Gretchen P.
Yelp
Two things: this place is really, really awesome and for the love of the god(s) of your choice, wear something that breathes if you go here in the summer. There are fans, and open doors, but golly!
After reading a pretty great article in The Islander http://theislandermagazine.com/?p=2962 , I stopped by Nautical Antiques. I'll sum up the article if you're lazy, but really you should read it if you're hard-pressed to find some great places to shop in the Strand area. The list is of antique shops, but they're all fabulous. In fact, I think I hit about half of them based on the article alone.
Summary: The owners travel to ship breaking yards all over the world to find items for their sizable shop. They are also a wholesaler to other antique shops and even movie sets who want nautical items. They collect things like oars, ship doors, flags, life rings, and glass net floats
The picture of fish baskets and promise of ship lanterns and glass net floats wooed me. Yes, "like a siren song."
There were scores of oars, lanterns, port holes, and flags. Don't get me started on the flags. There was an entire room of nylon. I would have gotten a closer look, but it was about 100 degrees outside, and 90 inside. Actually, that room severely reminded me of the hot yoga studio I go to. 104 degrees, 60 percent humidity. (It really makes it easier to hold the poses when your body is that warm.) Since I was not in sweat wicking garb, I just glanced in that direction.
I'm not going to try to hide it, I contemplated getting a port hole. How awesome would that be in the wall? Or in the atrium next to your front door? At $200-$300, it just wasn't practical for right now.
I also eyeballed a basket of glass net floats. There were a few with rope around them, but $12 was a bit too pricey. I'll think about them for the next three weeks, then I'll drive back to the shop and buy a couple. I know myself.