NORTHPORT
Gordon Campbell says fishermen know before they step through the doors of his shop that they will have to wait a while for delivery once they place an order for a new fishing boat. Campbell owns Provincial Boat and Marine Ltd. in Kensington, a builder of fiberglass fishing vessels.
“I’ll not use exact times, but several years,” he described his company’s current wait list for new boats.
“The word’s out there: Every boatbuilder is busy. (Fishermen) know they’re not going to get one before the end of the year or for next spring or whatever,” Campbell comments.
He had a fisherman from New Brunswick put down a deposit on a new vessel on Tuesday. “He realizes. He said, ‘I’m looking at one a few years down the road. I’m planning.’”
At Hutt Brothers Boat Building in Northport, company vice-president Roger Hutt said there are currently 70 boats on the list to be built, essentially, seven years of work.
“We’ve had our ups and downs for years and this is the farthest I’ve ever seen it go up,” Hutt described the current demand.
“With the prices and the catches, the list keeps getting longer,” he said. While admitting it is a good situation for boat builders to be in, he says it’s not money in the bank, aware the demand is dependent upon the success of the fisheries
Further west, at Doucette Fiberglass Boat Building in Miminegash, office manager Colleen Avery said there are currently enough orders on the books to keep them busy for the next five to six years.
Avery admits the builders are pressed to find enough workers. She said Doucettes has seven workers in the shop but could accommodate about five more. At maximum production, Avery suggested, they could probably knock a year or more off the waiting list.
Of course, the boat builders are hoping conditions stay good. Campbell is optimistic, noting that, besides good catches fishermen are reporting there are lots of short lobsters in the traps, an indication that catches might stay strong for a while.
“The better the fishery, the better for boat builders – and all the car and truck salesmen and everybody,” said Campbell. “It’s good for the economy.”
Hutt said they put about 10, sometimes 12, new boats out the door every year. He said they used to put a new boat out every two weeks when there was not nearly as much work involved. “The boat was smaller. Everything about it was different than it is now.”
Hutt said they could shorten the wait time some if they had more employees, but admits it is hard to find those additional workers. They currently have 14 workers and have been as high as 18 or 19.
The situation is the same in Kensington. “We’re always looking and, from time to time we pick up a new person, but it’s hard,” Campbell commented.
The wait time, Avery acknowledges, can be discouraging to a fisherman who finds he needs a new boat soon. For others, she said, the current wait seems to fit right in. “They call and they hear the wait and they say, ‘that’s probably when I will want a boat.’”
Campbell said he’s encountering fishermen who, before their new vessel is out the shop’s doors, put a deposit down on their next boat. Some used boats, he said, have sold for more than what the original owners paid for them new. “They’re just speculating it’s going to stay the same, the demand for used boats and fishing stays good,” he said.
