After spending the better part of the morning waiting and checking in with the mooring field office to see if we could stay one more night, we decided to jump ship and take a quick walk with the boys. Saint Augustine holds a piece to the puzzle or more accurately is the beginning of the story of how Paradigm Shift came to be ours.  When we were coming home last year on Ti Amo from the Gulf Coast of Florida, Saint Augustine would be a stop for us.  Greg loves walking the docks and seeing who may be there that we know but on this day he would find a Selene ‘53 that he thought had a for sale sign on it.  It turned out not to be for sale but the owners of Holokai, Bill and Shelly were happy to entertain us and allow us to look at their boat.  It turned our that they had owned a 47 foot Caliber prior to owning their Selene.  We told them we thought we were ready to take that step but were having difficulty finding anything.  Well as luck would have it, the...

 Here in Saint Augustine they don’t do Black Friday……we will forever know it as Black Out Friday.  Seems all Verizon users were without internet for most of the afternoon and evening hours.  Fortunately there was nothing earth shattering that needed to be dealt with, but it was an inconvenience when you are use to texting your partner to come to the docks and help pick up the load of groceries that were just delivered and they never get the text.  Oh yeah…..and then you find yourself trying to load up all the bags on shoulders and in your hands and get back to the dinghy and wait for them.  We have all become too dependent on technology…….I am the worst.   We met up with John and Joanne on S/V No Limits along with Joanne’s daughter Caitlin.  Caitlin was visiting and had a car so I was invited along on a grocery run with them.  On Black Friday…..I am going shopping?  Yes we even hit a Target and boy was that place MAD!  I don’t think I ha...

So much to be thankful for this year.  First…..we are here enjoying a new vessel with our two furry friends who love our company because we feed them and provide them a pretty spoiled living.  Then we have the support of family that allows us to live our dream of spending the winter months away from them and in warmer climates.  We also have the support of a ton of friends both at home and on this journey with us.  Mostly we are both thankful this year for our health and the hands, prayers and divine intervention that put us on this path.  We love each an every one of you and are truly truly thankful for each of you. We left our anchorage and headed out of the Charleston Harbor for destinations uncertain at the moment.  We know we want to make Saint Augustine but have thought about continuing on to Fort Pierce.  We will let Saint Augustine make that call.  If there is space for us we will stop, but if not we will continue on.  So with that we...

With the flip of a switch, or in this case the pull of the plug, we are off shore power and on the water to set up for our next move south.  The waters this morning on the ICW are choppy and the breeze she is a blowing.  The captain has the stabilizers engaged as we exit the Georgetown Harbor in search of our next anchoring spot. Our plan is to stay in an anchorage close to Charleston Harbor and then enter the harbor around noon and exit out the Charleston Inlet into the open waters of the Atlantic.  We intend to get to Saint Augustine, Florida, but we will see what the weather brings. Along the ICW we see a barge with a familiar name to us.  I hope our Miss Ellie (Elinor) is as strong a vessel as this one.   This area is pretty desolate with little cell phone coverage and rarely any sign of civilization.  We see what appears to be a campsite along with water with several families camping in anything from a pup tent to an RV.  To our amazement there is...

 We had not been able to enjoy much of the town yesterday as it was Sunday and most shops are closed…..good to see that there are still some folks that believe that Sunday is a day of rest.  Don’t get me wrong….if they were open I would be there but it still is nice to see not every business needs to open.   So I strolled into town about 10:00 carrying my big bag as I was anticipating a windfall of purchases.  With the holidays approaching there is all kinds of things I need to find.  As my luck would have it most stores do not open until 11:00.  LOL…why didn’t I check the hours yesterday?  There were one or two opening at 10:30 so I hung around town taking in all of the sights.  The stores are still working on their holiday displays while the road crews are busy tearing up concrete and making a mess of the sidewalks and roadways.   I struck out with purchases except at the Mercantile Shop where I scored some treats for Christmas stocking stu...

 With a desire to go offshore from Charleston for a day or two, we have elected to slow our pace to get into the Charleston Harbor.  So today we decided to leave Bucksport and head to Georgetown South Carolina.  This part of the Waccamaw River is wide and carries depths over 20 feet.  It is an easy ride and the stress of folks passing you is a non issue as there is plenty of room. We head into Georgetown about noon and decided to tie up at a marina so we could easily get into town.  Most marinas are full with folks leaving their boats for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and heading back home.  There is one marina with a face dock that looked to have a spot and as luck would have it, it is ours till we want to leave.   What a cute little town.  It reminds us of Saint Michaels a bit as we walk down the main waterfront street, but there are tons of things closed as it is Sunday.  Looks like we may need another day here to explore the sho...