3RM Ep. 20 - Mike McKernan: How to Buy a Boat in 2026

In this episode, Anthony and Mike McKernan discuss how the boat buying process works. Learn tips on how to make the experience easy, fast, and what sets Three Rivers Marine apart in getting you on the water in a new boat for the 2026 season!  

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hi, you're listening to the Three Rivers Marine Podcast, a show that brings anglers and mariners down-to-earth advice that helps on and off the water. I'm Anthony Maristi, a fishing rep born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. I'm sitting down with the biggest names in fishing and boating to make your next adventure easier, safer, and more exciting. Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Three Rivers Marine Podcast. Today we have the number one boat salesman in you know probably the whole world, uh Mike McKernan. Um, and he is here to kind of walk us through what to expect if you show up and you want to get a boat at Three Rivers. I think that that, you know, they they just inherently are expensive. So big purchases, sometimes people get a little intimidated on the process, and you know, especially with like boating and fishing, there's kind of this you know, click of you should know, right? And then you're kind of like an idiot if you don't know something, and it's like, yeah, you don't know what you don't know, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Yeah, kind of the nice thing about walking into Three Rivers Moraine is we try to make things simple, try to make them easy. Come in our door, we're gonna uh take you out, we're gonna show you the different boats, whether it be a North River, Duckworth, or any of our other name brands we have. You know, and then we have the we have one of the the biggest tackle stores in the area. We have full service, we have all you need. So it doesn't just start and end with a boat sale. But you walk in our door, you're greeted by one of our friendly salesmen, they can walk you out on the lot, show you the different brands. Um, we're not here really to sell you a boat, we're more here to help you buy a boat. Um, a boat's not something everybody out there needs. You know, so it's it's it's a toy. Um, so we want the person to feel like they've they've not only bought the correct boat that fits them, fits their needs, fits their lifestyle, but also, you know, they they walk out here feeling like they got a good deal. Um, I feel good about my salesman, I feel good about my future service department. I mean, um, you know, we're here to give you a discount on your first 20-hour service. We want you in here visiting, we want you to come back, buy tackle. Um, you know, over the years I've made so many friends. They walk in the door, they think they're just here to buy a boat. Next thing you know, coho season rolls around, and I'm out there on their boat, I'm fishing with them. Um, you know, they they bring their family, they bring their kids into the store. Um I numerous times I've taken a customer ride over to flashers, squids, how to bait them, how to tie them, rigged them, put them on a rod, and said, put this down at 90 to 70 to 90 feet, do this speed, and they come back just kids smiling, pictures. They're loving the fact that not only did they buy a boat, but also they they're they got a great experience leaving here. I mean, uh the whole store just takes care of them in so many different ways.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

Yeah, I mean, that was you know, that's kind of how I started rolling around, right? Like I was a fishing professional before anybody met me here, but bought some boats and then started hanging out more, and you know, I'm kind of part of the family now. It's um and that's that's not that's not an uncommon experience, right? Like that happens all the time. I'd say, you know, most of the people that walk through the door are repeats. Oh, I've you know, like return returning customers that are here one day a week, three days a week, every day.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

You know, Tony's I've been in this business doing this for 26 years. Yeah, um, I've got customers I've sold five, six boats to in those 26 years. Come back. You know, I've sold their boat for them. You know, we have one of the strongest consignment programs. You want to sell a used boat? Call me. You know, I mean, we can normally do things that you can't do in your driveway, like in-house finance, and I have a mechanic on hand. I can fix something, I can do anything to that used boat, and give people the feeling that when they leave here, there's nothing wrong with that boat. It runs great, and they get home, they get to use it. But uh the financing is a huge thing. We have um Donia, one of our best financial managers out there. Um, you go online, you fill out a credit app, it's that simple. Hit submit. Next thing you know, we're calling you saying, Hey, we got you approved. Here's your rate, here's what I need. You come in and sign contracts, boom, you're taking that boat home. It's a very simple, simple process from start to finish.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

