Decorating Your Summer Home Away From Home

!±8± Decorating Your Summer Home Away From Home

OK, you've backed your boat into the marina slip, made fast your lines and hooked up to shore power. Your transom is blazing with the clever graphic you had made as a decal that shows off the inspired name of your boat. Now you step onto the pier and look at your dock and gee, it looks plain and drab. You need to spangle it up and make it uniquely yours, your summer home for your summer recreation. You must make sure that your slip screams good tidings to all and sundry that pass by.

First of all, whether your boat and dock are on the ocean, the bay, or the lake, a definite nautical flavor in your decorating scheme is absolutely essential.

Start with things that are quickly and easily identifiable as "boat things." Anchors and ship's wheels are always a good eye-catcher, and a look around will get you several different ways to display them. They come in brass, wood, plastic - all depending on what you want to spend.

There are also nautical plaques and signs, some merely identifying parts of your boat - galley, bridge, captain's quarters etc. - to seaport signs that bring to mind the waterfronts of a golden seafaring era, notably tavern signs.

Lanterns, especially if they are fitted out with a Fresnel lens, and more especially still, if they are the distinctive red and green of the universal port and starboard running lights, are an especially gratifying decoration for your dock.

Another distinctive décor item is to spell out your boat name, or your family name in the alphabet signal flags used on ships.

On board, a new ship's clock sets the tone of your boating décor. They come in various formats, including ship's wheel and porthole clocks, brass bridge clocks and clocks that chime the watch bells - called striking clocks. They run from fairly low prices to very expensive, depending on your pocketbook and your dedication to your boating hobby.

How to display all the interesting loot? That's pretty much up to you. A line suspended between uprights that frame your slip is a good place to hang your favorite items. All you really need to remember is leave plenty of room for the other boaters on your dock to pass by - and be sure to ooh and ah at their decorations, too.