Oregon's North River Marine Runs Aground Hard

Times are tough for recreational manufacturers, but if the accusations I have read are true, panic and desperation once ruled the sales end here, by one man. He was at every inventory check previously, always in the room.

North River Boats has not closed its doors Photo courtesy: northriverboats.com

(ROSEBURG, Ore.) - Recent events in Roseburg Oregon are keeping thousands of boaters attentive to the Oregon boatmakers' developing news; none of it too good.

Last month without warning, a select number of folks at North River Marine were made aware. Their retail outlets were locked and all boats on site were seized.

Boats owned by folks in for repair were caught in the net, or fencing in this case. Answers came slowly, and some angry fisherman wanted their boats back. Slowly an inventory was carefully made, and the privately owned boats thawed out from the frozen assets of the boat maker, repair agent, and seller.

As news came that retail outlets for the Oregon boatmaker were under armed guard, suspicions grew. Knowledgeable boaters knew what this was; financiers had seized property they believed to have an interest in.

Boats and motors. New and Old. Sold and never owned. But who owned what was the question, when finally an accurate inventory showed a shortage of 3.3 million dollars on a Wells Fargo credit line.

North River made a big showing at the Sportsman's show a few months back, but customers weren't seen inside the product.

Times are tough for recreational manufacturers, but if the accusations I have read are true, panic and desperation once ruled the sales end here, by one man. He was at every inventory check previously, always in the room.

But, fresh news of a new CFO, and a board of directors with a restructuring plan, could mean the boats will still keep being built. But now sold under close scrutiny of the federal government.

According to their Website, "North River remains committed to providing the highest quality service and repair for all North River products. To that end, North River continues to have a service technician available at the factory location for all service related needs. Parts are also available through the factory."