Yeah. The one of the advantages of getting a boat here is just that, you know, when you walk in the door, you do have access to financing in-house. You have access to the very best brands in the industry. You have access to good salespeople that are here to help you buy a boat, right? They want to try and fit your needs, like you said. Um you go, you get right in for service, you know, and buying the boat is kind of the shortest part of the whole experience. And it's actually, you know, like you're the sales guy, right? But like buying it's kind of the least important part to the customer because they're gonna need to service it more often than they buy a new boat. You know, they're gonna need tackle more often than they're coming in for service, right? So you kind of have this like where they're gonna interact on in the building and being able to do that with everybody that communicates, right? Like you come and talk to Kurt all day long, you know what's going on with all your boats that come in. And then the other nice thing is like, I see you. Oh, yeah, this guy bought, you know, uh a North River from me. It's here for service. You're checking in on that customer's boat, you know. Like you wouldn't have to, right? It's out of your kind of department, it's your deal, but it's like, hey, let's make sure he's trying to go here, right? You said, hey, these are kind of my friends. You do develop that relationship with people, and you're here every day, so you can kind of keep track of it and be like, hey, I haven't seen that one come into the bay yet. Can we make sure that's done on Thursday?

unknown 6:18

You know?

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Well, and it even goes to a whole nother element where those customers come in, and how many of them have just been out fishing? So I'm picking their brain, hey, what are you using? What are you catching fish on? You know, I don't have time right now to get out, so I can relay that to other customers that come in the door. Hey, I just I just heard from so-and-so, they were out all day yesterday, and here's the bait they were using, here's the depths they were running, here's the speeds they were running, you know, all that information helps, especially a first-time boat buyer.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Okay. Yeah, you're you're drinking from a fire hose, which is kind of been my my statement this week. But when you got a new boat, your first boat, you know, you're like trying to figure out dock lines and fenders and where to put it in the water and what service at 20 hours do you need? And do I have an anchor? Yeah, you know, like all just all that stuff, let alone you know just trying to go get the fish.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

In the 26 years experience, that first time boat buyer is really kind of my favorite boat buyer because I get to spend that time. I get to, hey, I've never backed a boat in a trailer. Perfect. Well, let's run to the lake. Let's let's let's have you do it. I'm here to make sure you don't make mistakes. I've never even started up an outboard motor. Well, here's how you start your Yama. Um, never even turned on electronics. So that on the water, that experience I get to experience with these post first-time boat buyers is phenomenal. I mean, it's probably my favorite part of my job is to teach somebody how to use their boat. If they don't know, that boat's gonna sit in their yard, it's gonna sit in their garage, you're never gonna use it. But to be able to take them and give them that experience of, you know, most dealerships out there, they'd hook it to your bumper and say, have a great day. Not me. I'd love to just, hey, let's go up to Lake Stevens, let's go to Lake Sammamish, let's go somewhere local, let's put this boat in the water and let them do it, but there to make sure that they're doing it comfortably. You know, it just it it's it ties everything up.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Making sure going above and beyond for the customer is actually just the standard level of service. 100%. Yeah, 100%. Just love it. Yeah. Um, you know, and we see that happen all the time, you know, and it's you know, it's kind of a whole the thing that I like to see in that you know, you wouldn't see as necessarily the customer coming in, and you know, you park in the parking lot and you come in and you're gonna go and pick up your new boat, it's ready to go. And, you know, for the last hour, two hours, you know, oh hey, so-and-so's coming in at this time, they're coming to pick up their boat. You know, we make sure that any parts is all done, you make sure that you know all the service arrangements have been made, make sure the boat's clean, make sure it's ready to go, make sure it's in the bay so it's easy to hook up. I mean, like you guys are excited and ready for people to, you're passionate about boats. You're ready for them to come and pick it up. It's not this like, oh dude, yeah, you're here. Um let me go find that thing. You know, it's like it's ready there waiting for you, clean, polish up and making sure it's awesome and ready to go.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Make things easy, make things easy for the customer. I mean, that's our that's our key feature here is not only you know get them what they want, but make it easy. Okay, and explain to them. Sit down and do the the things that need to be done. Um, you know, they need to know how to break in their Yamaha properly. They need to know how, hey, how do I keep this book clean?

