Coastal Inflatables Floats on Wave of Success

Jim Woodsum has always loved boats and was inspired to develop his own line of inflatable boats when all he had was an unstable wooden dingy to get him from shore to his moored powerboat. “I saw my neighbor use an inflatable boat, and he could stand up in it and it wasn’t tippy,” Woodsum says. But when he looked into buying one, they cost $2,000 or more.

Woodsum contacted manufacturers and found one in Korea that could make a boat to his specifications at the price point he wanted. In 2004, he went into business as Coastal Inflatables in Dover selling his boats for $975 to $2,900.

“This year has been our best year,” Woodsum says. “We had our best boat show ever and best season ever. Our sales are up 42 percent over last year.” Last year the business generated $160,000 in sales and he projects sales of $225,000 this year. He attributes that, in part, to sourcing his materials from Germany and France rather than China as he found better quality has been a selling point.

He has also developed a line of inflatable paddleboards that has taken off, he says, doubling that part of the business in the past year.

Woodsum designs the boats, has them manufactured in Korea and then shipped to Boston.

More than half of his business comes from the New England Boat Show in Boston and the rest is from Internet sales and referrals. Woodsum and his wife Livia have no other employees except for temporary help prior to the boat show. The company opened a small showroom at One Washington Center mill in Dover earlier this year.

Woodsum’s designs for his boats have evolved based on customer feedback, including placing handles on both the outside for carrying the boat and the inside to help people get out. While most customers purchase boats to ferry themselves and supplies to larger boats, others have begun purchasing them for recreational use.

He is adding a second boat show in Newport, RI, that he expects will help sales. “We have to make some serious decisions about growth. We’re at the point where we have to think about hiring,” Woodsum says. For more information visit coastalinflatables.com.