Sailing off the Beaten Path

The Zahns and McMandons live in Palm Coast, Florida, an hour south of Jacksonville and an hour north of Orlando. Part of Palm Coast’s charm is that it’s relatively remote, off the beaten path and away from a metropolitan center.

But you have to want to get there to go there. Similar places are Charleston, Savannah, Asheville and Williamsburg. The downside is that it really does take an hour to get anywhere, so we often find ourselves content to stay put, and go sailing instead.

Therapy Sailing

People ask, “Do you take dogs sailing?” Oh sure. Rachel and Stephen Spence work in military information technology at Ft. Eustis and Norfolk Naval Base, respectively. Each has observed the beneficial effects of therapy dogs on PTSD soldiers and sailors returning from the Afghanistan War.

“They have a calming effect on patient and can read his emotions,” Rachel said. “They also give the person an outlet to care for, to get beyond their own condition,” Stephen added. Labrador retrievers are the preferred breed, and handlers take a year or two to train them. “The trainers are often reluctant to give them up,” Rachel added.

Sailing with Friends Off the Beaten Path

Cindy Penfield and her husband Glyde Hannah of Calabash NC took their friends Jennie and Cam sailing on a foggy morning that turned into a spectacular sunny day on the York River. The couples travel well together even though at home one of them golfs and the other prefers motorcycling riding.

Cindy and Glyde ride a Yamaha and BMW because Glyde said Harley-Davidsons “are overweight, under-perform, and scrape when turning corners.” They ride separate bikes because “we’re lousy passengers who like to control the bike.” They all agreed the secret to traveling is to give couples their space and private time while being good listeners who don’t monopolize the conversation.

Winning the War

We wondered aloud the other day how the Allies won World War II without the use of computers. “We had one computer,” said Dennis Zahn, “Enrico Fermi.” He was referring to the Italian physicist whose work at the University of Chicago advanced to nuclear physics to create the atomic bomb. “He could calculate faster in his head better than primitive computers as they evolved later.” We contemplated that for a while as the wind propelled us along.

Let’s Go Sailing off the Beaten Path

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Summary

Article Name

Sailing Off the Beaten Path

Description

Two couples live off the beaten path in Florida and got to sail off the beaten path in Virginia

Author

Capt Bill ODonovan

Publisher Name

Williamsburg Charter Sails / Let's Go Sail

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