SPEAKER_00 9:35

Maintenance matters.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

Maintenance matters, 100%. Yeah, Yamaha's philosophy. Um, you know, and it if you don't tell people and you don't instruct them or give them the tools online, where can I find this information? Yeah, it just causes them a lot of havoc in the future. Yeah. So, no, that's a great part of my job here. And you know, I mean, it it we come down to Three Rivers Marine, come in, look through our inventory. I mean, you you take a uh Duckworth or North River, two of my favorite boats. They're you know, you really can't go wrong. We we had the opportunity to have any boat manufacturer out there. We chose to have these major heavy welded gauge boats on our lot because we feel like they're the two best boats by far, um, the best reverse shines, the best riding boats.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

Um, the engineered holes with you know variable degree dead rises through the whole thing. That makes I mean those are massive differences. 100%.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

So, you know, and and the factory support we have. I mean, you you you want to call somebody at Duckworth or North River, you're not gonna be listening to an answering machine. They're gonna get on the phone, they're gonna answer your questions if we can't. But um, you know, and then how how can you go wrong with having a Yamaha outboard on your boat? I mean, yeah, you can't. In 26 years of selling boats, I've sold every brand out there, and there's only one brand that I can say is the least amount of warranty issues you'll ever see, and that's the Yamaha outboard.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

Um Yeah, and and you know, with the switch too in boating, where you know, I bet 26 years ago, how many of your boats are just inboards? You know, the Murray Cruisers, the Volvos, that type of stuff coming out. Almost all of it, yeah, right. You know, and today it it you're kind of hard pressed to get an an IO, especially a gas one. You know, if you go inboard diesels, it's a little bit of a different conversation, just but that's a different application, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Yep, yep. Well, you're giving up room in your boat, you know, and you take you take these Yamaha motors and the the reliability and the fuel economy. Um, you know, they're you're gonna burn a third less fuel than you will off the old two-strokes. And uh, you know, you just you take care of them, you do your service, you call Kurd on your 20-hour interval, you call Kurt on your hundred-hour interval, you take care of the things that need to be taken care of. That motor will run last your lifetime. Your your grandkids will be running that motor.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Yeah, yeah. In a lot of cases, they do. I mean, I'd you know, most of the repowers that I've kind of my buddies do repowers and things like that. I've I haven't had to do one yet. But I mean, most of them are I want new motors because there's some technology that's better in the motor, not mine's broken.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

100%.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

I mean, you know, like they they outlast their own sort of like their life cycle is shorter than the amount that they're gonna last. And there's not a lot of things anymore that the life expectancy is gonna outlive the relevance.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

Sure. You know I mean who who thought five years ago you would have a toggle on your dash where you can park your boat?

SPEAKER_00 12:42

I mean, they can almost do it for you, that little joystick. Now they got now they got one as a little remote controller, you can just walk around. You can you can expand on your boat and park it anywhere, which is pretty awesome. You know, you can sit there with your own fenders, your own, you know, dock lines and everything, and just kind of oh yeah, a little another couple inches, and boom, we're in the slip.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

You accidentally get out on the dock, but you got it in your hand and the boat floats away, bring it right back to you. I mean, that's yeah, it's crazy the technology. And and you know, the electric steer motors versus the old cable steer motors. I mean, it's just like driving a sports car now. I mean, it's it is yeah, it's so smooth and friction-free.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

I have a you know, hydraulic system on mine, but mine are all mechanical and hydraulic.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

Which there are some some reasons I chose it. I mean, you know, certainly some cost savings was a part of my calculation, but also, you know, I'd wanted something that was even the most reliable type of system. And you know, I think that I was a little more nervous about having the DEC than what I probably should have been. They aren't failing, right? Like they they are not failing.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

