Zen - family cruising catamaran

Family of 4 sailing from New England to Auckland, New Zealand '08-'10

26 August 2010 | Portsmouth, Rhode Island
27 April 2010 | Rhode Island
05 April 2010 | Fort Lauderdale, FL
24 March 2010 | Portsmouth, RI
19 February 2010 | middle of Pacific Ocean
12 February 2010 | Waiheke Island, NZ
08 February 2010 | Auckland, New Zealand
30 January 2010 | Whangarei, New Zealand
26 January 2010 | Whangarei, New Zealand
22 January 2010 | Whangarei, New Zealand
20 January 2010 | Whangarei, New Zealand
17 January 2010 | Whangarei, New Zealand
14 January 2010 | Whangarei, New Zealand
08 January 2010 | Los Angeles, CA
07 January 2010 | Newark International Airport
27 December 2009 | Rhode Island, USA
10 December 2009 | New Delhi, India
02 December 2009 | South Island, NZ
13 November 2009 | Whangarei, New Zealand
10 November 2009 | Opua and Kerikeri, New Zealand

Zen is HOME!

26 August 2010 | Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Monique
After sailing from Newport, RI to New Zealand via the Panama Canal, here's Zen, in front of our Portsmouth home, in the tiny state of Rhode Island. As planned, we sold our townhouse and purchased a single family home for the kids' high school and university years. When friends come by, and thankfully, many do, they ask three questions:

"What was your favorite place?"
A. The Cook Islands

"Is there any place you would relocate to?"
A. Only locale that rivals Rhode Island - NEW ZEALAND

"Kids, would you do it again if you could?"
A. YES! In a heartbeat!
A. YES! Absolutely!

That about sums it up. We have officially altered our children's lives forever. Cruising may fade into the background for a little while, as they blend into their world of teenagers. But, we believe, it will resurface to help them navigate through their own journeys. Our global sailing cruise may be over for now, but we'll continue to enjoy the bliss of coastal cruising for a few years, before we take off again when the kids reach university.

As we reflect and recount our trip for family, friends and strangers, we simply say, "It was GREAT! Literally, all of it. Every single bit of it." The four of us are most grateful to the innumerable locals who welcomed us, the cruising friends who are now family, the cultures that awed us and our land friends who never, ever lost touch and celebrated our adventure.

TRIP STATISTICS:
Approximate Nautical Miles Sailed: 20,000
Number of Countries Visited: 20
Number of Months: 20
Fastest Boat Speed: 28 knots (Panama)
Longest Passage: 17 days (Galapagos to Marquesas)
Fastest 24-hour Run: 240 miles

Tom the Writer

27 April 2010 | Rhode Island
Monique
Tom has been banging away on that laptop, mostly financial data, industry research and statistical analysis, but he took some time out to reflect on his favorite pastime. Cruising. Take a peek at his article in this month's "Bluewater Sailing/Multihulls Quarterly". Click below on "Multihulls Quarterly: Zen's Den".

Multihulls Quarterly: Zens DenView more documents from Burgess Media LLC.

USA Welcomes Zen

05 April 2010 | Fort Lauderdale, FL
Monique
"Be on the ship at 7:00am Easter morning", says Patrick, the loading master for Dockwise Yacht Transport. Valentines in Auckland and Easter in Ft. Lauderdale. Do you think they get a discount at the commercial docks for holiday berthings? Nonetheless, our Easter was spent first in a cab, then on a huge ship, and finally aboard our floating home, s/v Zen. She was dirty, had a pile of shrinkwrap (that's Tom in the picture above with the wrap on the tramp), plenty of residue glue, a couple of projects to attend to and small dots of stains on the nonskid thanks to the exhaust coming from Super Servant 3's stacks. But, all was easily fixed with a little elbow grease. Cammi and Cole were in charge of many jobs, and I was quickly reminded of how a sailboat naturally bonds our family. Working as a team, the day went by quickly. By late afternoon, we were chatting with our neighbors at the Ft Lauderdale marina and were immediately reminded of the yachtie persona: friendly, helpful and quick to smile. Twelve hours after our pre-sunrise cab ride, we were sweaty, smelly and ready for some serious food. No, it wasn't my mom's, grandmother's, or aunt's amazing 5-hour holiday meal, but it sure fit the bill. The popular restaurant, called Anthony's Coal Oven Pizza, immediately found us a table instead of giving the standard response of, "Sure, table for 4, that will be about an hour's wait." Normally, we are surrounded by tons of extended family, egg hunts and fancily clad kids and adults. This time we could not have been further from that scene. It was tank tops and strangers, but two things were consistent, the warm reception and the perfectly cooked delicious food. Our megayacht neighbors suggested the joint and nailed it. Our table of four was happy, thrilled with the work accomplished, and content with the Easter celebration.

