Harp ER

I hate playing my harp by the ocean. Last September I had a really awful experience. I was asked to play for a wedding right at the end of the water as it splashed up onto the beach. After I got home I noticed my harp smelled like dead fish and the strings sounded dull. Then I noticed my bass wires were not resonating at all and made a thud sound when pulled. I had to replace every single bass wire at a cost of $125 and it took about three months before my harp aired out and didn't stink. I think there was some kind of chemical reaction with the steel wires to the salt air. Well, I agreed to play harp for another wedding outside near the ocean but this time I made it clear I could not play on the beach. She said it was up on a cliff overlooking the ocean. So I decided to give it another try. Friday afternoon was the big day. I had to leave 4 hours early to Laguna Beach because of Friday rush hour traffic and ended up arriving 2 hours early, but it wasn't so bad hanging out at the beach. The wedding went ok, there was some confusion about when the special music was supposed to start. The limo pulled up to the curb and just stayed there for 10 minutes. Then some of the family got out and just stood there for a long time. One of the mothers was escorted in and I began to play Over the Rainbow and then nothing for another 10 minutes (it was supposed to be one family member after another in succession). Then the bridesmaid started to walk towards the wedding so I began to play Canon in D, then she started talking to some people, turned around and walked back. I guess she wasn't ready yet. Then the other mother was escorted in so I just continued with Canon in D instead of going back to Over the Rainbow. Finally the bridesmaid did process in, followed by the bride. I could already tell the ocean air was screwing with my harp because Here Comes the Bride was a little sour sounding. I quietly checked my harp during the ceremony and noticed some of the strings were going bonkers and the wood on my soundbaord was starting to feel sticky, like the salt was depositing itself. This wasn't going over very well with me. The recessional music sounded out of tune, there was nothing I could do about it. My harp strings were choking on salt air. I continued to play for another 10 minutes and then I packed up as quickly as I could. I debated the whole way home as to what to do, and how I could possibly prevent damage to my harp strings. I was very lucky and there was no traffic the whole way back to Hollywood. I decided I should rush the harp up to my apartment, clean it, and let it air out overnight. I knew I was maybe running out of time before the damage would be done. When I arrived I jumped out of the car and unloaded as fast as possible. It was almost divine the way I was able to rush back with no traffic and now the harp seemed to glide out of the car and was crying to get upstairs to be cleaned. I felt like it was going to the ER and I was the EMT. I pushed the harp quickly to the elevator and hurried to my apartment. I threw down my jacket, unpacked the harp and immediately wiped down the strings with a cotton t-shirt. Then I got out my wood polish and thoroughly wiped down all the other parts of the harp. I also turned my cover inside out so it could dry overnight. This morning the harp sounds fine, and doesn't smell. So, I think I dodged the bullet this time. I don't have any more oceanside harp jobs coming up. I will really have to screen locations in the future, or maybe charge an oceanside fee. It's not really worth the hassle.