ZEN - global ocean cruising on a performance catamaran

Favorite place - The Galley

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 21:32:43 GMT

Very unique hope chest & the treasured item inside.

We bought Zen...AGAIN!

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Sun, 15 Nov 2020 20:40:21 GMT

What does a simple sail on a friend’s boat, the steps of City Hall and a cartoon strip have in common?

Pacific Passage - Our route 2007-2010

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:14:54 GMT

From Southwest Harbor Maine to Whangarei NZ

Passage to Cartagena Columbia from Curacao past Barranquilla River

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:38:52 GMT

3 day sail to Columbia

This entry includes a couple days of writing.

Wednesday 11/12 It's 4am (our wedding anniversary) and I've got the sunrise watch off the coast of Columbia as I sit down to type this blog entry. Watch out, I'm a little blurry eyed and may wax on about frivolous topics as I switch from typing to checking radar, scanning the horizon and trimming the sails. We have done many things since I last wrote including some great sailing and fishing in the Venezuelan archipelagos Los Roques and Los Aves, great eating, diving and exploring Bonaire (Seth, thanks for the tip on the national park...it was a great day that was spurred by your suggestion) and most importantly spent a whole lot of time just having fun as a family.

We are currently two days into a three day sail from Curacao to Cartagena, Columbia. This particular stretch of water is noted for bad weather. In fact, it is considered one of the top 5 worst weather corridors for mariners in the world. Needless to say we have been anxious about this particular leg of our trip. We have heard of 30kt+ winds and 10 to 15 foot seas as the standard weather for the passage. Some fellow cruisers hit that kind of weather a couple weeks ago and had a very exhausting passage. About 5 days ago I was chatting with Shannon (Someday Came) while we were still moored in Bonaire. I mentioned that the recent hurricane (Paloma) had cleared the weather in the Western Caribbean and I wished we were already making the passage to Cartagena. He said "well, let's go" and that was that. We left Bonaire the next day and after a quick sail and night sleeping in Curacao we headed off on the mutli day trip down the Columbian Coast. Little rant about Curacao...we did not stay long but what little I did see was not very enticing. I'm sure there are many beautiful parts of this island but the main cruiser anchorage is named Spaanse Water (pronounced by most as Spanish Water) and it was very crowded and the water was foul. It is a very protected anchorage/bay with one 50 foot wide entrance that opens up to a large multiple lagoon type bay with homes and marinas dotted along its shores. As we entered the fifty foot wide passage (keep in mind that Zen is 26 feet wide) we were greeted by a two story, 65 foot floating party barge with blasting music and people packed on so tightly that some were literally hanging off the side with one hand while grasping their drink with the other. Yikes! Anyway, we were happy to stay only one night in this local. The next morning we were off for the 2.5 day trip to Cartagena about 450 miles away.

Back to the Cartagena trip...I always take the 3am to sunrise watch on passages but these past two days have been unique. As a compliment to the favorable weather we have a full moon for this passage. A full moon is always a nice bonus on a night watch but the moon for the past couple nights has the unique feature of setting about an hour before the sun rises. This may be one of those "you had to be there" events but I will do my best to describe it. The sky has been very clear for the past couple nights so the moon is very bright, the kind that casts shadows...if you know what I mean. Our course is nearly due West so the moon sets just off the bow and the sun rises off the stern. As I write this the sky is split in two as I peer straight up past our mast. The moon set only a few minutes ago and the Western sky is suddenly dark and speckled with a million stars that are finally visible after having been drowned out by the shining moon. Meanwhile the Eastern part of the sky has begun to glow orange with the impending crack of dawn (and the crack was good..family joke!!). Hold on...I need to go back outside to see how it looks now. Okay, I'm back...the sun has not yet risen but the sky is brighter and the stars in the West are starting to fade. You may think I'm punchy from lack of sleep (maybe I am) but this is one of the wonders of being at sea. Not only do you get to experience the adventure of sailing a small boat over the ocean you also enjoy the celestial events that illuminate your plotted course.

Thursday 11/13 For the sailors/readers who have not made this passage it is a very interesting trip. As I mentioned above, the weather can be extreme. We chose a window of calm conditions. 25% of the trip was spent motoring or motor sailing with little or no wind and calm seas. The next 25% was spent with 20 to 25+ kts of wind and raucous sailing with 5 to 7 foot seas and the final 50% offered 10 to 15kts and 3 to 5 foot seas of spinnaker type sailing that is delight to any cruiser. Besides one afternoon when we experienced a SE breeze of 12kts the wind was directly behind us (N-NNE-ENE) or just off our stern quarter. The spinnaker was flying nearly all the time except for the 1/2 day when the wind increased to 25kts and we deployed the code zero. There are different ways to make this passage. Some folks choose to stay 10 miles or more offshore in the deeper water to minimize the potentially large seas and diminish the land effect on the wind direction. Others choose to stay close to shore and do day-sails, overnighting in any of the numerous bays along the Columbian Coast (there is an excellent guide to these spots that was written by another cruiser on a boat named Pizazz...you can easily find it on the internet). We chose to combine the two options and sailed for two days and nights before anchoring about 50 miles before Cartagena in a very large and well protected bay named Punta Hermosa. It was our anniversary so we decided to stop and have a nice family dinner. It also allowed us to enter Cartagena in the mid day light which gave us plenty of time to choose a good anchorage and do some initial land exploration. Before you reach Cartagena you will pass the Barranquilla River. You cannot pass this area at night. The river dumps so much junk into the ocean that the water changes color and there are logs, tree limbs and leaves floating everywhere. Some of the leave fields are as big as the boat. We passed the river about 3 miles from shore. The debris field started in a very defined line that stretched from the shore almost directly West. It was a bit freaky to be honest. One second you will be in clear blue water and the next a muddy, nasty brown. It lasted about 15 miles. It doesn't end like it started. As we progressed the water simply got less muddy until it was finally clear again. You need to keep a constant watch. We tried our best to avoid all the floatsum but we still collected a lot of weeds and roots on our rudders. I planned our entire trip around a day time arrival off Barranquilla and it was a good thing. As a final note, the anchorage in Cartagena is extremely well protected and offers a couple different types of bottoms. When we arrived it was relatively crowded and we spent a little time motoring around looking for a good spot. The anchorage depth varied from 7 feet to 50 feet. The deeper depths offer a stinky mud bottom that is notorious for making a mess of your anchor and chain. The shallower depths offer a more gravel like bottom that reportedly has better holding. After a couple false starts we were fortunate to find a spot in the shallow water just off the Marina Nautico. The holding is good and we have the added benefit of internet access from the Marina.

COMMENTS:

Andy

Tom, You and Monique have a done great job of describing all of your experinces that make us all feel like we are on board, instead of jealously sitting in our offices/homes. Ok, maybe Monique's mosquito adventures may have toed the line on details, but it sounds awesome with every entry in Log. Thanks. Good sailing, Andy

17 Nov 2008

Andy (again)

Tom, To follow up on your story, I just went to the Google course of where you are. In the satellite photo of the area, you can see the dirt field cast by the Barranquila River clearly for miles upon miles out into to sea. Can't imagine having to go from clear water to that so fast, and then back out again.

17 Nov 2008

Bill Ganon

Hi Tom, I see a river on Google earth too, near the end of the airport runway. Don't see the filth in this particular sat. shot. Am I looking in the right place?

17 Nov 2008

Gramma Mom

This was a typical sailor to sailor blog so I forwarded on to Dad.:-)I'm sure he is watching over you all and wishing he were there. Take care. Hugs to all

20 Nov 2008

Gramma

Too funny for words.I can just picture you sitting on the throne in the head scanning for skeeters!!! Could some one get a pic of that for all your fans?:-)

20 Nov 2008

Stu Mills

Talk about memories!! When the old Santa Ana made the run up to Barranquilla, the biggest concern was fouling the condenser with that semi-liquid river water. About halfway to Barranquilla we crossed a mudbar and had to shift to high suction at full speed in order not to fill the condenser with mud.

23 Nov 2008

Steve W. (BVI Jan 08)

Zen Clan. enjoying the log entries. I can relate to your excitement of being at sea. After 25 yrs Navy, I have experienced the same excitement and will never forget my last sunset at sea during our return from NYC in May. Had a similar experience with the sun/moon during a recent road trip from Nova Scotia to Ontario. Sun was setting in front and the moon was rising in my rear view mirror. Not the same, but as good as it gets when stuck on land.

