[C320-list] NC Sailing in January

[Karl Mielenhausen _/)]

Joe,

Elaine and I made the decision to retire to New Bern, NC and have not  
regreted it one bit.

There are many personal choices that will factor in to your choice of  
location. For example....
> Will you be retired or looking for work (either fulltime or parttime)?
> Do you need proximity to an international airport (RDU is 2 hrs away for  
> us) or is a regional airport OK (fewer flight choices and more expense)?
> How important is hospital care and/or shopping (some great sailing  
> towns, ex. Oriental, have limited retail and are 45 minutes from the  
> nearest regional hospital, even further from a trama center).
> How close do you want to be to the ocean (vs. how far inland do you want  
> to be for hurricane protection).
> What sort of sailing do you want to do and is ICW proxmity important?

There are many great locations to consider, some have a high percentage of  
retired folks, some have a high percentage of "transplants", some are less  
welcoming of outsiders. We decided to concentrate our search from  
Elizabeth City along the coast and sounds to just north of Wilmington. We  
focused on the Albermarle and Pamlico Sounds and the Pamlico and Neuse  
Rivers (which are actually quite wide and offer great sailing). Few boats  
are actually moored on these bodies of water, but rather in the numerous  
rivers, creeks, and bays that are attached to them. I used this chart as a  
planning tool when we were looking...
http://www.ncdot.org/it/img/DataDistribution/CoastalBoatingGuide/

BTW, I just got back from crewing on a friend's boat in our local sailing  
association's winter series. This would not have happened in Rochester, NY  
in January!!!

Let us know when you want to come down to check us out!!!

-- 
Karl Mielenhausen
Catalina 320 Hull 690
New Bern, NC

Join us August 7-9, 2009 at Marina Del Rey, CA for our annual Catalina 320  
IA Regatta and Annual Meeting.