Mickey started working on boats a few years back when he bought his first sailboat, an Ericson 27, 1974 vintage. He updated, repaired, rewired, replumbed, and maintained just about all systems on Tubby. Most memorably, he had to deal with a recirculating head. If you do not know what that is, you should consider yourself lucky. Needless to say, he learned a lot about boats and their odors until he re-plumbed the h head to use raw water. The wiring on Tubby was also not quite up to marine standards, so a lot of wiring had to be redone, as well as all the other routine tasks and usual nuisances associated with an old boat.

As the saying goes, "I can't afford my boat. And besides, I want a bigger one." So inn 2002 Mickey purchased another one: a 1980 vintage Cabo Rico 38. This is a his current boat, and a lot was learned about finding parts for this boat (or having them manufactured) from a head that is no longer available (but built quite nicely of solid metal rather than the plastics most heads use these days), to circuit breakers which will be completely replaced next year when the electrical system is upgraded. With Katie's help, he installed a new water heater, heat exchanger, battery charger, and of course ripped up and refinished the deck.

Mickey's other life is in the Internet business. He ensures the East Cost network of a national ISP is up and running. This is where he gained a business ethic that measures "late" in minutes and hours, not days and weeks (and, sadly, months). Several years ago, while diving in the Keys, Mickey had an experience that, although he did not know it then, would eventually push him into the marine business: The captain of the dive boat informed the diving party that the boat upholstery was in the process of being repaired, and it should have been completed a week earlier, but the upholster was delayed and the new target day was a week in the future. This was in sharp contrast to target dates and hard deadlines in the Internet industry, where even a few days' delay meant a hard-won customer was easily lost.

Flash forward to 2003. While trying to get some work on Bahia after an accident, two things were most frustrating: There was no general contractor to be found, and some marine businesses did not seem to care about the timeline of your work. Even quotes were noticeably late. Those that were timely did a good enough job, but never asked for any input. This is when SRT Marine started to come together, and with Katie a business was born.

SRT Marine now specializes in working with our customers to give them exactly what they want, on a schedule that is realistic and in line with our customers' needs. Along with our commitment to our customers, and to our promises, we will readily admit that we do not know everything. We at least cannot do everything well. Thus we subcontract out some work to marine businesses that we have had good experiences with, that are also willing to stick by their word, and their philosophies about the environment and their customers complement ours.

thanks