats are designed to run.
They're designed to tow. They're designed to have loads on them.
So we're finding that our customers that maybe don't serve for wakeboard as often as other ones,
and they idle around a lot more, are having more issues with fuel delivery systems
(15:08):
and different things like that because they're not actually getting that boat and running it.
It that can also be we'd have to pull some of the service guys in
but that can also be true for a boat that
maybe doesn't get ran up to speed very
often right like you've ever heard the old saying of like grab grandma's car
and you know go blow the cobwebs out of it run it down the interstate because
you know i'm much older than you so but that was always like a thing i remember
(15:34):
people saying right like blow the cobwebs out of it because because grandma
never went past 35 miles an hour.
So go put that thing on the interstate and shake everything out of it.
Kind of the same theory. Like even with those people that are putting a hundred
hours a year on it, if you're only idling out of the no wake zone and then putting
it into surf mode at 11, 12 or 13, whatever miles per hour you surf at,
(15:55):
like you're not exercising the legs on that thing, right?
Like you want to get that boat up and run once in a while.
So drain your ballast, run it across the lake at 35 miles an hour,
vary your RPMs. Like, and I would say that's true with all boats,
not just the wakeboard boats.
Common misconception is that pontoon boats don't ever have to be serviced.
Well, they're in a wet environment all the time.
(16:17):
At some point in time, oil's going to get, you know, moisture in it.
I would suggest you do an oil change every other year. We're in a very tri-climate,
the impellers, the heart of the motor, you know, whether a V-drive, a pontoon boat,
you know, outboard, inboard, outboard, they all have impellers that are made
of rubber and then dry climb wear out.
(16:38):
And if you lose that, then you can overheat rather quickly.
So cycles and things like that, make sure you're paying attention to impellers
as well. There is some value in a boat that's been run 100, 200 hours.
That said, how much can I actually get if I were to trade in,
let's just say like a 2022 Supra? There's so many variables.
(17:01):
What I would tell you is that what I find is that typically on our repeat customers.
You bought that boat new from us in 2022 and now you're coming back in 2024,
2025 to trade it in. We really care about our customers.
Sure. So the trade-in price that you're going to get is going to be,
(17:21):
Maybe not as much as you could get if you sold it yourself, because we are in business.
But you're going to be treated really, really fairly. And the big thing,
I think, for people there, no matter what kind of boat you have,
if you're looking to get a new boat, the one thing you might consider about
in the trade-in is the fact of the tax savings.
(17:44):
So when you buy a new boat, if it's a $100,000 boat, you would pay tax on $100,000.
If your trade-in is worth $70,000, you're only going to pay tax on $30,000.
So there's a delta there that sometimes can make up the difference of you selling it on your own.
That makes sense. You know what I mean? Sometimes it makes sense to sell it
(18:06):
on your own, and I'm always willing to be super honest with the customer if
they want to, you know, like, this is what I can give you for it,
but there's no doubt in my mind you could sell it on your own and make a lot more.
Some customers just don't want to hassle with that. they don't
want to agree about selling themselves they just trust
in the dealership they come back every two or three years and they
trade in and get it you just keep rotating
(18:28):
but there's ticks and chips ticks tips and tricks yeah yeah that um we can talk
about in other episodes you got it of things you know backing the trailer docking
the boat things like that like i've done it by myself for a lot of years and
you know hez has as well and i know any salesman out there.
(18:49):
Delivery captain that's been doing this professional wakeboarder
professional surfer like we can all take care of the
boat on our own if we need to yeah but yeah it's nice to have a team around
you that's helping absolutely well thanks for tuning in i think in the future
we're going to talk about the history of wake we're going to talk about um kind
of what you've seen in in the history of you know boats on the water and what
(19:10):
that's looked like because i think it's has changed a surprising amount.
Yeah, and we're, you know, some great guests gonna be coming up.
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