The Hynes Honeymoon!

Author: Elizabeth
Picture: Elizabeth with "Barefoot Davis," one of the C-1500 coordinators and BVI singing legend.
Google Earth Location: 37 01.023N, 76 20.517W

For the past three months, Seth and I have been working toward a sail date of November 2nd. Now past that date, we must adjust to the fact that in sailing we are very dependent on Mother Nature and she has no regard for our calendar. There is a low-pressure system moving through the Gulf Stream (strange to me to say that or have concern for such a thing but now I must), which impedes our departure until Thursday at the earliest, most likely Friday. Learning to live without a firm schedule is a part of what this next year of life will be about: living life, not planning life. It will be a challenge for two corporate-MBA-American types but we want to embrace it.

Our first reaction to the delay was disappointment. We are ready to be in the paradise of the Caribbean (after all we "planned" on being there by November 10th or 11th)! However, the extra time has given us the opportunity to add a few more luxuries to the boat (like a water maker!!) and more importantly time to get to know the other Caribbean 1500 participants. This has been amazing! The rally is filled with well-educated, interesting, successful, dynamic people many of which have circumnavigated the globe (one woman by herself). There is a broad range of experience levels in the group ranging from cruisers with years of experience to those, like us, about to set out on their first ocean passage but the enthusiasm is evident in them all. The main message to us from the experienced cruisers is to "avoid rushing, slow down and enjoy the journey". Good advice for anyone in life, I think.

Most of the participants are quite a bit older than us and many are retired couples (mostly early retirement). Many of them have told us how fabulous it is that we are cruising now, early in our lives, early in our marriage. If we ever had any doubts about it, they are gone after meeting these people. As well, there are a couple of families with young children (two boats with three kids each, ages ranging from 4- 9). We are quickly become friends with them all. I have spent a lot of time with the kids and we are putting together a fashion show for everyone. It has been great fun (especially for me) and seeing these families living a non-traditional life with their children has been very inspirational for Seth and I. Although we never thought we had to have the white picket fence in the suburbs to have children, we never considered doing it on a boat traveling around the world. Don't panic "Moms" at this point it is just a thought, but a very interesting thought.

Overall, we are confident in our decision to embark on this next year, happy to be surrounded by so many wonderful new friends and determined to enjoy the journey!

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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/