Seriously…..with word from home that it is cool, we are in shorts enjoying just what we come south for…..a never ending summer.   Our days here are Fort Pierce are comprised of doing some boat maintenance…..starting up the water maker….getting laundry done…..cleaning a bit and enjoying some of our favorite “spots”.  First we have to splash the dinghy with the new registration numbers on it.  I guess we did not do too bad a job.  Now we just have to think of a good name for it and have the lettering done so we can put that on her stern.  My first thoughts are “The Shift” or “PS”.   We love Crabby’s by the water at the Fort Pierce Municipal Marina and make that one of our first stops.  Of course there is also one of the best hardware stores around within a short distance and did I mention a great bakery to boot?  Greg loves a good croissant for breakfast but as luck would have it at the time we arrived in the afternoon they were sold out. ...

When the opportunity to strikes for an easy departure, sometimes you just have to go for it……and that we did.  Fort Pierce …… home to a lot of fond memories would be our next port of call.   Our dear friend Richard and his crew aboard Un-tethered (Selene 57) from Urbanna (actually California) are headed there and fall in behind us on the ocean.  They have left Charleston and will be doing a two night trip.  It was nice to have a “buddy boat” that is actually a buddy!  His crew will be disembarking in Fort Pierce and fly home on Monday.  Richard will leave the boat in Fort Pierce through Christmas and be back with his wife after the first of the year when they will start their trip to the Bahamas.  This is their first trip and I think they are both excited for this new adventure. We pull in about 9:00 in the morning maybe an hour past Richard and head for our favorite anchoring spot near Faber Cove.  We had a very easy overnight while Cooper and Ja...

 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...