You know, I've I've uh in seven years not seen the DEC motor come back in here with a DEC failure. With a steering issue, right? Yep, not at all.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

You know, and so that's that's a testament, right? And Yamaha's not gonna knowingly put something on the the water that sucks. No.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

I mean there's a lot of research that goes into this the next project in line, and you know, it's thought through and actually done better than anybody.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

Yeah, 100%. Um so let's kind of shift gears slightly. Talk about kind of boat buying in 2026. For someone that's thinking of getting a boat, doesn't really know the process. Let's walk someone through a hey, you just parked in the lot, right? So you're gonna come in, you're gonna talk to Mike, say, hey, I'm interested in, you know. Um I mean, let's let's do a bigger boat, just because a lot of the you know, 20s, 21s, 22s, that type of boat oftentimes are a little bit more of an inventory type boat. So you can oftentimes come and get one of those on the lot and you can sort of rig it how you like. But um, you know, if there aren't any, then it will get ordered and you'll get a build slot and it'll come in just like the bigger boats. But um, you know, let's say someone wants a 28-foot offshore. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

You know, okay well, you know, the first the first thought is is okay, what's what's your uses? Um person walks in here and says, hey, I want a 28-foot uh offshore that I'm gonna uh I'm gonna have a family of four. Um I'm looking for these options, whether it be, you know, I need an onboard shower, I need a full head, um, down to the guy that just wants two air ride seats and two benches. So, you know, the important thing is to listen to your customer as they walk through the door. Um, you know, if I don't have it in, we can sit down, we can build a boat, we can get it on order. Um, you know, we're mostly on offshores, you know, three to four months at the at the latest. Sometimes I've got them in the queue ready to order, and I can have it in six weeks. So, you know, you walk in, we get a boat built, um we we wait for that, and if the finance needs to go through, we take care of the financing. If I've if I've got the boat in stock, well, we're gonna go out there, we're gonna go through that boat. A lot of our stock offshores don't have any electronics, don't have a kicker, don't have any of those extras because our thought is when a customer comes to me and says, Mike, I really want these electronics on my boat. Perfect. We don't have any electronics on our boat yet. So we're gonna install what the customer wants, not what um the manufacturer's pushing on us, not what uh anybody else wants to put it. Hey, Joe down the street wants to put this on. Well, no, I want the customer that's in front of me to feel comfortable. I've got my Garmin, I got my Rainmarine, I got my electronics. I want, I want a kicker, I want to be able to have uh Garmin Reactor 40 steering to my kicker. Some guys do, some guys don't. So it's nice to take that customer through the boat, build his boat, add his electronics, add the extras, and at that point, um through our rigging part department, we're about a week. You know, if somebody comes in and says, Hey, I need uh all this added to a boat, okay. We get the deposit, we get all the parts ordered, we need a week to about get it done. And one thing I offer every single offshore buyer that a lot of companies don't is I'm gonna put you on the water when it's all said and done. I'm gonna take you completely through that boat. I'm gonna spend about two to three hours with you at the lake, how to do this, how to do that, how to use your marine head, how to use your refrigerator, how to use your electronics, how to turn on your diesel heater inside the boat. And those are all features that a lot of manufacturers will just, dealers will just hook the boat to your bumper and away you go. So it falls back into that.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

A lot of those are floating houses. They are showers, toilets, beds, fridges, stoves, microwaves, um, you know, it's a lot easier to go out and do that.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

And then obviously, you know, all all my customers, they have access to me, my cell phone number at all times. And you know, I'll get a call four or five times a day. Hey, Mike, this well, how do I do this? How do I do that? How do I do this? I mean, you know, I've had customers that have known how to put their canvas up, and and they're four hours away. So I get on with them, I FaceTime, and I walk them through that complete project of putting that canvas up. Next thing you know, they're happy. They were frustrated. So it's it's a process of getting in the door, come in, go through inventory. Um, I want to sell you what you want. I'm not here to sell you what I like. I mean, I'll I'll give you my opinions, I'll give you my judgment, um, and if I don't have it, I'll find it for you. Um, you know, that's what's important because if a customer comes in and says, hey, you know, I'm only I I only gonna use mine for day use, we don't need a place to sleep on the boat. Um so let's let's get you what you want and what you want.

