At MarineMax, boat sales buffeted by everything from Hurricane Irene to national debt debate

Wake up and good morning. One of Florida's key economic indicators, given the vast coastline and warm weather in this state, is whether the boating industry is strong, flat or weak. To use fishing lingo, boat buyers are still just nibbling.

Clearwater-based MarineMax, the country's biggest boat retailer, reported this morning that it lost $5.7 million in its fourth quarter and $11.5 million for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30. Sales were down 4 percent in the fourth quarter -- which means the company plans to cut costs -- even though sales were up 6.5 percent in fiscal 2011 from the previous year.

Most revealing are MarineMax CEO Bill McGill's (photo, right) sweeping remarks about what is hurting boat sales. "We would have preferred to have produced stronger results, but our industry's challenges persisted with a significant drop in consumer confidence brought about by increasing ...