What a neat job! Of all the crazy gigs I've had over the past half-century, this had to be one of the best jobs ever. Everyone enjoyed the music, lots of dancing, the champagne flowed, margarettas were sipped, the food was incredible, the atmosphere almost beyond description.

The wedding took place upon the bride's 50-foot houseboat, the music and ceremonies took place on the sundeck (roof). Down below, in the main salon, the food was served and everywhere you looked there was a booze bucket, which was a colorfully decorated 5-gallon plastic bucket filled with ice and booze. Finger food snacks were placed at a half dozen strategic locations, and a second houseboat was rafted up to the port side of the main boat, which proved for lots more space for the 45 guests.















Normally, my policy is to not do weddings unless both the bride and groom are over 55 years of age. In this case I made an exception. Michael, the groom, is 47 and Linda is 50. Michael is an interesting individual who sailed his homemade sailboat from Germany to England, then to the Canary Islands, and finally to the Bohemia River in the Chesapeake Bay's upper reaches, where he met Linda. She worked at one of the marinas in that river.

A few months prior to them getting married, Michael had to sail to Bermuda, spend a day, then sailed back to the Bohemia River. His visa was running out and the only way to renew it was to go to another country, then reenter the U.S.. Michael sails a homemade 33-foot sailboat that he constructed himself from a bare hull he found in Germany. He made that trans-Atlantic voyage unassisted, no crew, just him and his two cats. When asked if he was scared at any time during the trip, with his mixed German/British accent he said "Yes, there were times when the wind died and the boat just sat there in the middle of the ocean. Then there were times when sailing the Atlantic was like sailing in a bloody wash machine." He is a very talented and interesting person and I'm glad I can call him a friend.

Cheers,

Gary

Nice gig Gary wow!

Awesome gig Gary !!!!! What a blast it must have been.

The most challenging part of the gig was transferring my gear from my sailboat to the houseboat, then hoisting to the top deck where I set up. Once in a while some nutcase would come roaring by, often too close for comfort, and all the boats would begin rocking violently from the huge wake put out by the passing boats. At that point I planted my feet on the bottom legs of the X-stand and held on to the keyboard - just in case. Fortunately, that only happened a couple times, but it sure got my attention. Later that night, we transferred my gear back to my sailboat and stored it in the boat's quarter berth. The trip back to my marina was pretty much uneventful, fair winds in the right direction and a nice, comfortable sail.

Cheers,

Gary

Wow, that's pretty cool. I've only gigs on the boats that sail out of the inner harbor. Those were some fun times. Especially when one would start racing with another one and the boat would start to heel. I would be pulling speakers of stands, ect. Those were the days.

Joe

Gary you get some great gigs, I think all the people on the

forum would love this type of gig.

A gig made in heaven!


Frank

Looks like a real nice event Gary. I used to play drums in a cruise ship band so you brought back some nice memories.

The only boat gig I ever did was a party on Thames waterbus. We'd been doing a summer relief job for Mecca Dancing at the Leicester Square Empire and had to lug all our gear, including my old Hammond, down to Westminster Pier to load onto the boat. The party was fabulous. The only thing that wasn't, was the glorious English summer evening - yup, a bloody downpour from start to finish.

I did some a few years ago on the Red River. There is a boat that gives tours, and occasionally people will have weddings or receptions on it. I don't like using the generators, but never had a problem really.
DonM

In this case, no generators involved. Instead, the groom had a 5,000-watt DC/AC inverter that did a fabulous job.

I got real lucky with the weather, which is always cause for concern with any outdoor job. Now, if it would have rained, we could have held the party inside the houseboat, but it wouldn't have been as much fun, and would have really been tight for space. That top deck was perfect.

Cheers,

Gary