SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Receiving a donated ex-charter boat was a huge help for the youth organization Stockton Sea Scouts, said program director John Manov.
But hauling it out for maintenance to make it safe for kids, he explained, became far more expensive than originally thought because of a new invasive species of mussel.
“With common knowledge of a vessel haul out, we expected to see costs of about $20,000 for our first haul out,” Manov said. “And the mussels added about another $8,000, we figure, to that cost.”…