Bill Turner isn't shy.

In fact, he rarely meets a stranger, and he is apt to say just about anything. Most of it is even true.

When the 70-year-old says he met his wife of six years, Patti O'Neill, when she was an exotic dancer at an Atlantic City nightclub, that -- as O'Neill is quick to point out -- is entirely false. But when the Navy veteran and retired merchant marine says he never again intends to live on land, he means every word.

Both Turner and O'Neill, 68, are from the New York/New Jersey area, but since 2011, their home has been a 40-foot motor-sailboat, the Anna Lee, in which they have traveled tens of thousands of miles of river and sea.

Where they port is where they say they live.

"Right now, that's Columbus, Mississippi," O'Neill said.

The couple docked at the Columbus Marina in late July, marking a purposeful return to a city where Turner unintentionally spent a little more than a month last summer.

On their first visit to The Friendly City, they had planned a multi-leg boat trip up the Tennessee River. They meant to stop at the Columbus Marina for just a few days to restock on fresh water and other supplies. Shortly after they docked, O'Neill had to fly to New Jersey to care for her elderly father, leaving Turner behind for several weeks.

He said the food, hospitality and charm quickly won him over. Once O'Neill returned from New Jersey, she agreed with his assessment.

"We like it here," Turner said. "The town is great. The people are great."

An unlikely, perfect pair

In 2011, life became a whirlwind for O'Neill.

She had met Turner at a restaurant -- not a nightclub. They are certainly different in many ways, Turner with the tough, brazen persona of a sailor straight from central casting while O'Neill is much more soft-spoken. Still, they "hit it off."

Both had lived most of their lives on or near water. At the time they met, O'Neill owned two boats and lived about two miles from the marina where Turner was docked. She had boated with her father growing up, and one of her brothers lives on a boat off the coast of Florida to this day.

Both Turner and O'Neill had been divorced for decades, and both had a keen eye for the Caribbean.

Between June and October of that year, O'Neill retired from her job as a psychiatric nurse practitioner, sold her house in New Jersey, married Turner and the two sailed for the Bahamas.

"At first, I didn't think it would work out," she said. "But he had great stories, so here we are."

Becoming a little choked up, she admitted there was much more to it than that.

Turner, it turns out, is a former Navy Seal who earned a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, though he doesn't really talk about that much. O'Neill, on the other hand, is more than happy to fill in the blanks.

"That says a lot about a person," she said with a hint of tears starting to well in her eyes. "He's reliable. He's a good man. He's just a little rough around the edges."

They both admit their marriage is meant to be. But Turner contends if O'Neill had met him 25 years earlier, "she wouldn't have liked me very much."

"I smoked hard, and I drank heavy," he said. "We met in the right time of life and have the same interests. It really worked out."

Life on the boat

Turner bought the Anna Lee used in 1994 and named it for his mother and his sister. From there, he said, he took it to Puerto Rico, where he worked as a port engineer for a merchant shipping company for 12 more years before he retired back to New Jersey.

Since he and O'Neill set sail six years ago, they have visited most of the Caribbean islands -- some several times. But in 2014, Turner said they became interested in sailing the more than 20,000 miles of interconnected river systems in the eastern half of the United States, which can take an ambitious boater from Florida all the way up into Canada.

From their primary port in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, they have visited towns and cities all over the eastern half of the country -- from Mobile and Demopolis, Alabama, to Shiloh, Tennessee, and Boston -- experiencing their cultures and traditions and "taking the time to meet the locals."

"In the South, we like the food and the music," O'Neill said. "We love the accents."

Depending on where they port, they can sometimes get around in a marina courtesy car. Other times they just rent a car. This time in Columbus, though, they arranged to go get their own car in Florida and drive it here. So far, they've made good use of it.

"We go to restaurants. We've been down to the Riverwalk," Turner said. "And there's nothing like getting in the car and looking at the old beautiful (antebellum) mansions that are right there in town."

When they are just hanging out on the boat -- powered by solar panels and a 50-amp wind generator -- they always take their time with their coffee and tea in the morning. Then, O'Neill might work in her sewing area, while Turner checks and maintains the boat's infrastructure and appliances.

By 4:30 p.m., Turner said all jobs are done "except for wine and rum."

"It's a very unstressful life," Turner said. "Very relaxing, which is good at our age. We have a lot of fun together. We laugh a lot and don't take things that seriously."

When they leave Columbus, O'Neill said they will spend the holidays at Fort Myers Beach before going back to the Bahamas. Soon, they may even sell the Anna Lee and buy a 49-foot boat so they will have a little more space.

O'Neill said she wants to one day boat up to the Great Lakes and into Canada. For her husband, though, that trip may take some convincing.

"Bill doesn't like the cold," O'Neill said.