Dreamboat on a budget floats into Opening Day

Ken Cavallon remembers the day he fell in love.

It was Friday, Aug. 4, 1989, and he was having lunch with his girlfriend at Ray's Boathouse at Shilshole Bay. It was Seafair and there was a parade of boats.

Out in the water was a vision.

"It was a beautiful old Chris-Craft Commander," remembered Cavallon. "I told Kym, 'See that boat? Someday I'll have a boat like that.' " He got the boat — and he got the girl.

Cavallon, who lives on Queen Anne, said he knows a lot of guys on shore will feel envy today as his 36-foot classic Chris-Craft Constellation cruiser sails by on Opening Day of boating season on Portage Bay.

As he, Kym — now his wife — and their family make their way among the 317 boats in the Seattle Yacht Club's parade, plus the some 1,000 boats tied up along the log booms, you bet that Cavallon will notice the looks from the shore.

"I used to be one of you!" he'll think to himself.

The annual Opening Day event began in 1920 and is an unabashed display of a boating culture that is so much a part of Seattle.

Cavallon's boat was built in 1962, is made of mahogany and oak and looks quite grand on the water.

He has named it "The Dream Come True."

He began to pursue that dream in 2000.

Cavallon went to boat dealers, boat shows and simply walked around various moorages and struck up conversations with boat owners. He spent hours upon hours on the Internet, looking through boat ads. It was sheer luck that he got his dream boat for $6,000.

A fortunate error

He had been on the Internet, watching the price on the Chris-Craft start at $29,000, then drop to $19,900, then $6,000.

Cavallon jumped at the new price, which turned out to be a typo; it was supposed to be $16,000. The owners had passed away and their children had put the boat up for sale.

But, with no other bidders, Cavallon got the boat for $6,000.

It cost him an additional $3,400 to have it trucked to Seattle from Newport Beach, Calif. To pay for it all, he refinanced the family home.

An inspection had shown that the boat would need some repairs; Cavallon felt that even if he had to spend a few thousand dollars on them, the boat was still a bargain.

In August 2005, the boat arrived. Cavallon met it with nervousness, his nightmare being that he had bought a floating lemon.

But, worn furnishings and all, the boat ran. He took his family out on Lake Washington.

Sure, the boat needed maintenance, but Cavallon now had ownership of a classic he had dreamed about.

His story shows that you can buy dreams on a budget, if you do maintenance work yourself and don't mind the big cigarette burn on a seat cushion or scratches on the kitchen cupboards.

The average age of the first-time boat buyer is 37, and more than two-thirds are male, said Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

"Historically, it's kind of been a guy's toy, like a fast car," Dammrich said.

Who else would pore over picture ads in Boat Trader magazine, featuring text such as, "GXI fuel injected motor and Duoprop OD. Furuno radar, VHF, GPS, and FF."

A guy may decide what kind of boat he wants, but if he has a spouse, "she's the one who decides IF there will be a boat," Dammrich said.

Cavallon, a 41-year-old father of two, found that to be the case.

As he began his search for just the right boat, his wife wasn't exactly brimming with enthusiasm, Cavallon remembered, until he took her to a boat he was considering buying.

Then, he remembered, "I think she got the vision of the fun the family would have on it."

A priceless purchase

Cavallon said he knew going in that boats cost money to maintain.

So far he's spent $9,400 on repairs, $5,000 of that for three different repairs to a balky engine. He expects in the future to spend $3,000 a year on maintenance.

In addition, last year he spent $1,700 on fuel and $360 on insurance, and he pays $250 a month for moorage.

Cavallon knows the saying about owning a boat: Just open up a hole and start pouring money into it.

"It is what it is," he said. But there are the rewards.

Pretty much every day, Cavallon drives down to his boat and works on it. It relaxes him.

"I'm in the software business; I need something to do with my hands," he said.

He's gone fishing, on a trip to the San Juans, cruises on Lake Washington.

On nice days, he can go out with family and friends and spend hours enjoying the water.

"It sounds a lot different when the waves hit it than when water hits a fiberglass boat. It's a natural sound, not an artificial sound," he said.

Cavallon has no regrets. It's something you can't put a price on.

"I hear the kids laugh," he said.

Erik Lacitis: 206-464-2237 or elacitis@seattletimes.com