Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1034531
24 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2018 WWW.HOUSEBOATMAGAZINE.COM E veryone has an unfinished project waiting to be finished. Sometimes it's something as small as hanging a new set of curtains or finishing a half-written letter. Howev- er, other times unfinished projects are much more complicated than that, which is why they remain incomplete. It isn't easy to find the discipline to finish something as annoying as caulking the bathtub or winterizing your boat. Renovating a house- boat definitely falls on the list of the more difficult projects to finish, but Ben and Melissa Marsh have dived wholeheartedly into revamping the vessel they have named Little Marshy. Like many projects, theirs is incomplete, but their disci- pline and well-thought-out plan are certainly worth taking notes on. e Beginning Of A Journey Melissa always dreamed of living on a houseboat, and when she found an online posting advertising a free houseboat she could hardly contain herself. But, the lead was a dud. The boat was so terrifyingly out of shape that Melissa was afraid to step on it. However, she didn't give up. Instead, she decided to keep looking. "My dad was able to talk with and get the phone number of the owners of another houseboat, one which happened to be owned by his neighbors," Melissa remarked. "I spoke on the phone with them that evening and off we went to go look at it. Then, some of the nicest people we have ever met, Daniel and Jessica, entered into our lives. Not to mention two of the prettiest little girls I've seen." Melissa's excitement over the project grew as she learned from her father's neighbors that their house- boat had been owned by the screenwriter of Donald Duck. The 1973 Holi- day Mansion housed the screenwriter as he worked directly with Walt Disney A Work In Progress e unfinished — but soon to be complete — project of Ben and Melissa Marsh By Emily FitzPatrick