26 Nov 2008

Screen me - Biting bugs on boats - Curacao to Cartegena Columbia

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:35:00 GMT

Flying Bandits

A short note from Monique about...flying bandits. Bugs have become a regular part of cruiser-to-cruiser conversation. Asking, "How are the bugs here?" is as common as saying, "How's the weather?" Once you hear the answer, then you check with other cruisers to get a larger sample size, therefore giving a more accurate gauge.

Knowing where the bugs are and when they are coming to get you is critical for living aboard a boat in warm climes. We have started to do some pretty neurotic things when it comes to mosquitoes in particular. Money towards bug prevention and eradication is money well spent in our books. We've acquired marine grade mosquito screens for our forward and aft doors, allowing us to let the breeze into our salon, while keeping the skeeters out, cans upon cans of volatile aerosols to kill anything that flies, and every trip to the store requires the purchase of at least one spray bottle of OFF.

Natural oils and candles would be OK with us, but we figure the hard core chemicals have guaranteed results...who knows what results they unleash on us humans...but we only go around once, right? "Screen me" has also becoming a standard phrase on Zen, translated, it means, "I can't close the screen from the outside, so you, who are indoors, close the screen on the Velcro."

Everyone has their little ritual. I, being the Numero Uno Choice Delicacy of all skeeters, have numerous rituals. Let me share some wacky ones that really get me wondering if my sanity is intact. Feel free to comment. When I arrive in the head, aka bathroom, I will immediate look under and around the toilet to see if I find any skeeters taking a snooze. I love our hulls, they are white, and those pests are easily seen on that backdrop. If I find one, I will pound it with my hand and shout with glee, "Dead!!!!" All hands on deck are also celebrating my kill since I say it so loudly all can hear.

Next, while sitting, (don't you love my sharing?) I will continually scan the area. If any targets are found, they get a minute or two until their life comes to an abrupt end. Upon entering bed at night, covering exposed skin w/bug spray is key and mandatory. Tom, if asleep, unfortunately gets to wake up to me, stinking of OFF, putting the light on above his head. More scanning must occur.

If bitten in middle of the night, all lights go back on and the war begins. To avoid long battles at 2am, we have resorted to screening all opening hatches and doors 100-percent of the time. If a daytime war occurs, Cole will get out his camouflage belt, which acts as a harness for the aerosol cans. Killing with spray can give a different gratification. Needless to say, the more bloodshed we see on our walls, the more bites we have to show for it. The locals are telling us it's been a particularly wet rainy season and the critters are rampant. Hopefully it will be getting drier and our antics will be curtailed so we can put the Benydryl lotion away for a few months!

This email is via satellite phone. Please do not send any attachments. Please reply with your email only. Delete all other previous email threads.

COMMENTS:

K ate

Oh my goodness, I am sitting here dying laughing at this oh not so funny situation but the image of my girlfriend, bug warrior and my buddy Cole with his camo belt and Tommy being woken to bug battles is just too vivid!! Thanks for the chuckle this morning!! Love, Kate

11 Nov 2008

DarleneBarkman

That was VERY funny to read! I agree with Kate- I could just picture each and every moment taking place. Now, I could also envision what Tommy is saying at 2am to the smell of off! You remind me of Tim with the whole "scanning...scanning". You get 'em girlfriend!!

11 Nov 2008

Mary

LOL!!!! In a couple of the photos I thought I spied a couple of bites on you guys. I was like oh man they really are getting bit up!

11 Nov 2008

Thomas

Congratulations Cole and Cammi. Miss you guys a lot - Thomas

06 Nov 2008

Gramma

Too funny for words.I can just picture you sitting on the throne in the head scanning for skeeters!!! Could some one get a pic of that for all your fans?:-)

11 Nov 2008

Carla

OUCH!!!! I needed that laugh-hahahahaha---I can just imagine what the walls have seen on ZEN. Now, if only they could talk. Try a little rubbing alcohol-- It works in Italy!

11 Nov 2008

D enise

Hysterical!! Funny I don't remember you being so juicy in Italy. I guess you have gotten sweeter with age. Thanks for the visual of you on the throne Queeny! As for the bites, you might want to try a little witch hazel to take the itch out of the sting. Keep the stories coming, I'm living vicariously through you guys! Miss you tons. xoxo, D-

11 Nov 2008

Kids become PADI certified divers - Bonaire

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:16:47 GMT

Kids are scuba certified

The kids completed their PADI certification today. I caught this shot as they passed under the boat on their way back from their final open water dive. The adventures continue. We are going on a group dive from ou r dinghy tomorrow.

COMMENTS:

Seth Lieberman

As long as you are in Bonaire rent a jeep and drive up to the park in the north. Pretty cool and on the final western part of the loop there are some amazing tiny little sand beaches for a dip. Well worth it.

0 5 Nov 2008

Kathi

I AM SO I AM SOOOOOOO TOTALY IMPRESSED AND PROUD OF YOU GUYS!!! Congratulations!!

Love, Kathi, John and Thomas

0 5 Nov 2008

Mary

Congratulations on your certification Cammi and Cole! Scuba diving is so cool. Awesome science class. Auntie Mary

06 Nov 2008

Thomas

Congratulations Cole and Cammi. Miss you guys a lot - Thomas

06 Nov 2008

Julie

I had no idea that kids could get certified! That's awesome. WE will look into it. I always thought there was an age limit.

06 Nov 2008

Carla

Cammi & Cole --- Way to go!!! I am so proud of you--- Just imagine all the things you will discover under water. Love you -- Carla

06 Nov 2008

Darlene Barkman

I am sooo envious of you two! I know you will make the most wonderful discoveries. Can't wait for the next update to your blogs. Miss you. Darlene

09 Nov 2008

Gramma and Harls

High fives to both of you Cammi & Cole. You are both amazing and so smart and brave to get certified. Harls says she's proud of you-- me too. Now you can explore the undersea world.

Halloween in Bonaire

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:37:41 GMT

Los Roques, Los Aves and Bonaire

Puerta La Cruz and the remote islands of Los Roques and Los Aves are now fond memories in our path. A special "thank you" to Jorge and Male for our final waterfall adventure the day before we left the mainland of VZ. What a way to wrap up our 10 days in Puerta La Cruz.

Now, we are currently moored 100 feet off the coastline of Bonaire. Roques and Aves were beautiful, as you'll see from the photos in our gallery, but we were sadly inundated with mosquitoes. Folks who have lived and cruised in this area for years, say it's the worst they've seen. This seriously hampered our activities, forced us to take cover behind screens/netting by 4:00p each day and kept us up at night swatting any skeeters that dared sneak into Zen's interior. Needless to day, we didn't stay as long as we'd have liked. The waters were beautiful shades of blue and green, so magnificent, they reflected off the clouds above, giving the islands a halo of color. Only time we've seen something like this was in the Bahamas.

During the hours of non-bugs, we had a great time fishing, snorkeling and exploring. Tom learned to bonefish with a fly rod from Shannon on Someday Came. And speaking of them, it's been a blast getting to know them. Both boats are on the same rhythm and we move from anchorage to anchorage with ease. As Halloween approached, our kids started to ponder what costumes to throw together and Kathy and Shannon discussed a party. Sure, party, we're in!

Sailing dead downwind, from Los Aves towards Bonaire, was a precursor to the thousands of downwind miles we'll sail in the Pacific. We took advantage of the opportunity to try new sail configurations. We were happy to discover Zen sails extremely well at 170 degrees off the wind, with the asymetrical spinnaker tacked to the windward bow. We had an exhilarating trip and arrived 3 hours before Tom's estimated time of arrival.

We landed in Bonaire during the afternoon of the 31st, with hopes of many cruisers and trick or treating opportunities. After a pizza and brownie party on Zen, we loaded into the dinghies, and went to the nearby marina to meet up with a few more kids that hailed us on the radio. The marina was quiet, but there was one boat, all lit up with carved pumpkins, painted coconuts and tons of decorations. That looked like a good spot for our first trick or treat. It ended up being the "kid boat" that hailed us and we were invited aboard to join their bash. I call it a bash because there were 2 very nice families living aboard a 100-foot yacht with multiple living levels. It included a swing, gymnastics area, music, toys, candy and a disco ball. Great way to celebrate the holiday...a spinnaker sail by day and trick or treating at night. Thanks, Kiki Kai for the hospitality!

