Charleston - your restaurant recommendations

Sorry, no, we are not sailing to Charleston. If we sailed 8 hours/day, tied up in a marina or yacht club each night, it would take us about 16 days. If we sailed non-stop, it would take about 6 days. That's exhausting to say the least. Then we'd have the return sail.

We had dinner with friends last night. One of them proposed chartering a sailboat within the vicinity August lunar eclipse pathway, off the eastern coast. We might be doing that. Depends on what she finds with respect to charter availability.

We are seriously contemplating a move to NH. Last year we toured marinas and yacht clubs along the NH and Maine coasts. When weighed against the very brief sailing season (3-4 mos), we decided it would not be worth the hassle or expense of maintaining a 40 ft sailboat up there. If we move up there, we will downsize or give up boat ownership. A third option would be to downsize to something we could keep dry-docked in Florida and use if we decide to do the snowbird routine. We can always charter a boat.

If we decide to sell our 40ft boat, it is my hope that my husband will let me sail it to Annapolis and leave it with a broker there. It took him 47 days to sail from Annapolis to St Pete, but he is very much a leisure oriented sailor and I would keep a different schedule. It would take at least a month, assuming fair winds all the way and no mechanical delays. At the earliest, the trip would happen next April. He's trying to distract me with a sailing trip to the Dry Tortugas. I say, why not both?

My husband takes 2 annual week-long sailing trips with his buddies. Just the boys. Perhaps this is something to look forward to if your wife has no interest in joining you? If you can learn to fly, learning to sail will be a piece of cake. It's summer - find your local Thursday night race and tell them you are "crew looking for boat."

p.s. go to activecaptain.com and use the map to find nearby yacht clubs. That's where you'll find a Thursday night race.

I lunched at The Columbia in St Armands just last month (and the month before). Just a few doors down from there is a specialty foods boutique; it is my source for lemon stuffed olives which I

We find the heat/humidity oppressive (113 last week), so much so that I cringe at the thought of getting on the boat from July - September. As I've aged, I find that I tolerate the heat a lot less than I used to. We're going to start doing sunset sails to get more summer use out of it. Unfortunately, that's about the time we've been having our daily storm cell pass through. We're thinking we'll enjoy winter sports (we both ski) in VT or NH. I'm looking forward to hiking and maybe even mountain biking again. Alan's son lives up there, so closer to family, too. It's just prettier up there. Unless you're on the water, Florida is kinda' ugly. We actually love our house and neighborhood (and we live on the water!), but as soon as you leave the neighborhood, it's just strip malls and chain restaurants.

Today, Alan announced that he found online a property on Lake Champlain with a boat dock, so he might not be ready to give up sailing after all. Much less costly when you own your own dock. Sometimes, I think we might be too caught up in finding the best of all worlds for us. Then again, why not?

Oh, so Dry Tortugas. We are going to sail it around next April, along with some friends who will sail their boat down, too. The passage from Naples to Dry T is a non-stop venture and there is no cell or radio out there. I think it will be about a 10-12 day trip.

Yes, A Savory Palate! They carry orange stuffed olives which I recommend, as well. Alan likes the Abuela's Recipe which is an onion brine. I'm not a fan; ymmv.

I like to sit outside the Columbia, lunch and people watch.