Hi there, this is Pat and Beverly. The Village of Waves on Hatteras Island is our home away from home and someday, after retirement, will be our full-time home. For now, we live in Western Pennsylvania, about 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh (specifically, New Stanton, for you vacationers familiar with that area) and rent the two beach houses Senza Fretta and Waves Landing. Both are located near Sea Isle Hills Drive in Waves. Waves Landing is a sound front home.

We have two children, Patrick and Sarah. Patrick has known Hatteras Island as the family’s vacation spot since he was about 4 years old, and Sarah since infancy. When younger, they both sometimes complained that they would rather go to a more fast-paced, condo filled and busy boardwalk beach like an “Ocean City” type place. Patrick is now an adult and guess where he loves to go on vacation? Yep, Hatteras Island. I suppose it’s just a place that grows on you. Instead of the repetitive shops and crowds, it’s a place to “reconnect” with your own family and friends. We call it getting in that Hatteras state of mind; leaving it behind gets more difficult every year.

Our hobbies include gardening and running. We both have trained for and participated in several half marathons, a few whole marathons, and numerous local 5 and 10 K races. I added the sport of triathlon to my list of interests in 2008. I've participated in 5 so far and plan to participate in a few in 2010 as well. When we aren’t training for a distance race, we’re usually busy taking care of the landscaping at home or helping family and friends with their construction or remodeling projects.

How did we wind up with the beach houses? Pat used to spend many hours during vacation each year visiting real estate offices and looking at houses and properties; he dreamed of someday owning a small place for our own on Hatteras Island. I (Bev) always thought he was wasting his vacation time every year, spending hours inside the real estate offices. In September of 1997 a friend of ours in Waves told us about lots for sale along Sea Isle Hills Drive. This street was fairly empty at that time, if you can believe that. This is where Senza Fretta is located. This was quite an exciting time and Senza Fretta, the “beach house” was completed in June 1999 and placed in the rental market. Senza Fretta was going to be our retirement house when the time came. In the mean time, we had to rent the house. Senza Fretta is where our family and friends vacationed every summer from 1999 through 2004. Senza Fretta is where the Deck Monkey Association was created and grew into the phenomenon it has become (see the Deck Monkey story).

During our annual vacation in 2003 we went on a sunset kayak tour with family and friends on the Pamlico Sound and up popped another bright idea. We decided we both loved the sound so much that we should look at what was available “over there”. At this time, the sound side was not a very popular area for homes. Most of the properties were woods and with wild, jagged vines that made walking the lots impossible. Pat began another search - a search for property on the sound. His search, once again, ended in the Village of Waves. More specifically, directly west of Sea Isle Hills Drive along Highway 12. Actually he made the deal with the real estate before I got to see the lot! When I did finally see the property, I cried—really. It was so overgrown that no one could walk onto the property. Luckily, at least one of us had the “vision” of what this piece of jungle could become. This is where Waves Landing is located. We opened this home for rentals in 2005. Vacations and the annual Deck Monkey Association meetings relocated to the new Waves Landing headquarters.

Though we still love “the Fretta”, Waves Landing is now the retirement home in waiting for us—let’s say sometime in 2012. Each house has a different “feel” about it. Senza Fretta is “beachy”, where Waves Landing is serene and “island-like”.

To contact the owners by email: deckmonkeys@yahoo.com