The dark, crushing ocean depths traveled by nuclear submarines are perhaps the most unforgiving environment we know. It does not require much of a mistake to exact the most premium of penalties.
As a young nuclear engineer aboard one of those submarines, Barry Kallander was trained to understand that harsh reality, and to do what he had to in order to insure the safety of ship and crew. And in some ways, Kallander is still at it.
SEAKITSA typical SeaKits Engine Spares Kit in box.
Kallander is the founder of SeaKits, a company that provides customized maintenance planning, record–keeping and spare–parts provisioning for large boat owners. The service is designed to eliminate home–grown maintenance and parts logs in favor of a more organized – and more advanced – computer–based system.
While there are many software programs designed to help owners track maintenance and parts, SeaKits offers premium service at a premium price – and it may soon be the gold standard. Less than a year from its launch, the system has received plenty of recognition, earning a Best New Product award at the Newport Boat Show in 2007. Manufacturers too are seeing the value – Kady–Krogen, Selene and Real Ships all include the SeaKits system with each new boat delivered.
Kallander's Maritime Maintenance System (MMS) is a thoroughly modern, internet–based application that takes a custom approach to each boat. It tracks every system aboard in great detail, based on simple inputs by the owner or captain, and then uses this data as a resource to inform the crew. For example, MMS can remind the user of upcoming maintenance and the actions required, based on information such as engine hours and manuals for the boat and its systems that are stored digitally. It can list the parts needed and their location – or help the owner order them. It even notes warranty expirations.
Ultimately, it is the content within the system – not the software itself – that becomes the asset, Kallander says.
SEAKITSThe MMS spare parts ordering page.
"Frankly, how much value is there if you're just getting a couple of spreadsheets and you have to fill in all the data yourself? With SeaKits, you're getting the fully populated database, customized for your specific boat and your systems," Kallander says. "We actually get the specs from the builder or we walk the yachts down ourselves."
BIRTH OF A COMPANY
Kallander started SeaKits in January 2007 and currently has approximately 80 customers, most of them powerboat owners with boats in the 50 to 80–foot range. There are also a handful of customers in the 40–50–foot range and Kallander has his sights set on the 80 to 120–foot market and, eventually, the larger superyachts.
"Today we sell to the owner–operator," says Kallander, though with larger boats, "you have to sell to the captains. The owners are typically much more arms–length."
Kallander's inspiration for the business was his own yacht, a Nordhavn 40 called Commander, which is featured in many of the company's print ads. When he bought Commander in 2005, Kallander traded in his Catalina 42 and realized he needed a more organized method of keeping track of the boat's maintenance requirements and spares.
"So as I got into it, I got into a more disciplined approach…outfitting the boat, keeping detailed records, talking to other Nordhavn and other yacht owners out there and I soon came to the conclusion that there was a business opportunity there," Kallander says.
SEAKITSSans Souci is Ken Williams' Nordhavn 68, one of the first MMS customers, and a loyal one.
SeaKits' original offering was a simple damage–control kit, with plugs, patches, fasteners, tools and a flooding damage control guide. These are still available, but now are also sold by retailers for about $325. The kit includes soft wood plugs for filling a hole in the hull, as one might experience with a damaged thru–hull opening, as well as a camp ax to shape and hammer in the plugs. A variety of hoses, fasteners, sealants, ties, clamps and a flashlight with batteries are also included.
The company also offers fluid analysis kits to test engine and hydraulic oils, fuels and coolants. A typical oil analysis kit includes a vacuum pump, three sample bottles, mailers, tubing, test packages, instructions and prepaid shipping to the lab. It lists for $95. A single hydraulic fluid test kit retails for $49 while a single–sample coolant test kit is $39.
But Kallander saw much more opportunity in the field and quickly decided to expand his operation into maintenance, spares and provisioning.
THE MMS ADVANTAGE
The result is the Maritime Maintenance System, which goes beyond what most software can offer in several ways. For example, the MMS can recommend the type and quantity of spare parts necessary for different kinds of cruising. For the coastal cruiser within a day or two of a port where repairs can be made, the system might suggest a more modest inventory. For the ocean passage maker, who requires a higher level of self sufficiency, it would be more expansive.