On Saturday, as the older kids played games and decorated gingerbread cookies, thanks to Kathy who baked and rolled under sail during a day long trip from Aves to Bonaire, the 4 adults and Violet, my 3-year-old pal (she's a blast and makes me remember the days of Young Lolly), did a walking tour of Bonaire's town. It's so clean, locals helpful and friendly, check in was a cinch (so many cruisers said check-out of VZ would be sketchy and Bonaire officials would send us back to VZ if our papers weren't to their likings...poof...it was a breeze and free, to boot!) and the fresh market was stocked full! Dinner w/SDC was ashore at a tapas restaurant and we all had a relaxing time outside of our hot galleys.

Today, all day, the Zen kids studied for their PADI Dive Certification. It's so amazing, we are moored in about 30 feet of water, but a few feet off our sterns, it drops to over 200 feet of deep blue and tons of reef walls and fish abound. Couldn't be a better place to learn to dive. They'll swim from our boat to the dive school for the next 3 days and will be done on Wednesday. They'll probably do a dive w/the dads and Caroline in a few days. I am sure there will be loads of great photos and lots of underwater adventure stories. Until then, enjoy the photo updates.

COMMENTS:

Mary

The photos are great. Even the Dalmatian is smiling. Try to have fun now! Love, Auntie Mary

03 Nov 2008

Tonya

The pictures are amazing, as are the tales. Glad to hear and see that everyone is having a blast! Tonya

03 Nov 2008

Amistad - Cultural Immersion in Puerta La Cruz - Venezuela

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:12:13 GMT

Special Delivery - Jorge, Male & Luna

Our ideal cruising life includes close-knit family time, healthy natural lifestyle, respect for the ocean environment, personal growth, supportive teamwork and appreciation for new cultures along our path. All of these things have become a daily part of our lives on Zen. But being able to appreciate new cultures is challenging with only a few days or a week to spend. It could take years to fully immerse yourself in a new place with new people, new language and traditions.

Why am I being so philosophical? I don't think I will be able to put into words the depth of what we experienced here in Puerta La Cruz, Venezuela. Long story short, we befriended a person in Grenada Marine and promised to deliver some special boat parts from Grenada to his friend in Puerta La Cruz. On Tuesday, when all the businesses were open, we made our way around the marina to find our friend's friend, Jorge Garcia. Mind you, the two boxes with his name written in big black marker, were sitting in our forward cabin for about 3 weeks. Every time we used the head, we saw the precious cargo. He had become part of Zen and had traveled hundreds of nautical miles with us.

Anyway, Tom and I were doing some errands, mosquito netting, to be exact, when he looked up and said, "Hey, check out that mast. I bet the boat attached to it is pretty cool. Someday I hope to have a custom painted rig!" Not 20 minutes later, after locating the infamous Jorge, Tom was standing inside the cool-painted-rig-boat, s/v Amistad. And it kept getting better and better. After an hour of personalized tour, Tom tells me he met the nicest guy ever. He and his partner, Male (Mah-lay), would be coming onto Zen at 7:00p in the evening to pick up the two cargo boxes and show us a slideshow of how they rescued their gorgeous boat from a reef.

The Amistad salvage story was riveting and the evening did not end until almost midnight. Plans were made for us all to taste the local foods on Friday evening. The local specialty is a bread, almost like English muffins, called arepas. They are filled with just about anything you can think of. At the restaurant, it's like a cafeteria, you pick and choose from fillings that are so tempting, it's dizzying. The 6 of us sit down with arepas in hand and chow! It's filling and so satisfying. Cole is the first one done. To wash it all down, freshly squeezed juice. Perfect. Next stop, gelato!

We shared meals with Jorge and Male, but also shared ideas, cultural differences, and dreams. The friendship was cemented. Next day, our plan was to split up. The kids, Tom and Jorge would go 60 miles per hour on his catamaran speed boat (Cammi wrote about this in her blog). Male and I would shop for food and other necessities. At 9:00a, Jorge's lead worker walked the docks to Zen to tell us that Jorge had an accident at home and his hand needed stitches! We immediately told his messenger that we would happily post-pone or cancel the boat trip and wished him quick recovery. No....no...no, he'll be here to pick us up at 2:00p, no problemo! Sure enough, bandaged and ready for action, Jorge and Male arrived and fun followed!

Tom said the speedboat was crazy fast, unbelievably smooth through the waves and powerful like no other toy he's ridden in on the ocean! There was a big squall, no problemo, we'll race it and drive this way, towards Isla Margarita. The kids came home with tons of wonderful stories. For me, I simply nicknamed Male, My Saint (Santa in Spanish). We went to 2 different fresh vegetable markets. I bought a gazillion kilos of beautiful fruits and vegetables for hardly anything. We went to a pharmacy and got everything we needed and then did some special December provisioning (my friends know what this is). Hour upon hour, she drove me through the weekend traffic, negotiated parking lots and all with a genuine smile on her beautiful face. We chatted about recipes and food and cruising. Male and Jorge will be cruising on their own boat soon. After a full day, they informed us that the visit would not be complete without a trip to the beach with their dalmatian, Luna, who is deaf. Absolutely!

This morning, after delivering special ancient indian leather/stone bracelets for the kids, home-grown bananas and coconuts, along with homemade desserts and cheeses and more local foods (I think Male was an Italian grandmother in another lifetime...she loves food too!) we got in their big tender and zipped over to Mochima national park islands and bays that were totally private and idyllic. As Luna swam and played in the water, we looked up to see hawks soaring in the thermals, primitive fishing huts built with logs and palms, and mangroves surrounding tranquil coves with majestic mountains all around. It was outrageous. The final cultural excursion was a waterfall hike at dawn with the infamous coco frio drinks on the way home. The adventure was beyond beautiful and delicious. To think, only one week ago, we were dodging big tanker ships in this same bay.

Now, we all have a very special connection to this place, all because of one good deed and two special Venezuelan sailors. They made us feel like life-long friends. It's going to be a teary goodbye from a place we were apprehensive about coming to. Cultural immersion is something most cruisers hope for, but it's rare to occur, especially in such a short time. We are tremendously grateful to Jorge and Male for giving us the gift of immersion and making this visit so special for the four of us. Hopefully, someday, we'll get to do the same for them in Newport, Rhode Island.

COMMENTS:

Brian

Wow... spectacular.. a series of experiences you will never, ever forget.. special connections we all seek and hope to occur every day but unfortunately not that often.. i guess that's what makes them amazing.. soak it all in...

20 Oct 2008

Brian

btw, I love Venezuela...nutty a place as it is.

20 Oct 2008

Kate

AWESOME! The adventure gets better and better - What an incredible experience and we love reading about every minute! I wish I could have seen Cole's face driving the tender!! And dahlink, you look mahvelous!! Love, Kate and crew

20 Oct 2008

Gramma

Reading your blogs make me almost feel that I am there having your wonderful expirences. How great that you became friends w/ Jorge and Male---best way to really get the feel of a country and its culture. All of this will be great to look back on for years to come.

23 Oct 2008

Caroline (from s/v Tigre)

hi guys i'm happy to see that you are in Venezuela. cool pictures on your blog. By the way we created a blog too.

25 Oct 2008

Carla

What an experience!!!! Yes, the arepas are delicious! My noni and mom used to make them for us to remind them of days back in Venezuela-- Miss you tons!

27 Oct 2008

Lisa Giorgini

Monique, Please Please Please write a book. Yet again, I felt like I was with you shopping in the market and on your special adventure. Love, Lisa

Puerta La Cruz - Venezuela

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:59:00 GMT

Landfall - mainland South America

Sailing Zen into Puerta La Cruz was like bringing a single-engine prop plane into Logan Airport in Boston during rush-hour.

We had the distinct feeling we were "in the way" amongst over twenty 800-foot-behemoth-tankers. As gringos on the Venezuelan (pronounced: Benna-zway-lahn) mainland, we are most definitely a rare sight. Upon arrival, I started using my broken Italian on the VHF radio. The smiling, friendly faces greeted us in a bright yellow tender at the mouth of a 300-slip marina. We fumbled through with hand signals and broken Espanol.

