Boating industry off to a great start at the Stuart Boat Show

Stuart, Fla. - The Stuart Boat Show is off to a great start, It's packed with people ready to buy. That's a big change from previous years.

Mike has been wanting to buy a boat ever since he purchased his waterfront property in Stuart.  Today, he finally made the plunge.

"I came here to buy a boat, I put a deposit down on one. I'm gonna get a sea trail, if all goes well I'll own it in a few days"

And he's not alone, Paul Skilowitz from Blue Water Sport Fishing Boats said he's sold four boats in the first week of January alone.

Where the last two January's he hasn't sold any.

"We're only a week into the selling season and we've seen a marked increase in the amount of phone traffic and people who are actually buying boats so I think we're finally on the mend and we're going to see some good things for the boating industry in the future"

and that trend is carrying over throughout the boat show. 

Skip Allen - Stuart Boat Show Producer says " We would say that the exhibitor attendance here from last year we are showing somewhere around a 20-25% increase"

And it's paying off so far.

  "This is the busiest Friday I've seen in 10 years, and there's definitely been an increase in business" said Patrick Davis of Towboat US- Stuart.

With the boating industry being such a big part of the Treasure Coast, it would be nice to see that trend continue through the year.

"There's an awful lot of businesses that are on the water and off the water that rely on the industry" Allen says.

The marine industry is a 2.4 million dollar industry for the Treasure Coast and employs about 6000 marine related jobs, with an increase in boating sales most are hoping an increase in jobs will come to an area that would really use it.