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I think they are starting to dip. I’ve had my eye on a particular model of Starcraft tiller boat, and I saw my first dealer reduction in pricing on an in stock new boat today. I’ve also noticed Corona boats aren’t selling and I’ve marked a number of rigs on kijiji and almost all of them have had price reductions unless they where a smoking deal already. Facts are facts, and people are starting to notice they have less disposable income, and rates rising means a lot of people are less inclined to slap a boat on their HELOC or other credit vehicle. I wouldn’t either, as a matter of fact if I had any debt other than a mortgage or car payment I’d be looking to clean it up ASAP. There is an air of hesitation from a lot of people, many wondering what their finances will look like in the next couple of years.

Unfortunately, I can't open the link, and I can't see what's there because I don't have a Facebook account. I am not fond of Facebook, so I deleted my Facebook account. I saw such a post on Instagram about replacing plastic baits. My father is a fisherman and told me more about this problem. And because I'm an influencer on Instagram (or rather a beginner influencer because I've barely garnered a few thousand followers thanks to 1394TA), I talked in my Instagram stories about this issue. I urged all fishermen who heard me to replace their—plastic baits with something biodegradable. We need to think about the nature around us.

Ha! I don't know about the wannabe actuary part ..... but I guess almost 40 years as a writer is tough to hide.

There are three main issues driving up the cost of new boats. That, in turn, is driving up the cost of used ones. First, supply chain issues remain a huge problem for pretty well every boat builder on the planet. Semiconductors, aluminum, plywood, stainless steel, resin, gelcoat, foam for seat cushions, and a whole bunch of other parts and pieces remain in tight supply. As a result, the cost of components and raw materials has skyrocketed. Shipping costs have also increased massively. The cost to ship a container of parts here from China is now 10x what it cost in 2019. Part of that is higher fuel costs, part of it is higher demand, and a big part of it is extra safety protocols to satisfy covid measures in ports, which are all government controlled. Finally, demand for boats since 2020 has gone through the roof. Dealers have very little inventory, pretty well all boat builders sold out their entire 2022 production runs long ago, and most of them are now well into 2023 meaning if you buy your boat today, it will be some time next summer before you see it. No one wants to wait, so that is driving up the cost of used boats. I don't see prices coming down. The reality is that we're going to see a lot of new, wealthy buyers coming into the market over the next several years as aging baby boomers die off and leave their assets to their kids. In the US, they're expecting millennials to inherit more than US$68 trillion from their baby boomer parents over the next 20 years. Canada's economy is around 1/10th of the US, so reasonable to think that here we're talking about $6.8 trillion changing hands over the same period. Even if only a fraction of these suddenly wealthy millennials become boat buyers, it's still going to be a huge number, and that will hold prices high.

Probably not needed where your going, but the best new addition to our backcountry outings is the Platypus Water Filter. No more boiling. Drinkable water in minutes.

Hi all, Well good news is the ice has gone marking the end of a brutally long winter. Bad news? Water levels are higher than they've been since 1940 or something like that. The two docks that I put in last year are toast...as is the case for many people. Roads washed out, communities cut off...pretty savage. Ice was out late, two weeks late give or take a day, 15th of May. It went quick once it went (taking my docks with it) and the walleye are starting to appear in our bay and i got half an hour in after work on season opener this past Saturday from my broken dock/deck, keep mentioning the docks...lol...but its peeing me off.