After Tom backed Zen, with her 26' beam, into a 28' wide slip, and we were med-moored (sterns close to the quay with 2 boats along sides), Freddy took our electrical cord, and we successfully plugged the boat in for the first time since Newport Shipyard in November 2007. Our battery charger was cheering as it topped up our battery bank and brought them up to a healthy level. We plugged in every device that needed charging, locked all our hatches and doors and stepped ashore, bound to check ourselves officially into customs/immigration.

Passports in hand, clean faces and smiling children, we showed up at the marina office on a Friday afternoon at 3:30p. They warmly welcomed us, showed us the dock fees here at Bahia Redonda, basically $20/day for our catamaran (hey all you New Englanders, isn't that just outrageous?!) and told us to use one of the many local travel agents in the complex to act our agent for checking-in. Travel agents suggested we just chill for the weekend and wait until Monday for check-in. OK...that's easy-going, considering we are gringos who's ambassador just got booted beyond the borders. But, we'll go along w/their program and keep a low profile.

While inspecting the Women's Shower facilities, I met another cruiser from Virginia. She clued me in to the exchange system down here. I won't go into the details, but there's 2 exchange rates, the public one, i.e.. banks, and the not-so-published-one, i.e.. Jose. One is about 2 Bolivars to the dollar, the other is over 4 B's to the dollar. By Friday at 5:00, thanks to Jose, we had plenty of Bolivars to cover us for whatever weekend excursions we encountered. Saturday morning was grey with some rain, which was great, because if the sun had been out, forget it, we'd have been dried-up raisins.

The dinghy was lowered and the adventure began immediately. The Puerta La Cruz marina zone is quite unique and somewhat convoluted. A little tourist map was needed from the marina office before we could start navigating. If you were to blindfold me and transport me to Miami's inter-coastal waterway, I would not have been able to tell the difference. The houses are beautiful and the boats, mostly power, are outrageous. All of them sparkling new. The apartments are multi-leveled, painted beautiful colors, each with their boat/tender, carefully raised out of the water, off the back patios. The larger homes, with their infinity pools and sculptures and yachts were really something to see.

First we arrive at a neighboring marina to procure a visual check of a friend's boat. More of my broken Spanish. This time we converse with marina security guards who are donning sawed-off shotguns and plenty of ammo. My husband and kids are riveted by these accessories. Funny, but I was so taxed just trying to negotiate us past the massive guard dog and security gate, my brain doesn't even register the weapons. We are basically imprisoned in a beautiful, nautical, jail, with only one exit: out to sea. Don't go inland as a gringo in this region of the country. Period. After the weapons show, dinghy conversation is lively, as you can imagine. "Do you think they ever have to use those, dad?" "What is the big green bullet? A flare?" You get the picture. Dorothy, this ain't Kansas anymore.

At the dinghy dock, another couple on a monohull chats w/us. They are from Gloucester, MA and have been sailing for 4 years. They give us loads of local information and really get us psyched up for visiting Cartagena. Finally, under dinghy power, we are heading through winding canals towards Plaza Mayor. Upon arrival, we are convinced we're at Bayside Mall in Miami instead of VZ. There are nice open-air restaurants covering many kinds of cuisine, high end retail stores all arranged tastefully with tropical plantings and tiles and fountains. Loads of local families are out enjoying their day off and we tie up the dinghy, at the mall dock. But, reminder, don't go past the mall boundaries aka safe zone....remember?

Anyway, it's at this point that we realize, maybe for the first time, we can communicate openly without being understood by others. Sure, some folks must speak English, but the norm is definitely Spanish-only. Stop thinking what you are thinking. No, we did not start chatting about the locals by any means. But it's a new feeling, one we've never felt. Ordering meals, making purchases, and navigating foreign currency exchange can really set my brain in overload, but fortunately, there is such tremendous overlap between Spanish and Italian, things seem to be going very well. When it gets more technical, that's where I'll start to lose it. Only once, in an ice cream shop, did I utterly fail at my communications. How does one say, "I am so full!" in Spanish? I think I said, "Soy gordo." I am fat? The nice ladies just furled their brows, shrugged their shoulders, and looked at each other. Never mind, here's my funny-money, thanks for the heavenly dessert.

After a huge lunch and gelato, we are in food coma by the time we reach the grocery store. It is teeming with people. It is not like Grenada. Carriages are full of purchases, overflowing actually. In Grenada or Antigua folks shop daily and only get a couple of things. Cruisers' big provisioning runs are dizzying to the locals. Not here. They are just like us. Carriages are bulging over in the check-out aisles.

And finally, speaking of daily needs, let me tell you about fuel. Where do I begin? One cruising family traded 2 Heinekens for over 25 gallons of diesel, plus they were given a couple of local cervezas during the exchange on a local fishing boat. You can do the math on that one! The locals pay $0.03 USD for a gallon of diesel. Yes, that's 3-cents. It costs less than water. The visitors, gringos included, pay a whopping $0.40 per gallon. But, one hitch, we cannot just drive our boats up to the fuel dock here in PLC. Another convoluted system. We, meaning Americans or any gringos for that matter, need to go either by dinghy or walk down the dock and fill jerry jugs. It is totally more work, but as you'd agree, the price is so worth the extra effort. Not to mention, it's necessary since we depart for many remote outer islands after our stint on the mainland. Fuel will not be seen again until Bonaire, at which point, it will rise again to $5/gallon.

While I was preparing dinner today, the kids and Tommy climbed up the sea-wall that protects our marina/prison. As they enjoyed the vista, they wondered what would happen to this lovely country after the pending elections in November. We chatted over dinner, and tried to help the kids understand what a unique life-story they may have to tell to their own children someday. Will such secondary oil countries like Russia and China merge forces w/Venezuela and forever alter it's access to future American tourists? Will the Republicans in Washington get the oil rigs cranking off of Alaska, helping to make the US self-reliant concerning oil? Will the the US get serious about green energy sources? As I look at the bountiful country around me, I could easily forget I am over 2000 miles from Miami, that gorgeous Spanish-speaking American port of call. But who's future is rosier? With our financial markets in turmoil, our fuel prices still 20 times higher than here and food prices soaring, it's anyone's call. History will be made this November in Washington and Caracas. One thing is for sure, Cammi and Cole are getting a first hand education in world economics and politics.

COMMENTS:

Greer & family

You guys look like you are having a blast!! I love checking in on you.

13 Oct 2008

Nonna

This is a living and breathing education! It may all look and sound great there, but I will take the ills of this country vs socialism any day of the week. However, it certainly is thought provoking. Love the pictures - keep them coming. It helps take away the blues when I see the huge smiles. I know you are happy and that is all I need (for now anyway!). Hugs, mush and kisses to the Zen crew, Love, Nonna

15 Oct 2008

Harley & Gramma

I just reread your last blog about life in Vz. No thanks!!! With all our problems here we are still FREE!!! Besides Harley would not like Vz as she doesn't understand Spanish.C&C you are so lucky to along on this ride xxxx to all

18 Oct 2008

Twin Water Spouts - Tortuga to Puerta La Cruz - Venezuela

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:33:51 GMT

Fish on! Tanker and Twins

After our war with the mosquitos, everyone was pretty hyped up to move to a clear anchorage, one with wind and no bogies (I'll come back to this one). In the morning, the bugs were still around and we did a schooling session, and pulled up the anchor to move to the other side of Tortuga.

Before departing, we met a really nice cruiser from none other than Portsmouth, RI. He was quite seasoned in VZ ins-and-outs. He gave us the "warm and fuzzy" and off we motored to our next spot. Digital charts were useless for Laguna el Carenero, so it was all visual navigation. There were only 2 other boats and one very small open-sided thatched fisherman's shack. After anchoring in 7 feet of water, it was lunchtime, curried chicken salad and homemade wheat bread. The bugs were there, but no swarms, so very manageable.

At 5:00a, Tom was awake and soon was I. After donning the standard uniform, a bathing suit, sunscreen and bug spray, I slowly drove Zen back out through the shallow cut. Once in open water, we made a beeline for Puerta La Cruz. Oddly, we still don't have the trade winds blowing, so it was going to be a motorboat ride. In boat-speak that means turn on the watermaker (desalinator) and charge every kid-toy-device in sight since the batteries will be charged to the hilt.