SPEAKER_00 19:16

And you know, and a lot of these boats, like the you know, your 18s and 20-footers are definitely a little bit more limited on um what you can do with it, just kind of by the nature of the actual size like restrictions, right? There's only so much you can do with the bottoms and the tops and the this and the that. Once you start getting into that 24 with an eight or eight and a half foot bottom and up, things get really customizable. And you know, another thing that's here is you know, we have Paul Fligger, one of the very best fabricators, right? Like you get your fabrication. Yeah, I mean, you can design whatever you want. So you do kind of end up at a situation where once you get into that that boat, just dream it and it's gonna happen, you know. Yep. So, you know, your job in some cases is to kind of just ground people in hey, what is it that you're really here for? What do you need? Just because everything is an option doesn't mean that you need them all. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Um I I my goal is to make sure when that customer comes in to me, but he tells I I don't want him, I don't want a marine head on my boat at all on this big offshore. And I keep trying to explain to them, well, you know what? You may not right now, but a marine head in your V-birth is not gonna take him any space. But when you go to sell that boat, your resale value is a lot bigger to the person that does want a head. So it's a little thing. So don't let people try not to let people do things that are gonna kill their resale value because it's not your last boat. People tell me all the time, hey, I'm not worried about anything. This is the last boat I'm ever gonna buy. Well, you know, two years later, they're like, hey, I want something bigger. Yeah. So, you know, think at you gotta think along the lines that this is not my this is just a boat getting me to the next boat. And when I sell this thing, I don't want to make the mistakes of not being able to ever resell it because you know, I painted it pink, type of thing. So definitely.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

Yeah, you know, so you come in, you want a boat, it's not on the lot, you sit down, you get a you get a build slot, and you know, the right time to do that is right now. But that build slot timing doesn't necessarily mean that you know your boat is gonna get started on on Tuesday. You know, like sometimes the build slots can be a couple weeks out, sometimes they can be a year out or more. So in 2026, right now what would you say is the average timing to get a to get a boat built?

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Well, the the reason that right now is a perfect time to get a boat because we're still we're still working off a 2026. Pricing. We're still working off of our Yamaha before increases. Everything changes on June 1st. June 1st, all of a sudden we get 2027 boat serial numbers. We get 2027 pricing. Our Yamaha's go up. Everything goes up. But leading up to that June 1st slot, they honor the 2026 pricing. Even if you get a 2027 serial numbered boat, um, so the timing's perfect. You want an offshore. Um we found that most of our manufacturers right now are you know eight to ten weeks, twelve weeks. So I can have you a boat right now, I can have you a boat before July 4th. And you could be crabbing.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

And that's most models. Yeah, and I mean that that has not been the case the last several years. I mean, a lot of those build slots have been 12, 18 months. Yep. Yep. You know, like, yeah, well, we can get you crabbing uh 2028. You know, and like that's it's nice to be like, hey, no, we can do it this year. So if you are thinking of getting a boat, like Mike said, right now is a really good time to do it. Yep. Um, you know, what will the manufacturers do? So, you know, you can um you pick your hull, you pick your color, you pick some of that type of stuff on your build, right? Hey, I want bench sheets, or hey, I want a whole bunch of air rides, or hey, I want beds, I don't want beds. So there's a lot of options there, right? But in terms of, you know, usually these boats come in to whatever spec the customer wants with the main engines hung. And that's kind of it, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:35

