ROUGH SAILING - FLORIDA

Tough economy means big business for Fort Lauderdale boat repossession company

National Liquidators had orders to reel in 3,066 vessels in 2008,
the most in 21 years handling boat repossessions and auctions.

By Arlene Satchell | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
April 2, 2009

Rough sailing for South Florida boat dealers means big business for a Fort Lauderdale company that takes boats from cash-strapped owners.

National Liquidators had orders to reel in 3,066 vessels in 2008, the most in 21 years handling boat repossessions and auctions.

The company's highest profile catch came Wednesday when it hooked the jailed financier Bernard Madoff's 55-foot luxury fishing boat for federal authorities. National Maritime Services, its subsidiary that handles boat seizures for the government, impounded the custom-built 1969 Rybovich vessel valued at $2.2 million. It'll be sold at auction to help repay investors Madoff defrauded as part of his $65 billion Ponzi scheme.

"We repo four to five boats a day in South Florida," President Robert 'Bob' Toney said.

This year, about 380 boats on average are being repossessed monthly and that could jump to more than 400, he said.

National also operates recovery sites in California and Ohio and is considered the nation's largest boat recovery and auction company.

While repo boats are selling, which is a bright spot for the marine industry, some worry about negative effects.

"We might be bringing some new people into boating, but in the long term it's [repo sales] not helping the local marine economy that much," said Frank Herhold, executive director of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida in Fort Lauderdale. "It's not a story with a happy ending."