The week in Ft Lauderdale will be even shorter than a week. And the cruising we had hoped to squeeze in from April through June in the Bahamas is out. Team Burgess, always changing with the wind, is being promptly sucked into the 'real world', mostly due to Tom's new company that is way more than off the ground. Although 2 more months of cruising is quite enticing, when reality and opportunity calls, we are more than rejuvenated to listen. Zen will see us again in May or June, when a nice weather window opens, and we'll sail her straight up to Newport, where she'll enjoy being back at the ever-friendly, Newport Shipyard.



We are sore, tan, and counting down the days until we say adieu to our beloved blue boat. Our sincere thanks goes out to the crews of Dockwise Super Servant 3, s/y Nelson, and s/y Isabelle, for helping to bring Zen safely through 55 knots of wind and huge waves. We are so happy to have her in back in the US of A!!
Vessel Name: Zen
Vessel Make/Model: Atlantic 48' catamaran
Hailing Port: Newport, RI
Crew: Tom, Monique and Kids
About:
Tom, Monique, Cammi, and Cole. Tom is the CEO/Founder for a high-tech advertising firm, which he just sold to a large US media company, giving us the ability to set sail. [...]
Extra:
Eight years ago, we sold our advertising company, and left terra firma on our monohull, "Uliad", for a family cruise. As soon as we returned to land, immediately we started planning our 2nd cruise. Here's the continuation of our journey, except this time the kids are active crew members, [...]
Home Page: http://www.sailblogs.com/member/zen/
Social:
Zen's Photos - Galapagos 2009
Our gang going back to our tender - Isla Isabela
Hugging iguanas in foreground, hugging spouses in background
Guards at beach Isla Isabella - it was egg laying season for the iguanas
Getting close and personal
Iguanas iguanas everywhere
Walking through the National Park on Isabela
Don and Tommy with the baby iguanas, right next to the white tip shark area
My personal favorite, Galapagos Penguino!
Sunning seal and sea lion in the harbor at Isla Isabela
Penguin and Blue footed booby
Local kids taking a mid-day dip on Isabela
Hiking to a river on Isabela
On top of Isabela, blue Pacific in background
Local vegetation on Isabela
Hike up the guards
Wall of Tears made by Equadorian prisoners about 100 years ago
Zen
Tortoises at local "shelter" and breeding ground on Isabela
Cammi eating what tasted like a baby passion fruit
Let
Flamingo on Isabela
Waterview home on Isabela...not so remote, huh?
Beachfront fence on our walk
Walking down typical street in Isabela
Lots of new construction here
Typical vehicle in Isabela
Open restaurant/bar on Isabela
Natural wood/tree lampost on main street
Iguanas greet you at the dock when you arrive
Getting ready to disembark on Isabela
Typical boat in the harbor at Isabela
Navigating the reefs
Volcanos near Isla Isabela, after our tour, we trolled here and caught fish just 5 minutes after dropping in the lure
Franklin, our guide, Cole and Tommy on our powerboat that
Sunrise on the morning of our tour to Isabela, Carl Linne
Fresh market in Santa Cruz at 6am on Saturday morning, no, I didn
Ice cream being put in a bag and sold at fresh market
Me and my veggies
Tommy took this of my "aft side" in the throngs of locals at the fresh market
Fresh Market on Saturday morning on Santa Cruz, Galapagos
Our sous chef prepares our meat course at Angermeyer Restaurant during our Chef
Course #2 at Angermeyer, seared salmon over fresh asparagus with bernaise sauce and caviar
Cole in his standard perch watching David, our chef, cooking like a star on Food Network
David, our chef from Angermeyer Restaurant, with his biggest (or littlest) fan
Before "la comida" at Angermeyer Restaurant
Local smiles on Santa Cruz, Galapagos
Beautiful gate for jewelry store in Galapagos
Pelicans are checking out what they can steal from the local fisherman, who is cleaning his catch.
Land iguana at Darwin Center
120 year old 200 pound tortoises at Darwin Cener
Having a little insalata
Cole watching the feedings
Cammi at the Darwin Center during one of our field trip days
Sea lions lounging on this local boat in Santa Cruz
Cactus and a little warbler or finch that jumped into the photo at the last minute
Playa Tortuga in Santa Cruz, Galapagos
Happy body surfers
Daddy-O
Happy to see waves for the first time in a long while
Walking to Playa Tortuga
Eating at a local joint for just $4 a head for lunch
In the lava caves on Santa Cruz
Lava tubes giving us free bananas from their plantation
Guardacostas checking Zen into the Galapagos
Local water taxi in Santa Cruz, no private dinghies allowed...too much harbor traffic
Arriving to the Galapagos!
After the plunge to Neptune...here
Celebrating the equator crossing
Dedicating a dance to Neptune
Zen
Neptune tatoo
Getting ready for festivities Totem Tom
Got some rain while on passage, did some laundry with all the fresh water
Cammi asleep in the main salon
Sunrise
Cole entertains himself while on passage to Galapagos
Cammi gets an impromptu lesson for beading from a Kuna in Panama City
Old Town in Panama City
Oldest Catholic church in Central America in Old Town, Panama City
Happy ice cream servers near Flamenco Marina in Panama City
Isabele from s/v Wasabi gives a guitar lesson to Cole in Panama City
 
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