It was an early morning start as we had our sights on making Bucksport SC which would be about 10 hours on the water.  With our dear friend Paul in Ottawa keeping track of us and encouraging us along the way, we would squeeze in to Bucksport Marina at 5:15 as the sunset gave way to the rising moon. We would pass a few of our favorite places and one that we have fond memories of with Hank and Mil Kelly.  Southport and Bald Head Island will always remain special as we finished our first cruise ever by coming into Bald Head Marina with Ti Amo and staying with Hank and Mil a couple of days.  Another thing I will never forget is to respect the Cape Fear River.  It is not my favorite to transit but it has some beautiful beaches and homes.   We pass through Holden Beach on our way to Myrtle Beach and enjoy the sites along the way.  This house has got to be a favorite all decked out for Christmas.   One of the areas we transverse through is referred to a...

 Some mornings you wake up and you find you are happy your anchor did not drag and other mornings you wake to find you are a little closer to the guy behind or next to you than you had hoped you would be. This poor gentleman was anchored next to us at Mile Hammock (across the bay) and somehow avoiding colliding with other boats as he managed to drag to the shore where he set both a bow and stern anchor.  He was not awake when we left so I can only imagine he was up pretty much all night fighting the wind and current, single handed to boot.  Our desire for the day is to get to an anchorage at the Cape Fear River Inlet known as Tina’s Pocket.   We have two bridges today to deal with , both of which claim a 20 foot clearance.  The first bridge opens on the half hour and is called the Figure Eight Bridge.  Five miles away from that bridge is the Wrightsville Beach Bridge which opens on the hour.  The trick is to get through the Figure Eight at 12:30 and ti...

 What a gorgeous morning on the Neuse River…..more specifically Broad Creek.  The morning stillness is something you hate to interrupt as the reflections in the water are so beautiful.  But as life goes on….so must we.  We need to get SOUTH! We know we want to get beyond Beaufort and Morehead City if possible and head a little further south.  It sounds as though we will not get a weather window for some time to head off shore so we will take the ICW as long as we can.  We will just try to make some ground and await some good weather to get around Georgia at least.  The trek to Morehead is delightful. I did not know that you could land a helicopter in your front yard but hey…..sure makes the traffic issues a non event for a weekend getaway.   We can see Morehead off in the distance and will round the corner and continue on to our final destination for the day…..Mile Hammock Bay near the New River Inlet.   All tucked in for the night and travel...

 We bid our farewell to Belhaven and the lovely marina folks at River Forest Manor and Marina.  We elected to let Bill and the crew aboard Somewhere In Time to depart before us.  We knew they would be passing us anyhow so might as well wait, right?  I forgot to share their picture entering the marina so I will share their entrance and exit here. It was great catching up with Bill and even better that it was a surprise to us both that we would run into each other.  Palm Beach is always a stop for us so we hope to catch up with he and his family there. We motored on to the Neuse River where we would grab an anchorage on Broad Creek.  The captain picked a great spot and we immediately dove into washing more windows and then giving haircuts.  It is nice not to be in a big hurry to get anywhere.  We are enjoying this time aboard Paradigm Shift as we figure out our “routine”.   The boys are doing really well.  I think they even like each other...

 With Greg needing to do a virtual check in with one of his doctors today, we elected to stay in Belhaven where we knew we had good cell phone coverage.  This area can be spotty at times and we have yet to spend time enjoying the scenery. Henry, one of the principal owners of the marina is a sweet soul.  He has stories to tell of old and some of the boat stories started to sound familiar.  The one in particular about a 128 foot boat he would get in from time to time.  Then moments later he mentioned that the guy that use to “captain” that boat was helping to bring a boat in from Coinjock.  Peaking our interest further, Greg listened until he recognized the name of the old boat that had since been sold.  It turns out it is our dear friend Bill Hipple and he is on his way here for the night with a crew taking a boat to Charleston.  Strange how things work sometimes.  So we will sit and wait for their arrival. With time to spare before his appoi...

 We had just a tad bit of trouble lifting the anchor this morning but with a little quick maneuvering the captain was able to get it loose and we were off to Belhaven.   We decided to head into a marina so we could make an easy rendezvous with our friends, Barry and Robin.  Seems there were a few tweaks we needed to make on our electronics and of course with the opportunity to have them coming from home, we were able to get a few more items from home we thought we might like. Robin and I headed into “town” and picked up sandwiches from Vinnys Pizza and Subs while the boys got to work on their short list of chores.  In the same strip mall as the Pizza joint is the Food Lion so I took the opportunity to stock up on a few fresh food items.  So our marina, River Forest Manor and Marina, had offered golf carts to us to utilize while in town.  Seems that is not the only “other” mode of transportation here…….I mean seriously……this guy way driving his lawn tractor ...