2023 Memorial Day Issue

At Batten the Hatches, She Brings Boatloads of Experience
Story by ELLEN WILKOWE
Photos by Karen Fucito
Maria Pappas of Mine Hill said she has
boarded “thousands and thousands of
boats,” but nearly all of them never actually left
the docks—at least not with her at the helm.
As the owner of Batten the Hatches in Lake
Hopatcong, Pappas refurbishes boats in their
resting states, specifically the interiors that are
in various stages of disrepair.
“I didn’t grow up thinking this is what I wanted
to do with my life,” said the 56-year-old.
Raised in Dover, Pappas was unfamiliar with
nearby Lake Hopatcong until she took a job at
Bill Smith’s Covers after graduating high school.
“I thought that this is a cool thing, working
on the lake,” she said. “It’s a different kind of
job.”
Not to mention, long-lasting. What started
as a summer job turned into a full-fledged
rewarding career, which has lasted 33 years.
Smith’s shop was housed upstairs in what is
now San Bar Marina on Howard Boulevard.
Pappas praised Smith for showing her the
ropes for all matters concerning boat covers,
upholstery, cushions and materials. The seats
and cushions of a boat are fitted with marinegrade
vinyl, she said, while the covers are made
from Sunbrella, an acrylic woven fabric. When
she began, canvas, a natural cotton fiber, was
the only material used to make boat covers. By
the late 1980s, Sunbrella was introduced and
has since become the industry standard for
boat covers.
“I worked for Bob for five years. Then in 1990,
he wanted to move down south. I bought all his
inventory, took over the business and changed
the name,” she recalled.
Being on her own was challenging, she said,
but through trial and error and perseverance
she learned more about the industry and was
able to build her business.
In the process, she also developed a
tough skin, a byproduct of being a female
entrepreneur in a lake environment dominated
by male business owners—and male boat
owners.
“At the beginning it was intimidating,” she
said. “Especially when I was younger—about
30 plus years ago. I’ve held my own, though.”
By 2013, Pappas said she was looking for
a change and sold the business, thinking
she would work instead as a sales rep in the
industry. But circumstances set her on a
different course, and she wound up buying
back the business before the end of the year.
“Within a year of selling it, the person who
bought it realized it wasn’t something he
wanted to do, so I took it back. He was the
one who moved the shop here [at its current
location on 70 Route 181 in Lake Hopatcong]
and it has worked out very well in the end.”
In working alongside Smith, Pappas
awakened a latent passion for working with her
hands, particularly the creative freedom and
satisfaction that comes with witnessing the
start-to-finish process.
“Every day is different,” she said. “Every job is
custom. Some things take longer than others
and it’s challenging at times, but you figure it
out as you go along.”
She credits her team—three full-timers
and one part-timer—for the success of her
business. “I’ve got a good team here,” she said.
“We bounce ideas off each other.”
But a typical day is often atypical. The flow
of work could be as simple as a single seat
cushion or complex as a custom design.
“Some customers drop off cushions and
others leave their entire boat,” she said.
Pappas pounces on the opportunity to
fabricate a custom interior.
A recent custom job included the
upholstering of an American Offshore boat
with black diamond stitching and checkered
racing strips. The diamonds were individually
cut boxes that were stitched together,
Pappas said. The work was recently entered
into a Chesapeake Marine Canvas Fabricators
Association competition, which is held at the
organization’s annual convention, but the
project did not receive an award.
Pappas said the convention is a great place
to learn and meet other shop owners from
around the country.
“There are seminars for people like us who
have been doing this forever. If there’s a
problem, I can call one of those people and say,
‘Hey, I’m in this situation. Have you dealt with
this before?’ It’s a nice community because
where else can you go and learn this stuff?” she
said.
Just recently, shop manager Travis Amico
came away with top honors for his design on
a 1991 HydroStream boat. The colorful striped
pattern was created to mimic the boat’s
geometric design and took first place in Miami
Corporation’s Miami Madness contest. Miami
Corporation is an industry supplier that hosts
a nationwide competition each year.
So, what exactly does it take to custom
design the interior of a boat or reupholster a
comfortable cushion for four?
Well, physical strength, for one, and of course
a boatload of equipment and the deftness
to operate it. Think industrial-sized Consew
sewing machines (circa 1970), staple guns, drills,
pliers and saws, to name a few.
The calorie burn just comes with the
territory.
“At the end of the day you’re exhausted,”
Pappas said. “Between climbing up and down
ladders, in and out of boats, removing and
installing seats…the job is the workout.”
Given the niche of her business, Pappas all
but shrugged off the possibility of competition.
Those who some might consider to be her
competitors she sees as peers.
“There’s not anything detrimental,” she said.
“There’s enough to go around.”
Physicality and competition aside, Pappas
is most challenged by projects that may take
longer than expected due to unanticipated
snags that often come with renovations.
“I may be doing a seat but then I find I have
to drill out this bolt because it’s rusted,” she
said. “All of a sudden you become a carpenter.
You have to cut a piece of wood and a new
piece of vinyl.”
Left to right: Maria Pappas at one of the shop’s
sewing machines. The seat design by Travis
Amico on this 1991 HydroStream boat recently
garnered a first place award. Amico and Pappas
work side-by-side at one of the shop’s large
work benches.
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LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Memorial Day 2023