So we bring all our boats in um fully powered, and not you'll not find one boat on my lot that's underpowered. So we know what a person's gonna need. Um, you know, and Tim, the owner here, he has stepped up, I will say, this year, brought in more inventory in all the different boat brands, the Yamaha brands, than I've ever seen on this lot before. So right now, our 2026 inventory is huge. Um, I'll most likely have it on the lot. And right now, we see the like the writing on the wall. 2027 models, June 1st, are coming, and we want to move these 2026. You want to buy a boat, and it's a boat I have in stock, I guarantee you we're gonna do what it takes to have you own that boat. If it means we have to come down in price, we have to throw in some options, you need some bumpers, ropes, life jackets, you need some extras like that. We're gonna make the deal. We're gonna make it happen, and we're gonna make you an owner of a boat, whatever it takes. And timing couldn't be better.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

Yeah. Um, so they come in fully powered, but you know, like you said, it a boat shows up, it gets checked in, it gets kind of cleaned, it gets looked at, make sure that, you know, on the drive from you know, uh Clarkston or uh Medford, Rosenberg, um, you know, that nothing happened to it, you know, the windows look good, all that type of stuff. Um, and then you know, when you were building it, you did pick, okay, I want Ray Marine electronics on my boat. I want to have um, you know, Axiom Pros, I want to have an open array radar, I want to have uh a 1kw transducer, um, yada yada. So then it goes into rigging. And I think you know, we hear a lot about the rigging department, all that rigging department is for new boats. Yep. They're working on fresh, clean boats day in, day out, and making sure that it's initial install type of construction.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

Correct. So we can rig the boats in one of two ways. They can either come in fully rigged with electronics, or there's nothing we can't do here. You bring you you pick out a boat off our lot and it doesn't have any electronics yet. Our we have one of the best rigging departments. Um, they know from front to back.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Certified marine electricians and just you know, all the way through. Really professional people putting it together.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

Yep, and you you you you come in and look at a boat after it's been rigged and everything is tied up nicely, everything's clean, everything's exactly like it's supposed to be. Um, you know, and then I can bring one of my riggers on board while you're here, and they can walk you through what why they did this, where this is, where this wiring is. So if they ever want to go in and say they didn't order it with radar, but they want to add radar earlier, later. Okay, here's your NEMA system, here's your backbone. You go ahead and put that radar on, you can plug and play right into this system. So, yeah, our technicians are by far some of the best in the in the world. I mean, they just they do a great job, they do a clean job, they do it in a timely fashion, and yep, and uh our customers seem to be very, very satisfied with the workmanship, yes.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

And and like you and rigging work really closely, right? Because you're selling new boats, getting rigging done, all of that stuff. Yep. Um, you go and put it on the lake and you show people, hey, this is how you run your motor, this is how we do break-in procedure, and the break-in procedure is 10 hours if you haven't to do stuff, but really the break-in procedure is 20 hours because you have to do a fluid change, essentially 20 hours. So, you know, you're working with you and rigging kind of up until that threshold. Yep once you get to that 20 hours, hey, it's coming in, then you kind of would be able to start moving over to the service desk, and then you're gonna have the service technicians, which are all trained, certified Yamaha technicians, yep, come in and they're gonna be draining the oil, pulling your lower units, making sure everything's greased up, making sure your water pumps are changed, yada yada yada. Yep. Um, and that's still, you just you pull your boat to the same place and it's gonna go, you know, you just bring it here and it gets taken care of. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

Kurt, Kurt will get you into the top of the list. And one thing we pride ourselves on is somebody buys a boat package here and they call Kurt and say, Hey, I need my 20-hour service, you're gonna sneak up to the top of the list. You're gonna get you're gonna get taken care of immediately and get that boat back on the water. And and you know, our customers come first. You know, repeat customers are key to our business. They keep us alive, and we really like to make sure that, you know, I have boats that I've sold two weeks ago, they already got their 20-hour service, have already been in and serviced and back on the water. Yeah, and they're good for the rest of the summer. Good for the summer. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 28:19

Um, you know, and then on top of that, you know, you have Kurt here who's gonna be the service manager. He's gonna get you checked in, get it whatever type of repair services, whether it's you broke something or you're just here for regular maintenance. But if you're someone that likes to turn your wrenches yourself, or you know, you have some kind of obscure motor or anything like that, there's also Peter, and that's a parts department. So not only is it a full service department, it's a full parts department. You really can't come in here with the Yamaha motor and not leave with the parts that you need.

