The Hynes Honeymoon!

Author: Seth
Pic: Noah Adams, age 6, models Elizabeth's fancy Jimmy Choo Sunglasses aboard Honeymoon.
Days at Sea: 294 Days, 9,850 miles traveled.

I've always wanted to have kids. It's a bit expected these days, I suppose. But some people just simply are not kid people. We've met many sailing couples that are "boat people" and not "kid people." For them, not having kids has allowed them to retire earlier and be more independent, sailing the world as we are now. And for a short moment I can understand their reasons for passing up on kids. The thought of being woken at night to change diapers on a non-responsive baby sounds about as exciting as a 75 knot gale. But for Elizabeth and I, we both know that we want to have kids and we have learned that it is possible to be both "Boat" and "Kid" people.

We've been cruising on and off with the Adams family on Imagine (a Hallberg Rassy 46) for almost 10,000 miles and along the way we have become good friends. Marc Adams is a climber and a card player, smart, hardworking and still able to relax at the end of the day with a beer. We get along well, even though he is one of those people that has refused to buy an iPod simply because everyone has one (I mean, come-on, you need an iPod on a trip like this!). Jane is a career woman and a registered pharmacist, and during this trip has taken on the daunting task of home-schooling their kids. They have a daughter, Caroline (age 10) and two boys, Grant and Noah (ages 8 and 6 respectively). Together, they might just be the perfect family.

The kids are well behaved and respectful due to good parenting. But through sailing the world it is obvious that they have become mature for their age given their nearly constant contact with adults. They remain outgoing in order to meet other kids, regardless of their nationality and occasional language barriers. They are certainly worldly with a geographic understanding far superior to most American adults. They're athletic - you should see these kids swim. And fearless - the boys are obsessed with sharks! But more than anything, they know their parents and their parents know them. Marc and Jane are probably spending more time with their kids during their formative years than any other family I know. The kids are not in day care or with a Nanny. They go through the good times (learning about the Panama Canal by going through it together) and the bad times (working as a team to anchor with a boat smoking from a bad alternator). But by the end of their trip they will be closer to one another than ever before. Sharing in the accomplishment of sailing the world - together as a team.

It is inspirational to Elizabeth and I and we love what we see. Hopefully we'll become both "Kid" and "Boat" people ourselves someday. I can't "Imagine" a better way to be a part of your children's lives.

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Vessel Name:	Honeymoon
Vessel Make/Model:	2004 Lagoon 380, Hull 279, Owner's Version
Hailing Port:	San Francisco, CA
Crew:	Seth & Elizabeth Hynes
About:	Seth & Elizabeth met in 2004 and have long since agreed that they did not want to live "the typical life. [...] More
Extra:	OUR EXPERIENCE: Seth is a lifelong sailor with over 25 years of boating experience. His family taught him to sail via ASA instruction and through many weekend trips on their family boat, a Benateau 35, sailed on Lake St. Clair, Michigan. He then moved to San Francisco where he raced with two [...] one-design sailing teams before joining his families racing boat "Shadowfax," a classic Wianno Senior design based in Osterville, Mass. Elizabeth is an adventurer by spirit and has traveled all around the world for both pleasure and work. While living in England she sailed in Croatia on the Med and also with the Hynes family in the Grenadines. Elizabeth is also part of the "Shadowfax" racing team and she looks forward to becoming a more confident Captain over the course of the next year. THE BOAT: Having never sailed a catamaran before in our lives, choosing to purchase one was very difficult. However, the more we researched the boats the more we liked them. Catamarans are great for cruising with their shallow draft and large living accommodations. They also feature inherent back-ups which improve safety; like two hulls, two rudders, two engines and props. Once we learned that Cats crossed the oceans regularly, we took a solid look at the options out there, of which there were plenty. In the end, the Lagoon 380 stood out from the rest of the fleet for its dependability, successful production history and interior comforts. Our boat is a three berth "Owner's Version" that has never been chartered and has a larger head with a standing shower. When this was discovered, the search was over. After all, if Elizabeth is happy, Seth will be happy! THE ITINERARY: From the beginning it was always our plan to sail from the East Coast of the US to Australia, stopping along the way in the Caribbean and Central America. However, being new to the cruising life, we didn't want to force ourselves to do anything we didn't want, so the itinerary was left open. Not surprisingly, we loved our time cruising in the Caribbean but yearned for more of an adventure and opted to cross the Pacific Ocean in search of islands less visited. What we found was exactly what we were looking for. And in the end, Australia was a perfect boat market for a Catamaran and an end to an incredible 18 months of sailing. Below was our itinerary: SEPTEMBER, 2008: Refit boat in Norfolk, Virginia USA OCTOBER, 2008: Refit and sail Chesapeake to Annapolis, MD NOVEMBER, 2008: Caribbean 1500 rally to BVIs British Virgin Islands, Caribbean DECEMBER, 2008: St. Martin, St. Barts, Ile Fourche, Statia, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat JANUARY, 2009: Dominica, Antigua, Barbuda, The Saints, Guadeloupe FEBRUARY: Guadeloupe, Bonaire, Curacao, San Blas Islands, Panama MARCH: Cross through the Panama canal, Galapagos APRIL: Pacific Ocean Crossing, Marquesas French Polynesia MAY: Marquesas, Tuamotus, Tahiti JUNE: Moorea, Huahine, Ta'haa, Bora Bora JULY: Bora Bora to Suwarrow, Cook Islands AUGUST: Niue and Vava'u Tonga SEPTEMBER: Tonga and Fiji OCTOBER: Fiji and Vanuatu NOVEMBER & DECEMBER: Eastern Australia, Bundaburg to Sydney JANUARY: Fly home from Sydney to San Francisco. Quickly get jobs during a recession. Start a family. Buy a house. Start fanatically reading other sailor's blogs. More
Home Page:	http://www.sailblogs.com/member/honeymoon/