Meet Dustin Ryan | Entrepreneur / Yacht Captain

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dustin Ryan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dustin, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I moved to Charleston from Hawaii in 2006 where I loved sailing, surfing and water sports. With a background in residential real estate sales I’ve always been a self-employed with an entrepreneurial oriented lifestyle. After my first 6 months or so in Charleston I realized that the Charleston harbor was very underutilized for recreational use especially sailing. The winds are always perfect and the waves are always calm creating a perfect balance for comfortable sailing. I decided it would be a great place to start a sailboat charter business so I got to work creating a plan and put it in motion, I just needed a boat. You could say I kind of willed it into existence, as in my captain’s license class I met an individual who had just purchased a brand new 50-ft sailboat and was interested in possibly chartering it out. We officially started the business, Charleston Sailing Charters LLC in 2008 had no idea what we were doing as there were no other charter boats to learn from or anyone doing private luxury sailing charters. Through the years and many many trials and persistent hard work we figured it out and now we run over a thousand private charters annually on the Charleston harbor on our four boats, Fate, Mystique, Kismet and the Southern Charm. TripAdvisor Even rates us as the number one outdoor activity in Charleston for over 10 years in a row. It’s more of a lifestyle and not a job for me, when you do something you love everyday, yes it can get a bit slow at in the off season but there’s never a dull moment all summer! You know you’ve done something great when everyone else copies you, there are now over 50 boats doing what we do in and around the Charleston harbor and it’s great to be known as the first.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Being an entrepreneur, life gets very interesting and can take you in many directions. On top of my sailing charter business in Charleston, I also have a successful vacation home property with a tiny RV park on the Edisto River. It’s more of a sanctuary for me and a get away from the city and it’s great to be able to share it with Airbnb guests. I called the Sanctuary at Edisto River Lodge, it’s an old hunt camp on 4 acres converted into a rustic Lodge style house. Over the years I’ve added on to it and built out two luxury RV sites which just got rated runner up for that number one hip camp site in South Carolina.
No matter what you do in life as long as you put your heart and soul into it and have the correct intentions you can make anything a success.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Some of my favorite places to visit in the city of Charleston and the surrounding areas, if you were to visit for a week I would definitely recommend a few day trips and of course this would include sailing.

You could spend a full day in Mount pleasant alone starting out at the Yorktown aircraft carrier, and then lunch at Shem Creeks many restaurants on the water. After lunch head over to Boone Hall plantation for a plantation tour and don’t forget they Pinckney plantation right next door, there’s so much history everywhere you turn. From there it’s just a short drive out to Sullivan’s Island to check out the incredible fort Moultrie which is the most intact civil war fort and has the largest original cannon display in the states. The best part is it’s right on the beach, take a quick stroll down the beach and check out the mansions along the water facing downtown Charleston and fort Sumter across the channel.
Of course I would recommend a private yacht charter on one of our yachts, if it’s in the summer during race season some of the most fun you can have is chartering our Wednesday night yacht races. Our guests get to compete in an actual yacht race with up to 40 plus sailing yachts. Of course they don’t have to lift a finger except to drink their favorite glass of wine and enjoy some charcuterie. It’s a very competitive sport and one of the most exciting things you’ll do on a sailboat. You could finish off the evening with dinner at one of many restaurants downtown but I would highly recommend trying to get into Halls Chophouse, The food is great and the service is even better!

Another great hidden treasure near Charleston is the Edisto River, it’s about 45 minutes to an hour drive from downtown Charleston. Experience the longest running undamned blackwater River in North America with about 300 miles of waterway that you can explore on small boats, kayaks, canoes and even float it on rafts. The best way to explore it is to rent inner tubes from Edisto River Adventures which departs from Givhans Ferry State Park and you can float for several hours in what seems like a lazy river built by Disneyworld with a white sand river bottom and water in the mid ’80s. The float takes about 3 hours and ends at a beautiful beach with food trucks volleyball nets and just a cool place to hang out, it’s the perfect quick getaway from the hustle of downtown Charleston.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to thank my business partner, Joey Madaloni, He’s always had my back and believed in what I was doing even in the toughest of times. It’s hard to find a good partner that you can also call a great friend!

Website: https://www.charlestonsailingcharters.com

Instagram: @Charlestonyachts

Facebook: Charlestonsailingcharters

Other: https://www.edistoriverlodge.com

Image Credits
Dustin Ryan