Our little piece of the sky. Credit: David Warner

Our little piece of the sky. Credit: David Warner
About two years after my husband and I moved to St. Pete, we realized something had to be done about the sun: specifically, the sun pouring through the windows into his home office — making it, as he puts it, “hotter than Hades” and playing havoc with our air conditioning bills.

Then we discovered shade sails — sometimes called sail shades — a high-tech adaptation of a technology dating back to the Roman Colosseum and inspired by the canvas triangles used in boating. The 21st-century versions are made from nylon mesh in a variety of colors and hook up to rooflines with a cable system comparable to that seen in sailboats.

And boy, do they work. We installed our first set of shade sails in 2007 and didn’t have to replace them till 2015, and figure we have saved thousands in a.c. bills over the decade, more than paying for their installation. The sails are built to withstand winds up to 100 MPH, so we have not yet had to dismantle them in advance of a storm. And, if we do say so ourselves, they’re beautiful — stretched from our garage to the back of the house, in vivid shades of orange, blue and green, they’re like nautically inflected abstract artworks in the sky.

And, not a small consideration, they help the hubby keep his cool.

Shade sails are sold across Tampa Bay at many different retailers, including Creative Shade Solutions, based in Tarpon Springs (888-570-7245, creativeshadesolutions.com) and Awning Works Inc., based in Clearwater (866-873-2941, awningworksinc.com).


This article appears in May 11-18, 2017.