We arrived in St. Augustine after our first night sail with the new crew. It is interesting... as soon as the last crew got our groove, a new crew starts. There are two of us that carried over from the last crew and that has made things interesting. The new people have to adapt to us and us to them. Each crew has their own way of doing things, and to mesh a new process in with the old is difficult, but we didn't sign up for this to be easy. Someone who we often forget is the permanent crew who gets new crew every two to four weeks. I imagine it must be even more difficult for them. Personalities that are always changing, never knowing who will be coming aboard or what they can and can't do. It is very much like having MS - never knowing what is going to happen. I never thought of this, but they can actually understand more of what is happening to us as MS patients than others. But somehow we and they make it work and on this holiday we should be thankful for that.

Yesterday was Black Friday for all of you Americans. Which means Thanksgiving was the day before. We had planned on celebrating on the boat, but due to the overnight sail cooking was not happening. So today we will make a Thanksgiving meal. As the only American it is my holiday we are celebrating, which means I have to take a hard look at what Thanksgiving means to me and what I love about this holiday (and it is not Black Friday). My father-in-law loves this holiday because family comes together without the expectation of gifts. So to be thankful, what am I thankful for? My family, the opportunity to do this sail, my health, my friends, good food? Does it matter that it is not Thanksgiving? I don't think so - this trip reminds me everyday of all of the things I have to be thankful for… the support, the love.

On a funny side note, as we started to cook Thanksgiving dinner we ran out of propane for the stove, which is funny because it is just like every TV show about Thanksgiving with something getting in the way of making dinner. Great news it's not MS getting in the way. And I am so thankful for that!

Report from Bosun Bertram:

Despite some minor issues with our gas connectors not working properly, the crew of Oceans of Hope is enjoying the lively city of St. Augustine in northern Florida. We had a nice dinner out yesterday, and this morning our hardworking skipper is fixing the gas as we speak for us to be able to depart at 2pm this afternoon. We want to make our way south to Cape Canaveral and see what they have to offer there. It's about 120 nautical miles, landing us in Canaveral sometime tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, we are not expecting a lot of wind so most of the trip will have to be powered by our main engine. Nonetheless we are still thankful for every latitude we get closer to the equator! 

Local time on board is 10:30 and our current position is 29°53.526N 81°18.484W.