Houseboat Magazine

November/December 2018

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WWW.HOUSEBOATMAGAZINE.COM NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2018 21 y Using her mermaid-themed houseboat, the Nau- ti Mermaid, as her base in the summer couldn't have worked out more perfectly. Even her free- range rabbit Winston enjoys living on the boat with them. The Nauti Mermaid Before the houseboat, Tami and Andy owned a pontoon boat. They found the pontoon to be lots of fun, but it didn't quite sustain their constant need to be out on the water, rain or shine. "When we had the pontoon boat there were a lot of times that it would rain so we weren't able to go out on the boat," explained Tami, "and we weren't able to spend the night on it either." Constantly having to load the pontoon up with all their stuff and haul it back and forth began to wear on the Bakers, so they decided to opt for something else. They figured that with a house- boat, it doesn't really matter if it rains because they can still enjoy their boat, and once the weather turns sunny, they'll still be right where they want to be. "We sold the pontoon the same day we bought the houseboat," laughed Tami. "Never going back!" Mermaid Décor & Upgrades The Bakers keep their houseboat at Pleasant Hill Marina in Perrysville, Ohio, where they live aboard in the summers. Once they bought it last year, they immediately went to work on it, making renova- tions and decorating it with a mermaid theme. The boat used to be an old police river boat, so when they first got it, there wasn't any running water. The Bakers added a sink which made a big difference. They also purchased a generator, which has been another huge convenience since they can run power now without having to be plugged into shore power. Then Tami also went to town decorat- ing everything to match her love of mermaids. "I even have my light switch covers all covered in little scaled patterns," shared Tami. Professional Mermaidism Being a professional mermaid is busy work, es- pecially when you're as popular as Mermaid Tami. Tami's calendar fills up quickly and she's already booking events into 2019. One of her favorite events that she attended this year was Pirate Fest at Put-In-Bay in Lake Erie. "Pirate Fest was amazing," enthused Tami. "It was so much fun. They were really great and we met a lot of people who do Pirate Fest on a regular basis, so I'm definitely hoping to go back to that next year." Then Tami also always enjoys the events hosted

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