All was good, we'd arrive in PLC around 1:30p, our fishing trolling lines were set and everyone onboard was reading or replying to emails rec'd over the satellite email. After studying some Spanish phrase books in the forward cockpit, I came in the salon to see the navigation screen. Tom was very busy, brow creased and the nautical slide rule was out along with the calculator. What's he up to? I wondered. There's an 800-foot tanker that's on a collision course w/us. Joy.

I inform him, upon glancing aft, ooooh, fish on! We slow down the boat, it's caught our shorter hand line. Within 10 minutes Tom's got it at our stern, de-hooked it, and I'm holding a nice dorado in my big fish-bag. Dinner! My mind already has a marinade churning inside it. Tom's back at the nav station, negotiating our intersection w/the tanker. I am now back on the stern, clipped in with my harness, and a newly sharpened knife in my hand.

Not 2 minutes later, Cole looks aft and says, "Hey that is totally cool! What are those 2 things?" We are in an area of political unrest, for a split second, I was thinking like my 9-year-old son, those are ICBMs bound for some unknown bogey! Sailor-brain kicked back on and I screamed, "Waterspouts!!!" And twin spouts no less! I have never sailed through one nor do I want to. They are like tornadoes. Water and wind from the cloud reaches down to the ocean and gathers water and energy from below.

Looking through the binoculars at them, you could swear you are seeing a tornado with that cloud of debris swirling around the bottom. Tom came out, saw them and said calmly, "Go quickly w/the fish." I hadn't even gotten the 2 fillets on the back deck when he floored the engines. I thought the kids would enjoy watching me scurf with my cutting board off Zen (see kids' blogs). The fish is now marinating, the storm passed behind us and we are going to arrive in about 1 hour. So much for a dull 5 hours of motoring.

COMMENTS:

Nonna

Wow! Your experiences are endless and your writing skills bring me right into the cockpit! You defiinitely need to write a book about these adventures! Where are these wonderful recipes coming from and how are you managing to have all the marinade ingredients onboard? I always thought I made something when I delivered you, but you are totally off the charts!!!! By the way, do not like to hear that you are in unsafe, political unrest waters...that is a little bit of too much information. And thank you, Cole for spotting the water spouts! You guys are having the adventure of your life! Love and kisses to crew, Nonna

11 Oct 2008

Bandits from above - Isla Blanquilla to Tortuga - Venezuela

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:01:23 GMT

Doing the mosquito-slap tango

When we left off last, Zen and crew were anchored on a lee shore in a nasty squall off an island named Blanquilla. We've covered about 150 miles and spent a couple days at another island since then. I never did get back to sleep that morning because we decided to get underway for the safety and comfort of crew and boat. We set course for Tortuga another small island about 90 miles from Blanquilla and 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela.

We had a pretty boisterous sail from Blanquilla to Tortuga. The wind (15 - 20kts) and sea (7 - 8 ft) were in our face 3/4 of the trip. Zen handled it well and we tacked back and forth making the best time we could toward the anchorage on the North East side of Tortuga. We chose this anchorage over a few others because our ETA was 10pm and it looked easiest to enter in the dark. In the final few miles the wind died and we dropped sails and fired the engines with a very bright half moon illuminating our path.

The anchorage was wide open and it would have been a very uneventful entrance had it not been for the blood sucking mosquitoes that invaded us about 1/4 mile off the island. Holy cow, I have never experienced anything like this in my life. These dirty little bandits from above were coming at us from all directions. The crew moved into immediate defense mode. We coated ourselves with Off and closed every hatch and door on Zen.

Monique and I were busy doing the mosquito-slap-tango on deck while the kids, closed inside Zen, waged their own little battle with the bandits that had found their way past our initial defenses. It was dark and there were about 20 other boats in the anchorage we had to avoid while we found a spot to drop the hook. The mosquitoes were relentless. They were biting and buzzing all over us. Each time I opened my mouth to talk to Monique 2 or 3 of the blood suckers tried to fly down my throat. I'm not exaggerating!!

We found a sandy spot in about 15 feet of water on the outskirts of the anchorage, dropped the hook, set it and ran for cover. Inside we found the kids barely holding their own against the flying squadron. Monique, a professional bug killer and very protective mom, snapped into action with bug spray and hand slapping. Fortunately we had a couple of cans of fantastic bug killing spray we bought back in Grenada. We nearly fumigated ourselves during the ensuing 20 minute battle but when the dust cleared there were four humans....no bugs.

One final note. Although that particular anchorage was bug infested, Tortuga redeemed itself the following day. We found a relatively uncharted cove called Laguna El Carenero on the other side of the island and spent a wonderful day and night in a very shallow 7 feet of water with only two other boats. We will return to Tortuga...bug spray on hand!

COMMENTS:

Nonna

Yugh!!!! Tortuga sounds like a nasty place when the bugs are biting! Now I know what you guys need for Xmas - bug spray! Take care, and kisses to the crew. Geri

11 Oct 2008

Mary

LOL LMAO! Glad it was worth it the next day though Mary.

11 Oct 2008

Susan

Reminiscing about home base in 1992. Glad to read your experiences. Happy journey

19 Jul 2009

3:00am on Route 128 - Isla Blanquilla - Venezuela

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:08:03 GMT

It's NOT a dream. The smell of diesel in the morning.

I'm on route 128 heading home to Portsmouth from my office in Boston in a driving rain storm in the middle of the night and I can't pry my eyes open. God this is frustrating, why can't I open my eyes?? I think I can see other lights and I can definitely hear the rain and feel the car bouncing all over the road...splash, boom, bang...wake up you idiot, you're not in a car on route 128, you're having a dream while you lay in bed on Zen anchored off some desolate Island in Venezuela.

It's dark, pitch black, as I wipe the sleep from my eyes and I try to orient myself to the boats movement. It's a squall, I can hear the wind generator starting to hum and the rain is just starting the tap-tap-tap on the deck above my head heralding the inevitable deluge. I peek at the compass that is above my head to see what direction we are heading...Southwest...hmmm, that's not good. That puts us stern to the beach.

Crap, the waves are starting to increase because the island is no longer shielding us from the fetch. I glance at my watch...ugghh, 0215 (that's sailor talk for 2:15 in the damn morning!!). I stumble from bed and head to the bridge to see what's going on and to make sure all the hatches are closed. The wind is getting stronger and the waves are growing. I can hear thunder and I see the flash of lightning as I reach the nav station. This is going to be a good one. When I reach the nav station I peer out the rain soaked bridge deck windows and see the anchor lights of the other boats around me waving back and forth. I see lights starting to pop on in the other boats as they do the same thing I'm doing. There are about 6 other boats in the anchorage and we are all being tossed around in the waves that are building as the once protected anchorage is now exposed to the wind and sea.

More rain...oh crap...I run down each hull to secure all the deck hatches. As I crawl over Cole to close his hatch he squints at me through half opened eyes and asks me if we are underway. His cabin is forward most in the starboard bow and he is feeling the brunt of the wave action. No, I tell him, just a squall. He rolls over and I wrap him in his sheet. Ni, ni daddy...he is back to sleep. The kids are very familiar with this kind of event. If I'm not worried they aren't.

I head back to the bridge deck, all the hatches are secure. By now the wind and rain has increased as the squall crescendos. I step out onto the back deck to take a look around. I search the sky to for stars. Not right now, just big black clouds above us. I head back inside to hide from the rain. Looks like I'm going to be up for a little while. Normally I would head back to bed after checking the hatches in a squall like this but the wind has change dramatically during the squall and we are now on a lee shore. In other words, the wind is blowing us toward the beach instead of away. The typical trade winds blow from the East in this part of the world and we were anchored on the West side of the Island in relatively protected spot...normally.

Monique is up now and meets me in the bridge deck. She looks around for a few minutes and then decides to head back to bed and read until she falls back to sleep. I tell her I will stay up for a while and do an anchor watch (make sure we don't drag and that no one drags into us) until the squall passes. 20 minutes later I hear the light go out in our cabin, she is back to sleep. By now the winds are abating and the rain has slowed but the waves are rocking us all over the place. The fetch from the squall has built the seas to 5 feet in the anchorage. It's a bit unnerving when the bows are jumping and the waves are streaming past the boat while you sit on an anchor in the pitch black but I know it will settle down in a little while.

