The heat’s on:  it’s time to get in your boat and fish, cruise and chill.  Our beloved bay boats, those shallow-water-loving, tunnel-hulled vessels, let us float across the flats of the Laguna Madre, spotting redfish finning and dolphins jumping.  In boats zipping down the Intracoastal canal with friends and family, we are happy to get away from it all and to drift past the islands and sloughs. On good days, we bring home more than enough fish for supper.

Most of the boats on the bay have been built in the Valley.  While local boat-builders have multi-generational traditions, those companies, in fact, are producing cutting edge models and expanding at a rapid pace. Boat sales, boat services and marinas find they cater to an enthusiastic market.

Dargel Boats, Texas’ oldest family-owned boat works (and the nation’s second oldest family-owned boat builders), has been in Donna since 1937 when Russell Dargel Sr. began building and selling wooden boats, followed by his son Rusty. In 2007, Cleve and Miriam Ford (she is the great-niece of the founder) took over the company known for its shallow water Skout, Skooter and Fisherman models and the versatile HDX Kat.

Dargel had no downturn during the recession, but now that people are more confident in the economy, they are buying boats at a rapid pace.  “We just can’t keep up,” said Ford. The company produces about 120-140 boats a year, and the short term goal is to raise that to 250.  Last August, Dargel acquired the boat builder Baymaster outside Los Fresnos and conveniently closer to the water.  Long range plans are to convert the Highway 100 location into Dargel retail sales and service, including custom aluminum fishing towers.  That would allow the Donna location to focus on boatbuilding.

“We have a great team,” Ford said.  All the employees have collaborated more than seven years, “thinking outside the  boat,” to research, develop and test the shallow and rough water and offshore hybrid Kat, a holy grail of boat design, now Dargel’s top seller.  “I would not have been able to do it without the team.”

But the team has only 40 members, which hinders growth.  “Part of our growing pains is training staff and keeping them.  We’re interested in growing our dealer network out of state, but we need to be able to build enough boats and supply them with a quality product.” During the summer, every boat is sold before it is completed. During the winter, Dargel builds to get ahead of demand before the boat shows start and spark purchases.

The drought has boosted Dargel dealers’ sales in Dallas and Austin, according to Miriam Ford. With low lake levels, some boaters have shifted their attention to salt water while others are using shallow water boats on the shrunken lakes.  Five years ago, the Fords  revived the Dargel Owners Fishing Tournament which attracted 104 boats (including a 1979 Dargel) and approximately 500 people to the June event.

Shallow Sport Boats, founded in 1983 by Rex and his wife Connie Hudson, has been run by Wes and Kyra Hudson since 2007.  The family began building boats in the 1950s, including reportedly the first molded fiberglass pleasure boats.

New composite technology means that the bay boats manufactured at the Bayview facility are lighter, stronger and more versatile than their predecessors. “We are back-ordered, depending on the model, four to six months.  It’s a good problem to have,” said Hudson.  “The number one goal is to maintain quality over quantity.  Boats built by my parents 30 years ago are still on the water.”

Shallow Sport makes 13 different models between the Sport, Classic, Modified V and the new X-3, which is sold out for the next 14 months. “The X-3 does the job of three boats (shallow and rough water and off-shore).  It’s comfortable with lots of space for family and friends,” said Hudson. Yet the company faces the same problem that Dargel does.

“We struggle with finding skilled labor in the area, the right people who want to work in a hands-on construction job. Finding people with managerial skills is even harder,” Hudson said. “We do a lot of on-the-job training, and the crew we have now is excellent.”  Shallow Sport completed a multi-million dollar expansion last year, almost doubling their floor space, which led to a 35% increase in production.  “That’s the biggest increase since our inception.”  Steady growth of 10% per year over the next five years is the goal.

Shallow Sport boats are sold only through dealers, which include The Sportsman of San Benito and boat stores in Houston, Corpus Christi, Florida and South Carolina.

The marina 

Harbormaster Jim Enholm presides over the Sea Ranch Marina and a lineup of tenants that ranges from American Diving, Original Dolphin Watch cruises and Captain Murphy’s fishing charters to the taxidermist Kingfisher Gallery, South Padre Marine boats sales and service, and a contractor who services federal agencies’ vessels.

Enholm said managing the marina is a customer-service oriented job.  “Boating is supposed to fun, and the fun starts the minute they call my guys to have to their boats readied.” His crew removes the boat from its storage rack, gasses it up, puts buckets of ice in the wells and docks it where the customer can pick it up with no fuss.  The marina is the only place on the island that sells fuel dockside.

“We keep Sea Ranch Marina tourist friendly, family friendly.  You show up in the parking lot and can go on a dolphin tour or a fishing trip.  There’s a lot to choose from.  It’s one of the few places you can pull up and see fish coming in off the fishing boats,” said Enholm.

In the marina’s office, Debbie Christian handles booking for the popular Texas International Fishing Tournament. “It’s a hectic time for us. We like TIFT and like to think it is good for the local economy,” Enholm said. The marina has deep water slips that can accommodate large fishing boats and berths for transient boats.

The same company runs Sea Ranch II at South Point, which also has a dry stack marina and 41 wet slips.

Adjacent to the harbormaster’s office is tenant South Padre Marine. After working at South Padre Boat Sales for several years, Ervin Skloss and David Galvan bought the business in February and renamed it South Padre Marine.  They sell shallow water boats on consignment and offer boat parts and services, for the public and for customers of Sea Ranch Marina. “David does what he likes to do, parts and service, and I do what I like, sales,” said Skloss.

Although he “grew up on dry land” and farmed around McAllen for many years, Skloss has come to know the Laguna Madre well. His company is the only boat dealer located on the water, so potential customers usually take a test ride before they buy.  Using the blue book equivalent for boats, Skloss tries to come up with a fair price for the consignment boats. “I represent the seller. If I can get them and the buyer to agree on a price, everything’s good. People stop by regularly to check on inventory and what may be coming in.” Some leave a request for a specific model.  And if they use the dry storage next door, they do not even have to buy a trailer.

Isn’t it time to get your feet wet just a little, cruising the Laguna?

For more information, see Dargelboats.com, shallowsportboats.com, southpadreboatsales.com and searanch.877webnerd.com.

August cover story by Eileen Mattei