Paul and I had a great life. We bought our first boat, a 28-foot Chris Craft Catalina, in the early 1980s. Then came a 1984 Silverton 31 convertible with the fly bridge. Ultimately, we upgraded to a Silverton 34C.

With each new boat, our goal was more distance. We converted our 34 to diesel and cruised New England, the Carolinas, Florida and its Keys. Paul took early retirement in 1997, so we gave Buy The Hour a workout. He stayed aboard all winter in Fort Myers, Fla., keeping the boat in shape, and I flew back and forth every two weeks for a cruise.

Nyla and Paul aboard Buy The Hour.We had other plans that included cruising the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi River. But our final trip together was not the one we had hoped. Paul was diagnosed with cancer just before Christmas 2004. The cancer spread and the boat went into storage. After surgery, Paul developed an infection and died two weeks later, in October 2006.

The boat stayed in storage.

LIFE TAKES A TURN

Boating alone was never part of my plan. Nor was rehabbing the Silverton, inside and out. But Paul's death was the start of a new journey for me. To keep boating as part of my life, I would have to take sole charge of Buy The Hour. I would have to become the captain.

Paul and I didn't think twice about taking a 100-mile trip every weekend – cruising together was what we did. My life is still all about boats and boating, but it's a little different these days. From its slip in Georgetown, Md., Buy The Hour and I will make short hops, fishing and crabbing. My daughter, who is married, didn't like the boat as a teenager and time has not changed her opinion. I expect to take occasional trips with my parents and my brother and his wife when they visit from Ohio.

The price of diesel fuel and the brutal heat that demands generator time to cool the cabin make longer trips we once took for granted quite costly, but we a Labor Day fishing excursion planned down the Wye River off the Chesapeake Bay, a 170-mile round trip.

I also still run the Silverton Owners Club, which Paul and I started in 1996. The club has grown to 1,200 members and I produce a monthly newsletter and weekly e-mail, along with helping owners find the technical assistance they need.

Paul at a Silverton Owners' Club party.A BOATER'S JOURNEY

My life with boats started in the 1950s, when I was 5 years old. My Dad had a 14-foot wooden speedboat with a modest 35 HP Johnson. He had painted it bright red, added a white strip and named it the Nyla Lynn, after me. Summers were filled with fishing and water skiing on the Delaware River. Winters meant the boat was in our garage, with Dad doing fiberglass work or other improvements and me at his side.

Years later, employed as a quality control inspector for Chrysler, I gained some skills of my own. I work with the engineers to diagnose and solve problems, which for me includes checking all the wiring. You could say I have a background in fixing things.

Paul had a lot of boating experience himself from operating 35-foot jet boats in Vietnam near the Cambodian border. His time in the U.S. Navy also included stints in Norfolk, Va., where he took civilian workers back and forth to the Navy yard by boat, and San Diego. So buying a boat together seemed natural. We took some courses through the Coast Guard Auxiliary and the Power Squadrons. As our navigation and handling improved, we wanted to take longer trips.

I did most of the navigation and plotting. He kept the boat in shape. When he came to piloting, Paul wanted to be in control. He was quite paranoid we would hit something (though the truth is that most of the dings on Buy The Hour came at his hands, not mine). If something broke down, we fixed it together. If we couldn't do it, we'd hire someone who could.

With our combined experience, we could handle any crises that popped up – at least on the water.

GOING IT ALONE

My partner is gone, but our boat and a garage full of tools are not. Buy The Hour could not sit idle forever. Neither could I. The boat was part of our life. Now it would be part of mine.

And so, last winter I took on some major projects, things way beyond a simple cleaning and sprucing up. I tore out the bulkhead and had the framework around the sliding glass doors powder-coated. I put in a new transmission and throttle cables and rebuilt the steering assembly.

Some tasks I can't do alone. I did get my Dad's help with the bulkhead and the heavy glass doors. Installing nearly 100 feet of new rub rail was a two-day project, even with help. Handling 25-foot pieces atop scaffolding is not a solo project. The props are tuned, new water lines installed, and two new Garmin GPS antennas went up. I am re-routing the wiring for the electronics, and next year I plan to add radar (I have my eyes on a Garmin 5012 touch screen). I should be able to install it and set it up myself.

Dr. Fuel cleaned out the tanks. Buy The Hour has a new bottom coat and the hull is waxed. I still need to replace the battery bank. And I plan to try some cosmetic gelcoat work.

Paul loved the boat and this is what he would have wanted. But it at times it still feels as though I am missing a set of hands.