We have been gone now a total of twenty days. In those days, we have spent most of our cruising on the Atlantic Ocean, enjoying the peaceful passing of time as we have watched the dolphin play and the pelicans dive for their next meal. It never ceases to amaze me at the beauty of nature and what has been put before us for entertainment. As we pulled into the Georgetown, South Carolina inlet, the water fowl find shelter in the buoys that mark the channel for our entrance. As we make our way, we look at our AIS (Automatic Identification System) and see that fellow Selene owners, Joe and Linda Faria, on 401 Play are at the marina. We would eventually make our dockage right in front of them. It was great to catch up as we had not seen them since the rendezvous back in September. Poor Joe was recovering from a pretty severe case of pneumonia which had him hospitalized close to a week, but he was on the mend. You never know how you will handle the illness or injury until you are faced with it, and I think they made lemonade out of lemons because they chose Georgetown for their winter. It is such a sweet town with tree lighting and caroling….holding hands with strangers and lighting candles while singing in the cool night. Mayberry! I fully expected to see Aunt B with an apple pie or Andy and Opie playing catch with Barney. So…..well done 401 Play! It is a beautiful and friendly place to spend your winter and holiday season. After our departure we were greeted by Santa Maria, Columbus’ flagship as we made our way back out to the Atlantic.
We would continue our trip south and aim for Fernandina, Florida as we usually pick up fuel at Port Consolidated Fuel, which at the moment is running the cheapest on the East Coast for diesel. Yes…..cheap diesel is always on the radar and something you don’t take for granted when you carry about one thousand gallons. We make our way and arrive with plenty of time to take on fuel and get anchored for a night of sleep. The phone rings and as I answer I am warmed by the name on the display……a friend I have known for about thirty five years….we raised our children together in the same neighborhood and local church. When I answered, I already knew why she would be calling as I typically would make a donation to the church “pantry” for their Caritas lunches or families in need. But today would be different! You see it was not who I expected to hear on the other end, but a fellow co-worker calling to let me know that my dear friend had gone to meet her maker. SHOCK, tears, regrets, and a large hole both in my heart and in the pit of my stomach. WOW!!! We immediately scramble to develop a plan to get me home where I can spend a few moments with her husband and three beautiful children. We received word not but a few moments later that the family I worked with for over thirty years had lost a vital member of their family. We were ALL family back in the day!
As events and timelines worked out, we were able to get Greg, the boys and Paradigm Shift anchored behind Causeway Cove Marina and condominiums in Fort Pierce, Florida. The anchorage has always served us well and Greg would be comfortable with the boys as long as they could get to shore on occasion. I made my way to Avis and picked up a rental car and drove straight through from Fort Pierce, Florida to Richmond, Virginia. I can’t begin to explain how I got home, but I can tell you it was a trip that I will never forget. I am not a great traveler on my own, but when I have someone with me somehow I feel empowered to face whatever is put before me. Well, it was time to get “my big girl britches on” and face the challenges. You see, pulling into gas stations at night….a female alone, makes me nervous. But I called either Greg or my friend Robin to let them know I had stopped. It was not long after Florence, South Carolina, that the car sent a warning signal that my drivers side rear tire was low on fuel and to add air. So I pulled into an area I was not familiar with, called Greg and began to fill the tire. All seemed okay till about another hundred miles and another warning. That would continue the rest of the trip….into the rain and colder northern temperatures we had thought we escaped. Oh and yes…..I was in flip flops in pouring cold rain. I left at 10 o’clock that morning and while it should have taken about eleven hours, it ended up taking about fourteen for me with all the stops for air. It did not matter at all once I got home (Robin’s house) as there was a fire and a friendly face to greet me. Robin had gone to my home and picked up my clothes, shoes and warm coats so that it would save me a trip. Needless to say the next couple of days would be intense, emotional, and to some degree a blur. It was fast paced but packed full of love and admiration for two beautiful ladies……one who leave us at the age of eighty five and the other twenty years her junior at sixty five. Memories flood my mind with both of these deaths of lives that were full and rich.
I was fortunate to grab a few moment with my son. I have to say that the moments spent with him were unlike most that we get these days as he and his wife are busy with one preteen and two teenage children. We shared memories and talked through a lot of emotions that we had been carrying for a while. This will forever be on my highlight reel for life!
I would drive through the night Wednesday after seeing my dear friend Andy and family. With faces at the funeral home of days gone by with my extended Arc3 Gases family, again I a warmed and fueled emotionally for this trip back to Paradigm Shift, the boys and Greg. I had made an exchange of rental cars at the airport so that I did not have to deal with a leaky tire on the trip back. I left at about 8:30 at night and drove so that I would get into Fort Pierce by 9:30 or 10 o’clock. My friend Robin and my sister Laura would call and check on me to make sure I was still wide awake and I would call one of them to let them know when I was stopping. It worked out perfectly and not nearly as nerve wracking as the trip home.
Safely aboard Paradigm Shift with groceries I had picked up along my route home, we go over the weather and the projected plan. Well it did not take long to figure out we were going no where. With projected gale force winds in the upper thirties and low forties, we prepare to stay aboard and hunker down for the next four days. Yes, for four days winds were in the twenties, thirties and gusts into the forties. But today we are out of Fort Pierce and headed to West Palm Beach to catch up with a dear friend and his wife before heading further south.