The Atlantic Ocean is on the bottom and the great South Bay is on the top with Watch Hill nestled snuggly in between.Late in 1993, Barbara and I decided to get a boat. We looked for one all fall, winter and spring, and in June 1994 we bought the BT Express, a 1986 Sea Ray Express Cruiser. (See picture at top of blog, that’s her.) Two cabins for sleeping, AC, heat, TV, VCR, microwave, 6.5 kW generator, stand up shower and more, pretty much a small home on the water. It was perfect for the four of us, Barbara, Brian, our dog Dallas and me. We spent practically every weekend, when we weren't traveling with the boat, on that boat at the Watch Hill marina on Fire Island. We did that from June 1994 until fall of 2002, the fall before Barbara became ill.
Since Barbara was an elementary school teacher, she spent a lot more time on it than I did because she had off every summer. Wednesday’s I would rush home from work, we would pack up the boat with supplies for the weekend and take it over to Watch Hill. I’d tie it up, hook up water and electric and then usually rush to catch the last ferry back to the Patchogue on the mainland. Barbara would spend an hour or so putting everything away and then enjoy a couple of days with other wives whose husband’s had done pretty much the same thing I did.
You can see Barbara is holding one of her famous Long Island Ice Teas in this shot.I’d go to work on Thursday and Friday, and after work on Friday I would catch the ferry out of Patchogue back to Watch Hill where we’d spend the weekend. Sunday we would pack up, take the boat back to where we kept it near home, unload dirty laundry, etc., and wait until Wednesdays rolled around again to repeat the process again.
What a life that was. We were so blessed to be able to live this great life except for one thing, it got too hot sometimes. Lots of times we all bitched and moaned about how we wished the marina had a swimming pool. Yeah, I know we were right between the ocean and the Great South Bay, but wish we did. I forget exactly what year it was, but one day after I’d gotten back to Patchogue, I got this idea to check out small pools at the stores. I found a pool in Toys-R-Us that the sides blew up. It was an oval about 5 x 10, maybe a little bigger, and cost me $50. That was the best $50 I ever spent.
You should have seen the look on everyones face when I showed up with the pool on Friday. We spent Friday night laughing about it never dreaming how great it would to have it. The next day a bunch of us pitched in to rake and level the sand behind the dock, behind boat, set up the pool and blow up it up with a small vacuum cleaner someone had. We ran a couple of hoses to fill it up with water and then waited for happy hour, which could be anywhere from noon till 4:00 with our crowd of friends. (Barbara always made me wait until 4:00 for happy hour)
Most of us gathered around the pool sitting in chairs with our feet in the water. A few hopped in and just enjoyed sitting in the cool water. All of us drank, ate, cooled off in the water, then drank and and ate some more. Sunday, the pool was emptied and packed away until the following weekend. This was the way it went every weekend until the weather cooled off in the fall.
BTW, kids were banned from the pool. They track sand, splash, make excess noise and can be such a bother sometimes, so I banned them. My pool, my rules, fuck ‘em! That doesn’t make me a bad person does it?
This is how Barbara spent a great deal of her time on the weekends. Feet in the water chilling out.
Notice the mostly eaten tray of shrimp cocktail in lower right corner. Someone always brought the shrimp.
This one gives you a good shot at where the pool is located and the crowd gathered around the pool.
This shows a good view of the Watch Hill marina. My boat is the second from the right.
I threw this one in because I liked the way the ladies looked. It also gives you a view of the other end of the dock.
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