He Bought A Sail On eBay And Completely Changed The Look Of His Backyard

I thought only sea captains and pirates could do cool things with sails. I was so wrong.

If you have a boring backyard, you can’t pull an ocean view out of thin air, but you can certainly borrow some of that sea magic. That’s what Reddit user J-double-u did. He found a sail on eBay, and for less than $100, transformed his backyard into an absolute oasis.

Our sea adventure begins with this humble deck. Nice, but not exactly awe-inspiring.

First things first, time to craft a frame. He started by sawing notches out of his crossbeam to accommodate the support beams.

Then he cut the edges of the crossbeam at a 45-degree angle for added flair. Flair is important, friends.

Frame: check! Time to dig three-foot holes to support the frame.

It took three bags of Postcrete to fill in the holes.

Pergola up! Binnacle rings go into the side beams to hold the ropes that will adjust the sails.

He battens down the hatches with more binnacle rings on the side of his house, and a boat wench to help raise and lower the sail.

He attached the sail and it was shade and privacy for the win.

You can see the full, detailed instructions here.

The lattices came later, but were planted with jasmine and honeysuckle to create more privacy. Plus, they smell good.

I’d totally hang out here if I were a mermaid. Or a person looking to get out of the sun.

I guess sails aren’t just for pirates and sea captains after all!