Nickeled and Dimed….

Three years ago, May 31, 2017, to be exact, I purchased the Katahdin, a 1981 California Marshall trawler plus the 35 foot slip where she was moored in Marina 1, Santa Barbara, CA. Total cost of boat and slip-rounded up, including transfer fees-@$118,000.00. Immediately after that date, the “cost” associated with actually owning the Katahdin started to go up. First expense was a misbehaving head (think toilet), and after that first surprise, the collective cost that long term benign neglect adds to any project.

When I worked as housing consultant and colorist I would sometimes advise a client not to buy a home because it would “nickel and dime them to death”. Meaning the house would eat you up financially, in itty, bitty bites. Relentless, ongoing, continual expensive little bites. I have to laugh, because the Katahdin has been a “nickel and dimer” from the very beginning. Fix one part and another goes kaput. Without fail. Now I am now amused, but early days… not so much. First big problem. The head. It worked fine until I bought the boat, and then it didn’t. I am older and use the toilet three times a night. On average. Running a block to use the toilets in our marina. At 2:00 in the morning? Nope. That first head problem took almost three weeks to solve. Biggest challenge was actually figuring out what was wrong with head. Which… was a complete mystery. Followed by… getting replacement parts for a boat built in 1981. $1,000.00 later, the head worked, sort of. But it wasn’t until two years later-for another $1,110.00-was the problem actually solved. And by then every stinky part, from pump to valves, had been replaced. I have come to realize this process-the gradual solution- is normal. And takes a team of knowledgeable people to solve problems on older boats. A team of experts. My team consists of Jim Wulff, who is 80 and has been a mechanic since the Napoleonic Wars. He probably knows more than any five young mechanics put together. Jim, combined with David Lyon, younger and very knowledgeable, strong and eye candy cute, are my go to problem solving staff.

Issue number two. Benign neglect. Everywhere. Most of the trim on the Katahdin was either peeling, or had been sloppily recoated with a glossy finish. With no prep work to ready the surface, the new product was destined for failure. Probably one the most significant projects on the boat has been restoring the wood trim. West coast weather- relentless sun and wicked UV levels, salt air, pooing pigeons, chafing lines, and Noah’s Ark level rain storms- had taken a toll on every inch of wood. My original intent was to personally scrape, sand and redo the trim, but I quickly realized that task took skills and time I did not have. I hired local talent: Mike Lura, who spent months stripping, sanding and coating the exterior trim with Cetol Marine finish. Cost, around $6,000.00. Cash. For four coats of finish on all the windows, and most of the exterior trim. Worth. Every penny. Though not totally finished, enough has been done so my boat looks loved. No longer a wreck. And I love it when men-always men-walk by and sniff the newly finished trim. And smile. Is this sniff and smile for fresh marine finishes built into the gene pool?