SPEAKER_01 28:46

Uh Pete's been in this industry for a long, long time. And you call up here and say, hey, I'm looking for this, I'm looking for that. Yep, I have it. Here's a part number you need. Um, yeah, I mean, we get lots of people that want to come in and just get a complete oil kit and all the gaskets and everything you need to change your oil, change your lower unit float. Piececake.

SPEAKER_00 29:08

And I I do I do mine myself, not because I have any issues with anybody doing it. It's more just like I also want to know how you know, I want to know how my engine looks when I pull the cowling off, right? Like I don't want to just have it be some kind of mystery thing. Yep. I want to know where everything lives, where it is, and part of it is just taking the time to do it. Um that's not everybody's scenario, but that's just mine. Um so yeah, full parts, full, full rigging, marine, you know, everybody here is certified to be working on your boat. It will get done correctly. Yep. It will get done as well as it possibly can.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 29:46

Um, you know, with a lot of the inflation issues and just sort of financial ups and downs that we're seeing, interest rates have been going up.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Not much. I mean, I've been I've been they're higher. You know, we're we're seeing seeing stuff in uh still in uh the low sevens, mid-sevens, which to me is phenomenal compared to everything else that's going on in the world. So getting a boat financed, you know, to the person that takes care of their credit, they do the dead, their due diligence, they pay their bills, we're getting some incredible, incredible rates. And you know, if the guy's a little bit challenged, they're still financing out for that guy. Um, Yamaha right now is got running a 399 for 72 months on any outboard motor. I mean, that's insane. I mean, come in and buy a Yamaha, you don't even have to pay for it. And if you could get 399% interest rate, I mean, that's like free money. Why would you pay money out of your own pocket?

SPEAKER_00 30:44

Almost the inflation rate right now. Yeah. So, you know, it's a great time to repower. Uh-huh. Um, I think Dania has a lot to do with that, right? Like she's here, she works here, she is our in-house financing person, and she's gonna fight and call around and figure out where those rates are, right? You're not stuck just going to your local bank or your credit union and necessarily try and pick up financing. You're certainly welcome to do that.

SPEAKER_01 31:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 31:08

But, you know, the access here with the financing that is available is definitely, you know, well, figure out the best rate and go with it.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

The best thing about Dahny and what she does and our financing side of things is is you know, we do so much with these banks that we actually get a uh a better rate a lot of times than you can get walking into your own bank. And if not, I've got her on the phone with these with these bank managers beating up on them. Hey, listen, we you know, we want to get you all of our business. You know, you gotta give a little bit on these on all these deals, and she's there, she's banging on these banks to try to get a lower rate if uh if we can for the customer every single day. I mean, does a phenomenal job with what she does, yes. Yeah. Communication. She's on the phone, she's she's you know what's going on, and I don't even always know what's going on, but the customer seems to know more than I do because she's very good at her job and she communicates very well with our customers. Yeah, yes, phenomenal job.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

So the the financing comes in sort of in between building your boat and then you know, placing the order, right? So you build it out you want, you get your kind of here's what it's gonna cost you, here's what you want to put down, here's yada yada. Goes to financing, financing gets approved, then it goes into a build spot, gets built to your spec, comes in, gets rigged the rest of the way. You probably already picked it, but it'll get rigged. You pick it up, Mike takes you to the lake, teaches you how to use all your stuff, you bum around on the lake for 10 hours, 20 hours, come back in, get a discount on your first service, put it back in the water, you're good for the year. You're good for the year.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

