5 Ways to Catch a Wave

Catch up on how to make the most of Georgia’s coastal surf. Get the lowdown from pro skimboarder Austin Keen and other Tybee Island beach bums.

Saltwater Kayak
As with stand-up paddle boarding, saltwater kayakers enjoy the luxury of sitting above the water allowing them to view the South’s natural beauties, dolphins, red fish and even some alligators, from their boat. “A Southern waterman is way different than anyone else in the world. It’s not your stereotypical Hollywood Surfer. We have to be a little bit more in tune to our environment, watching all the elements, all the time—kind of like a mini-meteorologist,” says Shane Parris, owner of North Island Surf and Kayak.
Parris and his highly qualified staff of watermen say the Georgia coast is perfect for kayaking, and spend their time helping paddlers explore the water near Fort Pulaski, over by the north jetty, or even around Little Tybee. It’s an excellent way to experience a small part of the 100 miles of coastline Georgia has to offer. “It’s the thrill of being out on the water, no fuel; it’s a onetime cost,” Parris says.

Savannah is certainly an eclectic town, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the diverse, thriving music scene that calls the city home. From bluegrass to hip hop, there is something for every music taste to be found here, and South wants you to experience it all. Specially marked copies of this month’s The South magazine contains our first ever Sounds of the South compilation CD, a limited-edition disc featuring 13 of the most notable and popular bands who call (or have called) Savannah home.

The collection starts with “Spilt Milk,” a track from Savannah-raised Kristina Train, a singer/songwriter/violinist with a gorgeous, soulful voice. Train, now residing in New York, signed with the prestigious Blue Note Records label almost eight years ago. Luckily for us, she has finally released her debut album, Spilt Milk, which the Boston Herald has called “timeless music, recorded beautifully and sung perfectly.” She will be returning to her hometown for the 2010 Savannah Music Festival.

A good female bartender has a special skill set they don’t teach you in bartending school: Guts, gusto and a good sense of humor. Get to know the bold ladies behind some of Savannah’s busiest bars.

Jade Kersey

Club 309 West, 309 West River Street
Bartending Since: 2004

Why Bartending: When her mother opened Club 309 West seven years ago, Kersey was forbidden from working the rather risqué watering hole. The SCAD fashion student soon convinced her mother otherwise and joined the close-knit staff. “It’s really like a big family at 309,” she explains.

Can’t afford a yacht? Build your own.

If you thought racing yachts was strictly the province of Fortune 500 CEOs, the salty dogs at the Sun City Model Yacht Club would beg to differ.

Yes, model yachts—miniature versions of the real thing.

The Sun City Model Yacht Club started nearly 13 years ago in the Sun City community, an upscale 55-and-over retirement community in nearby Bluffton. The group sails two types of boats: an East Coast 12 Meter (5 feet long by 6 feet high, weighing 26 pounds) and a Soling One Meter (1 foot long by 4 feet high, weighing 10 pounds).

The club has 32 members and sails four days a week on Lake Somerset, competing in spring, summer and fall series. In addition, the club hosts two regattas.

But the Sun City sailors aren’t alone. The American Model Yachting Association boasts thousands of members around the country and even has its own AMYA Hall of Fame.

The boats themselves are radio-controlled and cost anywhere from $1300 for a build-it-yourself model to $2500 for a professionally built one. One hand controls the rudder while the other controls the sails. “You’ve got to marry the two perfectly or you’re not going to get the optimum speed,” advises Fran DiTommaso, who retired to Sun City from upstate New York. “It’s all in the thumbs,” he says emphatically.

Most of the club’s members are Sun City residents, with a few active members sailing well into their eighties. “It’s the kind of activity where you can do it for many, many years during retirement,” DiTommaso says.

Like many of the club’s members, DiTommaso used to sail the real thing, though he concedes he prefers sailing models. “No, I gave up big boats,” he says with a laugh. “It was just too much trouble keeping a boat, keeping it maintained, finding crew and then [sailing on] bad days,” says the club’s EC-12 champion for four years running. “With models, it’s pretty easy. If you look out the window and see it raining, you just don’t go.”

Interested in model yachting? Visit www.modelyacht.org for tips on how to get started.

See it Live

Wanna see the sailors in action? The Sun City Model Yacht Club hosts its signature event, the Sun City Regatta, on September 19–20. For more information, e-mail frandito@sc.rr.com

89 reasons why downtown Savannah is still cool.

Beneath the cambering canopies of timeworn trees, tucked under the skirted mists and water-colored river lights, pulses the life and fire of our beloved city center: downtown Savannah.

Never, ever referred to as uptown, downtown Savannah has the distinction of being a National Historic Landmark District. And deep within her sprawling and untamed oaks, resides nearly anything one could ever want or desire. From fresh local honey and exquisite handcrafted baubles to exotic vodkas and subterranean speakeasies, downtown Savannah isn’t just for tourists anymore.

The Southern-born dance is half a century old, but still jumpin’ and jivin’ in the Lowcountry.
If you haven’t heard of shag dancing, one thing is for certain: You aren’t from the Carolinas. Shagging came into fashion in the 1950s after originating in and around Myrtle Beach with rebellious boys and girls in canvas shoes and bobby socks. It became the official state dance of South Carolina in 1984, and the state music is—you guessed it—beach music.
So how did the dance fever shimmy its way down to Savannah? By way of devoted Savannah Shag Club members Gloria Moak and her partner, Walter Purcell.