Chinookslayer
Member
Anybody know if Monaro boats is closing its doors? They have all the moulds and boat building equipment for sale. Really sad to see Hourston gone and now Monaro it looks like.
Monaro closing?
- Thread starter Chinookslayer
- Start date
InterMechanico
Well-Known Member
No more signage on their shop, so it looks to be so.
Chinookslayer
Member
I think I saw somewhere they had moved into a smaller shop. I’m wondering if they are just doing service work now and not actually building anymore?
Maxpri
Well-Known Member
Yeah that’s it, they’ll do repairs and work on your boat still but their molds are being sold/ been sold.
Maxpri
Well-Known Member
think they’re up on their website, I’ve seen em on marketplace a few times
Chinookslayer
Member
Saw them on marketplace
RiverBoy
Well-Known Member
i seen them on marketplace too
Chinookslayer
Member
I'd imagine it's related to staffing shortages and the fact that were entering a economic downturn over the next little while.
kaelc
Crew Member
Yeah, world wide there is a shrinking number of skilled boat builders and paying them what you need to live in vancouver makes for a premium boat.
sly_karma
Crew Member
Used boat market has softened a good bit compared to the covid madness. Interest rate increases made a lot of people realize they couldn't afford those shiny toys (not just boats). New boat market is different again of course, but better availability of used boats does take some of the demand off new boats.
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
That is is a shame. I like the manaro it reminds me a lot of my malibu.
Here is what's happening in manufacturing world as I see it right now. Costs have gone up on materials. Even when those materials dropped mostly everyone kept those prices high. Look at steel as an example.
Second now you also have cost of living expenses going up. This effects workers. Now I don't want to be mean but I am seeing people zero experience demanding 40 to 65 plus per hour with hardly any post secondary education to back the wage up. That is way out of step when I can hire a hands on electrical or mechanical P.Eng at those wages. Plus the younger ones don't seem too want too put the time in to do any training. It's incredibly hard to find anyone in the fabrication world right now. That's why your seeing older workers actually part time that are retired being brought back to cover shortfall.
Third you also have rising costs in industrial land where you can do this work. If your renting a building landlords have no choice to increase rent. Most cities in BC fail on how important industrial land is for this type of work. You can't put a place doing fiberglass or industrial just anywhere. Most zoning is light industrial most of time.
Lastly you have a government really did a horrible job with giving out way to much money to failing businesses and not doing credit checks during covid. Now what happens is they are clawing this money back from all of the businesses to make up shortfall. Many are just closing and not paying the loans back. Add that too a government that doesn't support small business, and its a big disaster.
So you add all this up and the margins to make boats becomes not worth it anymore.
Here is what's happening in manufacturing world as I see it right now. Costs have gone up on materials. Even when those materials dropped mostly everyone kept those prices high. Look at steel as an example.
Second now you also have cost of living expenses going up. This effects workers. Now I don't want to be mean but I am seeing people zero experience demanding 40 to 65 plus per hour with hardly any post secondary education to back the wage up. That is way out of step when I can hire a hands on electrical or mechanical P.Eng at those wages. Plus the younger ones don't seem too want too put the time in to do any training. It's incredibly hard to find anyone in the fabrication world right now. That's why your seeing older workers actually part time that are retired being brought back to cover shortfall.
Third you also have rising costs in industrial land where you can do this work. If your renting a building landlords have no choice to increase rent. Most cities in BC fail on how important industrial land is for this type of work. You can't put a place doing fiberglass or industrial just anywhere. Most zoning is light industrial most of time.
Lastly you have a government really did a horrible job with giving out way to much money to failing businesses and not doing credit checks during covid. Now what happens is they are clawing this money back from all of the businesses to make up shortfall. Many are just closing and not paying the loans back. Add that too a government that doesn't support small business, and its a big disaster.
So you add all this up and the margins to make boats becomes not worth it anymore.
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kaelc
Crew Member
It's hard to grow a manufacturing business to the size that you can compete globally. I looked at one last year and the need for lean manufacturing and increased automation was screaming at me, but the market in Canada for boats and sporting equipment is small and you have to compete and against huge US and global players. Not easy.
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
have to make the chinese crap that blows apart at the seams to compete
Hi everyone. Let me give you the facts about Monaro Marine. It's been a long time since I have been on this site. I'm Brad Parker and I have taken over for Dan Parker, founder and still owner of Monaro Marine. Our building in Richmond was sold to the new owner about 5 years ago and we were getting a good lease rate until it ran out and he decided to double the rate. We could not afford that. My dad is in his late 70's and was still working full-time. He decided that this was a good time to retire.
We found a small shop in Delta to move to last June. It was so small that we could not keep all of our staff and the stuff we accumulated over the years. We found a separate place to store the molds nearby. The 21 hull and deck molds were crushed, as well as the 27 deck mold but we still have all of the other molds. The 298 molds are for sale simply because I don't have the skilled manpower or space to build them.
It takes years to learn how to build a boat efficiently and the younger people simply not interested in putting the time and effort in. I had two guys working for us for 30 years but they have retired and have never been able to replace them.
Our new shop is in the Bridgeview Marine building. At current we are not building any boats but building again is not out of the question. It's very hard to make any money building a custom boat one at a time. There is great cost to building a well built boat.
We are still servicing Monaros and do quite a bit of work for Bridgeview painting bottoms, fibreglass repair and gelcoat repair. We also repair the BC Ferries rescue boats. A year later and there is still more to organize. I kept two of my staff. With this system I can better manage everything that goes on and better manage the quality control. We are looking into getting a tent put up to expand our work space.
We still have all of the essential tools to do the same work as before. We have just had to make efficient use of the space. I consult with my dad regularly and he still comes around every week or two.
In summary, we are in business and doing well.
We found a small shop in Delta to move to last June. It was so small that we could not keep all of our staff and the stuff we accumulated over the years. We found a separate place to store the molds nearby. The 21 hull and deck molds were crushed, as well as the 27 deck mold but we still have all of the other molds. The 298 molds are for sale simply because I don't have the skilled manpower or space to build them.
It takes years to learn how to build a boat efficiently and the younger people simply not interested in putting the time and effort in. I had two guys working for us for 30 years but they have retired and have never been able to replace them.
Our new shop is in the Bridgeview Marine building. At current we are not building any boats but building again is not out of the question. It's very hard to make any money building a custom boat one at a time. There is great cost to building a well built boat.
We are still servicing Monaros and do quite a bit of work for Bridgeview painting bottoms, fibreglass repair and gelcoat repair. We also repair the BC Ferries rescue boats. A year later and there is still more to organize. I kept two of my staff. With this system I can better manage everything that goes on and better manage the quality control. We are looking into getting a tent put up to expand our work space.
We still have all of the essential tools to do the same work as before. We have just had to make efficient use of the space. I consult with my dad regularly and he still comes around every week or two.
In summary, we are in business and doing well.
Coyote Spooner
Well-Known Member
Good to hear you guys are still around. Your boats are awesome machines. I had the pleasure of running a 27’ Alaska bulkhead model with twin diesels, for a couple years. Crossing the straight to Thrasher, in rough weather, we left the Grady White guide fleet. She was a great rough water boat!!
A good friend of mine bought your old shop truck. She’s a beast now, with a 500 hp LS under the hood. He did all the work himself.
A good friend of mine bought your old shop truck. She’s a beast now, with a 500 hp LS under the hood. He did all the work himself.