The rain stops and I open the door to the forward cockpit to air out the bridge deck. It has cooled off considerably during the squall (down to 80 degrees) and I enjoy the fresh breeze that passes through our bridge. Uh oh...I smell diesel. What the heck is that, I wonder. I scamper around inside Zen to see where the smell is coming from. Nothing. I head back to the forward cockpit and realize the boat in front of me, a 50 foot monohull sailboat, is rocking violently in the choppy seas. Ahhhh, he must have extra fuel cans on deck full of diesel and they are leaking as his boats rocks back and forth in the waves. Yuck! That means I now have diesel fuel washing all over my hull. I guess the guy couldn't pass on the $0.40 per gallon fuel price in VZ.

As I walk back into the bridge I wonder how much he is losing. I hope he losses it all!! Zen is going to stink like diesel until I clean it off the hulls tomorrow. Asshole! Ahhhh, calm down I tell myself. I'm just tired and cranky after being woken at 0215. I peer down at my watch...it's now 0500 and I have been up for almost three hours. The wind is down and the rain is gone but the waves are still rocking and rolling and the diesel smell is ruining what would otherwise be a nice fresh breeze through the boat. I gaze toward the sky and see some stars starting to break through the clouds. Seems like the worst is past now. That was a pretty big squall I think as I start to entertain the idea of crawling back into bed. It will make for good conversation among the other boats tomorrow. I'm definitely going to have a little chat with Mr. Diesel jerk in front of me! I'm bleary eyed and tired as I write these last few words. Please excuse any typos. The horizon has become illuminated as the sun starts to rise. "Ahhh, the smell of diesel in the morning"...isn't that a line from Apocalypse Now? Christ, I'm delirious. I hope you have enjoyed joining me on anchor watch this eve. BTW...The above picture has nothing to do with this blog entry. It's just a nice shot from some day last week that reminded me of what it will be like later today after the squall is gone. Arghhh, the wind is back up...maybe this isn't over yet...

COMMENTS:

Nonna

What a fantastic read, Tom. You guys should definitely put together all of this into a book when all is done. If nothing else, it would be great for the kids to read to their kids. I am so surprised that the rest of the Zen crew did not jump to assist you in the anchor watch! Keep up the communications - it is the first thing I look for every day.

11 Oct 2008

Mary

Glad to have you back. Cool story. Quite a challenge. Mary.

08 Oct 2008

Peter Moscovita

Could not stop laughing, I can just picture you walking around the boat calling the guy in front every four lettered word in the book. Guys really enjoy keeping up with your adventure. Regards, Peter

08 Oct 2008

Brian

Sounds like you're getting a big cranky...relax a bit, take a load off...

20 Oct 2008

John Dunn

that's not the smell of diesel, Tom, it's the smell of money! Besides I'm back at work bathing in the stuff on a regular basis.

09 Oct 2008

Tuna Steaks for Dinner - Isla Blanquilla - Venezuela

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:44:04 GMT

Fish on! Fish on...again!

Yesterday we sailed from Los Tetstigos to Isla La Blanquila. Blanquilla, like Testigos, also belongs to Venezuela. It is a bit more out of the way than Testigos. Many people visit Testigos because it is in-route from Grenada to VZ. Blanquilla is West North West from Testigos and not in-route to anywhere. We were hoping to find a place less traveled. We did. We sailed the 90 mile day trip with our good friends on the Catamaran Independence (Indy). Our goal was to try and make a Blanquilla anchorage in day light. We didn't. It was a dead downwind run with variable winds. We started strong with our 5am departure. Spinnakers we set and we were off and running. About ? way the wind died down and we watched our daylight arrival slip away. The last quarter of the trip brought strong winds and great spinnaker sailing (10kts boat speed in 15kts true wind) and as the sun slipped over the horizon we used the last bit of daylight to drop the sails just outside the entrance to our chosen spot for the night. We edged our way into the anchorage using depth, binoculars and radar to negotiate the new surroundings. Our electronic chart software was useless. As we poked our way into the anchorage the electronic chart had Zen four wheeling across land. I could hear my father saying over my shoulder "never trust the electronics". Fortunately, the water is sooooo clear (gin clear) that, even under near total darkness, we could see the shadows of the coral and we both dropped securely in a nice sandy spot. When we awoke this morning we were exactly where we wanted to be, all alone in a very secluded tropical anchorage.

One of the best parts of the day was landing two 20 lb yellow fin tuna. NICE! We finally broke the ice by landing the first fish of this voyage. This is not due to lack of effort. We have been fishing on almost every leg of our trip. We caught a bunch of fish but we kept losing them before they could be landed. We were very good at catch and release but we aren't sport fishing here. We want to eat. The first fish hit on the rod and reel that Indy lent us. We were sailing along under spin and main with no easy way to slow the boat. I was worried that we would repeat our sport fishing drill. Fortunately this fish took a good bite of the lure and in a few minutes we had him aboard. All hell broke loose after that. We suddenly realized that we weren't actually prepared to catch a fish. We were so used to losing them at the transom that we didn't have any place to put it. After some frantic scampering around the boat Monique came up with a huge plastic bag and we officially "bagged" our first fish (I couldn't resist). Just as the first guy was in the bag, Cole yelled "fish on"."fish on the other line". We ran over to the other transom and this time we were prepared. We reeled him in and placed him in the bag with the other one. Monique took over from here and an hour later the fish were filleted and marinating (minus the sushi bits we ate along the way). By the time I was done cleaning up after anchoring, Monique had an outrageous meal prepared and I sat down to a two inch thick tuna steak.medium rare with soy and wasabi.are you drooling yet? I can't wait to taste what else Monique conjures in the galley with this bounty. We will post some more pictures when we get access to a broadband connection.

We will be hanging around Blanquilla while we explore the island for a few days.

COMMENTS:

Nonna

My goodness what an exciting experience! I can see your father's adventurous spirit in you, Monique! You hunt - me cook! Congrats also goes to Cole for alerting you on the second catch. Your freezer must be full of tuna steaks. Great fish story. Love ya, Mom

02 Oct 2008

Darlene Barkman

Save some for me! Great story to read today. Have been missing you guys, and kids keep checking scype to see if you have reappeared. Keep us posted with the awesome stories. I envision them as if we are all there with you! Love- Dar and the gang xoxoxox

03 Oct 2008

Erika

Hi Guys! This story really made me miss Monique's cooking...and of course your entire family! Miss you! Love, Erika

03 Oct 2008

Brian

Nothing better than fresh tuna!! You're next conquest shoudl be Mahi Mahi.. stop at the next floating log/piece of wood in the water and cast a lure, you'll probably find a few hanging underneath.. You're now coming to a ridiculously good fishing area in northern Venzuela, just outside Caracas, the port of La Guaira. There's an underwater peak that rises to about ~200' under water in 1,600' water, only 10 miles offshore. Teeming with fish... i've been many times. LaGuaira the port is "authentic" but I'm hoping you have better places to stop along the way.. Keep the hooks in the water!!!

07 Oct 2008

Jason

Finally a real fish on Zen, baby yellowfin, yummy. love to see it. Enjoy the adventure with the Fam, may the seas be smooth and the wind @ your back J & D

07 Oct 2008

Hey Norm - Los Testigos - Venezuela

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:19:24 GMT

Hey Norm!

I know there have been some gaps in our blog posts lately so I thought I would give you an update and let you know what happened. Part of the blog delay has been due to our children. They have been posting to their blogs with stories and pictures of our daily adventures (you can see their blogs by following the links on the right side of this web page ). They are writing well and with so much detail that Monique and I do not know what else to say. Oh yeah, that reminds me, did you hear about their Calvert homeschool grades?? We are very proud of our little crew members. We got their first quarter report cards with A's and B's for both students. It seems they are re-adjusting to the cruising life very well and not just with school. They pull their weight on the boat by cleaning and helping us parents with random jobs, both kids have become proficient with the dinghy (Cole has graduated to pulling scurfers and tubers) and they are making friends in every harbor.

