Mark Dorsey · Katama owner

An owner behind the site.

I’m Mark Dorsey, and my boat is a 1975 Boston Whaler Katama. I’d wanted a Boston Whaler for as long as I could remember.

I finally found one online at a price that made sense. Its owner was an older man who’d had the boat for many years. He could no longer use it and was moving.

As I drove away with the boat, he had tears in his eyes. He truly loved it. I love it too.

This site covers the questions that come up with the Katama: where to find parts, what will fit, and what to ask before spending the money.

Mark Dorsey at the helm of his Katama in the South Sound, with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the background. — Me on my Katama in the South Sound, with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the background.

My 1975 Boston Whaler Katama underway on Elliott Bay in Seattle on a summer day. — **My 1975 Katama** A summer day out on Elliott Bay in Seattle. Photo supplied by Mark Dorsey.

How this resource works

Useful information, clear sources.

Boston Whaler Owners is an independent resource, not the manufacturer’s owners club.

How we select resources

We review supplier and publisher websites for relevance to the purchasing task. Inclusion is not a certification, product test, supplier guarantee, or confirmation that a component fits a particular boat.

How we write guides

The owner notebook covers my purchases, observations and projects. Our buying guides compare practical options using published research. We link to source and supplier pages and distinguish supplier information from our editorial suggestions. We do not claim firsthand testing when none has been documented.

Read our full editorial standards for how we separate reported experience, supplier claims and editorial recommendations.

What needs direct confirmation

Confirm dimensions, compatibility, lead time, pricing, return conditions, installation requirements, and warranty with the seller before placing an order. For installation and repowering decisions, use a qualified marine professional familiar with your boat.

Commercial relationships

No affiliate links or sponsored placements are active in this version. Any future paid placements will be labeled and any commission links disclosed. See our commercial disclosure.

Photography & credits

1965 Boston Whaler 13: At the 2007 Red Barns Spectacular, Gilmore Car Museum, Michigan. Photo by Joe Ross. Source photograph · CC BY-SA 2.0. Original image file; responsive display may crop the frame.
From the archive: August 16, 1966: A U.S. Navy Boston Whaler skimmer in Da Nang Harbor. Photo by JO1 E.T. Tompkins / U.S. Navy, NHHC NH 74185. Source photograph · Public domain. Original image file; scaled for responsive display.
Boston Whaler 240 Outrage: Boston Whaler underway on the Nieuwe Waterweg, July 22, 2017. Photo by kees torn. Source photograph · CC BY-SA 2.0. Original image file; responsive display may crop the frame.

Photographs document real boats and their settings. The date of a photograph does not establish a boat’s model year. Photo licenses apply to the images; photographer credits do not imply endorsement of this site.