Just Say No

That’s what my Romanian friend Daniela told me today while we were enjoying frozen daiquiris by the marina pool. I had just finished telling her that since moving here to Jacksonville, Bill and I have done more socializing in the past four months than we did in any four years in Pittsburgh, and part of it was due to her husband’s fondness for impromptu happy hours, pizza parties and potlucks. “Just tell Basil no,” she said, “if you really don’t want to participate. He can be very persuasive!”

I have no intention of passing up a get-together with fellow live-aboards or the transient boaters who are here for a short time! I’ve always loved a party, small or large, planned or impromptu but my introvert husband has, in the past, struggled with non-stop socializing. Boating friends back on H Dock at the Fox Chapel Yacht Club became used to, and understanding of, Bill’s need to slip away from a gathering while I was good for another hour or two. We have a running joke that he’ll do just a certain number of social events each month. So far we’ve calculated that he’s used up his allotment through May!

But seriously, Bill has good naturedly participated in, and even instigated a few of, the many restaurant dinners, marina-sponsored parties, dock get-togethers, cookouts and boat trips that seem to materialize every couple of days. Every once in a while at one of these events someone will look around and ask “Where’s Bill?” and we can usually find him puffing contentedly away on a cigar out on the clubhouse deck or by the pool. Especially on a warm, clear night.

The majority of our friends are boaters from other places, including other countries, and the average stay at the marina is about three to four months, as they winter in Jacksonville before heading home for summers on the Atlantic Seaboard, or south to the Keys, the Bahamas or other islands. So knowing that this may be the only time we have to spend with them serves to increase the frequency of our fun times. It’s also great to trade boating stories and we learn a lot from people who have done this far longer than we have. I have a great respect for sailors; there’s way too much going on with those boats for me to ever be comfortable as a first mate. Daniela and Basil have two cats aboard their 42-foot sailboat. Every morning Squeaky and Lucille are allowed to wander along the dock with Basil and his water pistol close behind to make sure they don’t jump onto other boats…especially the ones with dogs!

So this Thursday Basil has planned a rib cookout and has decided that he and Bill will spend four hours slow-cooking them and smoking cigars by the pool. I’m going to miss that guy when they head back to Toronto next month!

DIYers Never Really Retire

Recently Bill mentioned that after 40 years of home ownership and maintenance he was so ready for this move to our boat. Major improvements to four homes, inside and out, left him a bit weary of non-stop DIY challenges. But, as you know, Bill isn’t one to take a well-deserved rest. He has consistently looked for opportunities to modify our living quarters on Pure Grace. Although most of the improvements have focused around storage, including a clever five-bottle wine rack in the entertainment console, he recently engineered a well-fitting and good-looking solution to our screen-less aft door (below).

Harbormaster, a premiere builder of river yachts, provided a standard screen door for the forward starboard side entrance. But to enjoy fresh air circulating, the odd L-shaped aft cabin door had to be left open. Over the years I’ve battled dirt, dust, pollen and, of course, stink bugs in the cabin but could put up with it for boating weekends in Pittsburgh half a year at a time. Now that we live in an area of the country which has more (and bigger) bugs, I wasn’t looking forward to waging continual war. The addition of our cat, Alfie, was a more compelling reason to find a solution. Alfie’s former owner had his front paws declawed so he would be somewhat defenseless outdoors.

After much pondering and sketching, and a trial run with off-the-shelf screens, Bill worked out a simple two-part screen that can be easily put up and taken down. Although it doesn’t allow for egress from the salon while installed, it’s easy enough to take the external stairs up and down to our aft deck. Velcro straps hold the smaller top screen and larger vertical screen tight to the frame of the open aft door.