Okay, sorry for getting side tracked, back to the "lack of blogs" issue. The primary reason is a phenomenon we call "growing roots". You see, if you stay too long in one place you start getting into a routine. As your day to day routine becomes more comfortable it somehow becomes harder to disengage. It's like living back home. You get up in the morning, you have breakfast, you go to the same school/work, you frequent all the same lunch spots, you shop at the same stores and you go home to the same neighborhood. It's all very familiar and comfortable. Well, two days ago we final broke free and sailed 90 miles from Grenada to a small set of Venezuelan islands named Los Testigos (I'll tell you about Testigos in a minute). Usually we do not have that issue on Zen. We like to keep moving, seeing new places and staying focused on making tracks over the horizon. Alas, it is easy to lose focus. There are people in Grenada that have been anchored there for almost 10 years. We call folks like this "live aboard" sailors, not "cruisers". Fifty percent of the boats in Grenada are live aboards. The most sailing they do is from the anchorage to the fuel dock and back. The final straw came last week when we walked into a local restaurant for dinner. As we walked into the restaurant we knew everyone. It was like Norm walking into Cheers. It was then that we realized we had been in Grenada way too long.

So here we are in the Testigos, back on the cruising track. It's one of many remote and beautiful spots we will visit on our way west across the Caribbean towards Panama. It's a pretty quiet spot with only a couple small settlements of fisherman. Most cruisers use Testigos as a rest stop on their way to more populated destinations. It's a very nice rest stop and the locals are extremely friendly. We are about 90 miles south of Grenada and 40 miles north of Venezuela. In a couple days we will jump from Los Testigos to another Venezuelan island. Not yet sure which one, we are watching the wind to see where we go next. In this geographic area the local political and economic issues also influence our sailing route. Venezuela is a funny place. For a country with such enormous oil reserves there is a significant amount of poverty and crime. You would think the residents of a country with such beautiful assets and valuable natural resources would be thriving. Not so. In this neck of the woods you need to be careful where you sail. Some spots in VZ are riddled with crime due to poverty. As you may have guessed we are steering way clear of all that. It's too bad. There are some beautiful spots we will have to avoid to stay safe. Maybe someday we will come back when the political and economic issues are cleared up in VZ.

That's all for now. We will update you as our adventures continue.

COMMENTS:

Birthday Gratitude

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 18:11:43 GMT

Birthday Gratitude

Celebration, overeating, preferably refined sugars, relaxation, contemplation and surprises....what am I referring to? Birthdays. Today was mine and I just kept saying, "This is one of the best birthdays ever. I loved the whole day." After spending a week away from Grenada on "vacation" in the Tobago Cays with some other cruising friends and their kids, it was back to the grind. The business items, including emails, mail retrieval, banking, visas, parts and inventory, provisioning....the list is long. It's like doing errands in the US, but with a watery twist. Everyone was thoroughly enjoying the Cays, but my nesting instincts wanted to get back to civilization. In the Cays, the only thing around you are a few little islands, 100 feet long, uninhabited and reefs. That's it. Beauty surrounds you, but definitely no grocery stores. Zen's freezer pushed us back to Grenada. Its contents were 1 loaf of bread, 3/4 lb New Zealand ground beef, some butter, and 2 whole chicken breasts. The stores were not much better with only 1/2 lb of linguine and a few cups of rice. No fresh fruit or salad. You get the picture. I needed IGA to calm my nerves.

Today, I awoke with my husband smiling at me and wishing me a Happy Birthday. Then, Cammi came and hugged me, showing me the hand-made anklet she made for me. Cole, my chef-to-be, was adamant about taking my full breakfast order and making it himself in the galley, which he proudly and successfully achieved. When asked, "What do you want to do today?", everyone who read the first paragraph of this blog knows what I wanted, groceries. Breakfast first, presents next, groceries subsequent, dinner out to finish the day.

Presents came from all over and thousands of miles away. I don't know how you all managed it, but I was giddy like a 10 year old (photo in photo gallery to prove it). Thank YOU to everyone who sent cards, music, videos, beauty products, hats, shirts and emails....I felt the love and well-wishes. At 9:45a, we zoomed across the bay via dinghy and joined about 20 other cruisers going to the big supermarket. Every Friday morning, based on the inbound food shipment schedule to the island, a mini-bus picks up boaters at a nearby marina, charging them about $4 round trip per person to/from Spiceland Mall. Being novices and with kids, our bus mates couldn't have been nicer. Today encapsulates what cruising folks are like: helpful, ready to give seasoned advice, never lacking in humor and utterly approachable. They were all that and more. We stocked up on as many things as we 4 could carry and took our loot on the return bound bus exactly 2 hours later. On the way home, we chatted about global politics, the price of diesel, and a cruising kid gathering scheduled for tomorrow. I love the US, I love Rhode Island with all my heart, but the chemistry and dynamic amongst sailors from all over this blue planet, when they come together, make me and my family, feel like a member of a tight knit community. All in a matter of a round trip bus ride.

My happy feeling continued as I contently washed every fresh item purchased (no bugs allowed on Zen) and pulled off every stitch of cardboard (roaches like to eat the glue). Hours later, it was all stashed, and I breathed a sigh of relief. We could drift out to sea at a moments notice but the crew would have 3 square meals. And speaking of meals, it was time for my birthday dinner. Back in the dinghy to Le Phare Bleu to be picked up by taxi. Everyone had smiles for me and birthday wishes...especially since the kids made me wear the "birthday hat" with a candle sticking straight out of the top. It was such fun and the guests and staff at The Beach House restaurant really ribbed me about it. The food was outrageously good. The security guard and owner of Le Phare Bleu had suggested the locale, they too treat us like old friends, and when we stepped out of the taxi, it felt like we were home. If you recall from a blog entitled "Rescued" , Amanda, our boatyard puppy, is living here w/a Swiss family. We even know the dogs. I am going to miss Grenada and its pockets of communities, on land and sea, that have adopted Zen as their own. It's hard to untie the lines and set off for adventure, but new horizons are abound and soon we'll join another group, the Someday Came crew (another cruising family from RI) who will be meeting us in Venezuela.

In the end, another year has gone by, but what a year to come. I am grateful, we all are. Today was a day to reflect, appreciate the small things, and be together as a family, all day, every day.

PS. The photo album "Fall '08" is brand new, take a peek.

COMMENTS:

Erika

Happy Be-lated Birthday Monique! We are so happy to hear that you has a wonderful day and that all is well on Zen. Miss you! Erika and Scott

Paul Giroux

Happy Birthday. I've been logging in at least once a week. Great blogs! I got the wife reading them too and hope to be doing what your doing someday. For now; time to get the boat ready for the winter :(

mary

Happy Birthday! Everyone looks healthy. Mary

Hiding in Tobago Cays

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:03:59 GMT

How's the Weather? Check out the storms coming across the Atlantic

Hi everyone, how's the weather?? See the picture and you can see what one of the weather charts looked like the other day. You can also see the red arrow that shows where we are right now. The storms have all tracked North by a few hundred miles so far. We are among thousands of other cruisers enjoying ourselves in the Southern Caribbean during this tumultuous storm season. The weather chart looks ominous but the weather down here is currently fantastic. Yesterday we decided to sail North, yes toward the storms, to the remote Tobago Cays. As you may have read in past blogs this is one of our favorite cruising locations. In the high season you may see 50 boats anchored in this remote little Caribbean paradise. Tonight there are only 2 other boats joining us. Now, you may say "sure Tom, they are the only other sailors dumb enough to sail North when huge storms are ravaging the entire Caribbean". The truth is that we are not really that daring. We are only 24 hours from Venezuela, where the big storms are very few and far between. We have constant access to excellent weather information and we keep a very close watch. If it looks bad we have several days of warning and can quickly sail to safety. That's all for now.

COMMENTS:

Bill Ganon - 08 Sep 2008

Don't be surprised to see Tom Brady on a nearby boat over the next 2 weeks. Blew his knee out in season opener! Safe travels as always.

Jason - 09 Sep 2008

Brady out for season. Getting some of the outer bands of Ike tonight, Mon 8th in Vero. Glad you are out of the weather, love to all from us

Lisa "G" - 09 Sep 2008

We have been anxiously awaiting your post and glad to hear that all is well. Blair and I read Cammi's latest entry together but Blair was wondering when Cole will post next? So glad to hear that you having awesome weather...hope it hold out over the next few days for a special someone's birthday...Love the Hornings

Still Hiding in Tobago Cays

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:02:26 GMT

Weather approaching. Nothing between Africa and Zen.

