American Brandon Mitchell had big plans for this summer. He planned to travel from his home in Maine to visit relatives in Michigan. He also wanted to take his wife and three children to Walt Disney World in Florida. But the coronavirus pandemic changed those plans. So, he and the family bought a boat instead. “We’re going to take [to] the sea. There’s so much to explore,” Mitchell said. “It’ll get us the recreation and the escape that we’re not going to be able to get anywhere else.” A growing number of Americans like Mitchell are looking to the water during the coronavirus pandemic. And that is good news for the boat industry. From Maine to California, boat dealers are reporting a record number of sales. Boat sales began rising in the spring in warm-weather states before expanding to other parts of the country, like Maine and Minnesota. Ports and boat repair shops are flooded by the wave of interest. There also are waiting lists for slips, places to keep boats at ports.