I'm I'm hoping my communication then between the customer and myself is hey, what am I fishing for next? Mike, hey, what do what what should I be using? Um, what rod should I get? Um, what lure should I get? What bait should I be using? And that's my favorite thing is when you come back in. Not talking boats, that's it. Not talking boats. We're talking about, you know, the experience you get to go out with your kids. I mean, getting those pictures of of these smiling kids holding up big fish, and they they've never never knew how to fish in their life, and all of a sudden, here they are. They're, you know, I mean, and I gotta be honest, I mean, I grew up in southwest Washington. I was I was catching steelhead at seven, eight years old. Um, I floated that river in a wooden, 10-foot wooden pram when I was 12 years old, all by myself, catching steel head all the way down the river. And then it moved from there, moved up here, and started saltwater fishing. I spent uh every year for probably 12 years straight, Nookah Sound, fishing with my dad. I I remember all those experiences, and I mean that just that's what I want to build for the next customer is that experience I get to have with their kids. I have a five-year-old granddaughter now, wanting to get her on a boat. I want her to start fishing, I want her to start catching fish. Those experiences with your family are are endless. I mean, you your kids, I have my kids talk about it every time we get together. Daddy, remember when we went here and went fishing? When we went here and went fishing, remember all the crab we caught? That's the experience you want to get. And that's what owning a boat's gonna do for you. It's gonna put you on the water, it's gonna be a great experience with your family, and I want to be helpful through that whole process. Yep. Very good. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 34:43

So is there any other things that a you know, boat buyer? And I want to try and keep this, you know, relevant. I kind of want this to be an annual thing is hey, we talk about boat buying in whatever year we're in. Is there any tips, tricks, timings that you have for a buyer in 2026 who wants to get into a boat?

SPEAKER_01 35:03

Um there's really no tricks. I mean, timing is everything, and you know, I mean, you can look at the early part of the year when the inventory sucks. Um, you get into the spring time of the year, inventory's never been better. I mean, since COVID uh has happened and we've back to post-COVID era, inventory's there. I mean, you do not have to wait. You can come down here today, pick out an 18-foot boat I have on the lot, and I'll have you on the water by next Saturday. Um, so timing um is all about inventory. And if somebody wants a boat to go use for the 4th of July weekend, you better start thinking about it now. You need to get that boat in, you get get it rigged, get it everything ready, get ready for what you want to do. But no, tricks, tricks are just, you know, basically you need to get with a salesman that listens to your needs, knows your wants, and finds you that boat that you want. Um, you know, don't settle for for something less than what you really, really want. That's the key. So words of advice.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

Never settle.

SPEAKER_01 36:15

Don't settle. Get a duck worth. You know, we all work hard. Yeah, nothing. No, no reason not to own a duckworth, that's for sure. But you know, we all work hard in our lives. We all deserve to have something nice in our life. And you know, and you know, have guys come in all the time and say, hey, you know, I saw this 10-year-old used boat, and there's a price for it. Well, you know what? In 26 years, I found that the aluminum boats do not depreciate. You hold on to that boat for four years, you're gonna sell it for what you paid for it. So you can either get some old guy's old used boat that he's selling for more than he paid for it, or buy a new one in four years now, sell it for what you paid for it. You don't get the boat you want. Don't think about, you know, hey, it's such a huge investment. Well, you know what? It's gonna hold its value. It's not a car, it's not a fiberglass boat, aluminum boats with a good Yamaha outboard, hang on to it for four or five years, you'll sell it for as much or more than you paid for. Over and over and over again. Take care of your boat, you'll get your money back out of it.

SPEAKER_00 37:20

That's great advice. Mike, thank you for being here. You're welcome. Appreciate it. Thank you. Don't you? Offer some wisdom. We'll do this again soon. Heck yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:28

Anybody needs anything? Get down here. Yep. Yep. Mike's here. What's your email? Uh, Mike at the number three riversmarine.com.

SPEAKER_00 37:38

There you go. Drive down, send him an email, get a hold of him. Yep. Your next Duckworth, your next North River, your next Willie's, your next boat. Um, I will read. I'll give you a deal. Just don't tell about it. Very good. Awesome. All right. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Have a good one. We'll see you guys next week. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Three Reverse Marine Podcast. We would like to give a special thanks to our sponsors. Endrun Tackle, make your own bite window. Fisherman's Gold Products. Everything we make, we fish ourselves. And Duckworth Boats, legendary adventure.