Costly land helping push boat yards out of South Florida.

Yet another company in the boat-building business is leaving South Florida, squeezed out by rising prices for land and worker housing.Moores Marine Inc., which repairs antique wooden yachts including prized Trumpys, in Palm Beach County, is moving to North Carolina, where the government is offering incentives to lure boat-building."It's not that I wanted to go by choice," said company founder James Moores, 51, of the decision to leave Riviera Beach for Jarrett Bay Marine Industrial Park near Beaufort, N.C."But we don't own our shipyard, and we've pretty much been told that our lease arrangements are ending," he said. "At this point in my life, I wasn't going to move unless I owned, and the cost here [in South Florida] is prohibitive."Moores said he plans to invest $1.5 million in the next two to four years at its new 18-acre parcel in North Carolina, which will include a shipyard, 140-foot-long paint-shed and 200-foot-long repair facility, plus a supply store. He expects to hire about 25 people, up from about a dozen now working in South Florida.The company is one of the few on the U.S. East Coast to repair the celebrated Trumpys, dubbed "the Rolls-Royce of American motor yachts" and built between the late 1940s and 1978 in Annapolis, Md. The wooden yachts are prized by celebrities and used by presidents.Moores' move follows several high-profile relocations of boat builders from South Florida in recent years.In 2003, Mako Marine Inc., which made recreational fishing boats in Opa-locka, moved its headquarters and manufacturing facilities to Forest City, N.C. The company had employed 80 at the Miami-Dade site and operated in Opa-locka since 1966.And last November, Contender Boats Inc., a maker of premium sport fishing boats, announced plans to relocate most of manufacturing from Homestead to Baxley, Ga. The company committed to invest $12.8 million and create at least 424 jobs in Baxley over five years, ultimately growing to 500 employees there.The Marine Industries Association of South Florida worries a further exodus of boat builders will reduce the $13 billion-plus in yearly marine activity in the tri-county area."While we're trying to reach agreement on realistic and reasonable boat facility site plans in Broward and Palm Beach counties, the welcome mat is out in the Carolinas and Georgia," said Frank Herhold, executive director of the association that represents more than 700 companies. "They're stealing our jobs and our economic activity."Moores said he looked to move to South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia -- all states that have lost textile factories and are targeting the marine industry for jobs.South Carolina offered the most generous incentives, but North Carolina offered the best alternative: a central location between clients in the Northeast and Southeast, operations near a quaint waterfront city where boat owners could stay at nice hotels and eat at good restaurants, plus good incentives and ample assistance."They bent over backwards to help us get through all the red tape, acquire the property and make sure everything is up to snuff," Moores said. The company is moving into a 175-acre marine industry park, with the government providing roads, power lines, sewage and other basics to lure the tenants.In South Florida in contrast, Moores said the marine industry is being squeezed out, with luxury condos taking over the waterfront and workers unable to afford housing."We ran an ad in a local [South Florida] newspaper for carpenter helpers and got one person, who thought he'd be doing fiberglass boats," Moores said. "In North Carolina, eight people have inquired about work already, and I have two more e-mails on my screen right now."