Just a quick blog to keep everyone posted. Monique took the above shot the other day when a front was approaching. This was the beginning of two days of 20 to 30 kts of wind and rain. The kids were a bit upset that the wind and rain came on the weekend but they have thier freinds (Nik and Tim) from Cataway to hang-out with. It's currently Monday morning and we have sunny skies for the beginning of the school week. Things started a bit slowly this morning but Monique has them on their toes now :)

We have a bunch of great pictures (some fun underwater shots included with some great sea life) to post when we reach an internet connection again. In the mean time we remain in the Tobago Cays for at least a couple more days. If anyone wants to reach us please use the email zensailing[att]ocens[dot]net. Remember, only text to this address.

COMMENTS:

NA

Prickly Armada - Prickly Bay Grenada

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:08:14 GMT

A harbor FULL of cruising kids!

Quick update. Zen is back in the water and has been for a few days. All repairs and maintenance done. Grenada Marine was great.

F or the first time, we sailed into a harbor that is PACKED with cruising boats. A few of them are friends of ours and from the photo (and more in the photo gallery) you'll know exactly what our kids have been doing for the past 48 hours. It's been non-stop, flips, wakeboarding, swimming and tubing with 6 other kids in the anchorage. They range in age from 9 to 16 and Tom calls them the "armada". There's a couple of German kids, 2 French Canadians, 2 southern US boys and then our 2 New Englanders. It's nice to see them all having a great time. More in future postings. :-)

COMMENTS:

Brian

just catching up on all the posts.. fantastic, amazing , exhilarating.. livin la vida loca.. sorry to hear you're on terra firma but i can think of few worse places to be... enjoy the GMT.. ya man.. keep the stories coming

Rescued - St Davids Harbor Grenada

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:10:17 GMT

Boatyard dogs...a special rescue

Harley, our 13-year-old Jack Russell, could not join us for our family sailing adventure. Currently, she's happily relaxing with Grandma, Tom's mom. She's got her own personal country club, daily walks in Florida, games of fetch and lots of local canine friends. Letting Harley stay behind was a difficult decision, where she'd reside, was not. We know she's utterly pampered and content with Grandma. Not having our family pet, has made us magnets for other local animals.

Cole has befriended a couple of geckos. Goats enjoy living underneath Zen's hulls while blocked up in the boatyard, comfortable in the large area of shade. Betty, however, has had the most impact on our family. She greeted us, along w/her brother, on the first day we stepped foot in St Davids Harbor. Since then, she's been named, fed, trained and can climb up a ladder to gain access to our transom. She had a ton of fun stealing one of Tom's shoes from the bottom of the ladder. Off she'd run with her booty, across the muddy boatyard. When called, she'd coming trotting back with the shoe in her mouth. Much to her dismay, the shoes are now lifted and protected from her games. She's about 3 months old. Fortunately, there's a caring South African live-aboard couple, a few boats down, who have been feeding Betty, her brother, Rhody (Cole's name for him) and Mamma. Another litter was not as lucky in the boatyard. Yesterday was their big rescue.

A Toyota Four-Runner with a pretty, blonde British woman, a friendly American sailor man, and sleek female greyhound-looking dog in the back seat drove into the boatyard. Cammi and Cole were feeding a couple of puppies underneath Zen. Cole had named one of them, Amanda. Jenny, the British woman, approached the kids, remarking on how much the puppies enjoyed the children's company and care. She informed them Amanda had been chosen to be "rescued". She was going to be neutered and treated, then delivered to the home of a local Swiss woman. After neutering over 600 dogs last year, in conjunction with the local University, Jenny has been deemed "The Dog Lady". Her Toyota 4-wheels into the most remote sections of Grenada, looking for new, ill, or malnourished dogs. The European medicines are quick and efficient compared to American standards for eliminating worms, ticks and fleas. The late British scientist/doctor who invented the wonder medicine was our hotel owner's father. Small community here in Grenada. The locals are very supportive of one another. Jenny is not only very giving towards the dogs. After hearing about her garden and giving me a little lesson on some of the indigenous vegetables, I found 3 HUGE bags of fruits and vegetables from her gardens on our boat at 8:00am. It was one of the most friendly gestures. I am still wondering what I should give in return...some of my homemade french bread? some pasta fagiole? a spinach pie? Not sure yet. The kids and I had agreed to be her "assistants" in regards to Amanda's sister, who is in need of daily oral medicine. Beyond anything else, it was a beautiful example of charity.

And how is the boat's progress? Zen's bottoms are painted, hulls washed and waxed. She has a new wind generator and the custom table will be finished tomorrow. But, we are awaiting some special zincs for our sail drives. They had to be obtained from the US. Unfortunately, they are causing a delay. We are hoping to see Zen floating again by Wednesday. Three or 4 days beyond our original plan. Not bad, considering we are all on GMT. Thankfully, kids have successfully navigated their first round of major homeschooling tests. No rescues needed for teacher or students. All is good here in Grenada.

COMMENTS:

Lisa

so many dogs are in need of rescue on the islands. So glad you all were there to lend a helping hand. Looking forward to your next post...Love The Hornings

26 Aug 2008

Kate

Spinich pie gets my vote!! I would do anything for one of your spinich pies!! Love all of you dog rescuers! XO Kate and crew

28 Aug 2008

Mary

That is so great that those rescue efforts are being made and that you guys are helping. another great home schooling unit for the kids as well. When everybody does thier little bit it helps an enormous amount.

GMT - St Davids Harbor Grenada

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:55:50 GMT

GMT vs RNT

Paint the bottoms, install a wind generator, build a custom table, fix the depth/wind gear....it's a list that is paramount to our world. On land, in a house, what tasks would compare to these? Hmmmm, refinish the hardwood floors, add ducted air conditioning, build a custom table, and fix the software in the thermostats (that were built in France and must be returned there for a tune-up). It's not too bad, but when it's all happening at the same time, in a world that works on GMT, it can be larger than life. GMT is a wonderful term our friends on s/v Cataway, the Reymann's, came up with: Grenada Maybe Time. Tom, for all who worked with him, know he works on RNT, Right Now Time. He's been haunting the marina workers, brainstorming with German metal engineers, adjusting specifications with French electricians and negotiating with Grenadian painters. You can just about hear the cacophony of boat techno lingo being flung about Zen. But, damn, that husband of mine is productive!

What are the 3 of us other crew members doing while all this is happening onboard? We spend the mornings cranking through 6th and 4th grade curriculum. Afternoons are varied. They include provisioning, swimming, befriending puppies and geckos, emailing, bill-paying, and reading.

Carnival was happening when Zen arrived in Grenada. The pictures are pretty clear as to the colorful display the locals gave to onlookers. Music was blasting out of speakers, dancers boogying down the streets and food vendors littered the sidewalks. We tried some local fruit, Skin-ups. Totally delicious and addictive. The afternoon was loud, fun and sensory overload. As we mazed through the crowd to meet our cab driver, we failed to find him at our planned meeting point. A rasta, sitting in a car, was kind enough to let us use his cell phone to call our taxi. After a little conversation, we learned our good Samaritan is a lead singer for an international reggae band in London, works as an EMT, and is a licensed air pilot. As we enjoyed hearing about his "story", he marveled at our journey to his native island. Great ending to our colorful day. Saturday was not so colorful. All we saw was white, with a stripe of blue, about an arm's length away. Team Zen attacked a major project full-steam-ahead. After 9 hours of "wax on, wax off", we cleaned the boat's hulls from top to bottom. Believing it was going to be a 2 day event, Tom and I were surprised to hear that Cammi and Cole voted amongst themselves and determined it would be condensed to one. True to form, it took all day, but Sunday we got the whole day off. After a lazy morning, we piled into the rental car and zoomed up to Belmont Estates. Learning about the 400 acre working cocoa and spice farm was fun and educational. Mostly, it was delicious since tasting the organic chocolate was included in the tour.

Then, it dawned on me, we've been living on Zen for a month straight. Chocolate cake is in order for such an occasion. The cake was a little lopsided, a little too warm for the frosting, but so darn tasty. As I awaited for the 2nd layer to bake, I read the cake box. Brownies....all you need is 1 cup of margarine, 1/2 cup of nuts, 1/2 cup of raisins and a cup of rum. Yes, rum. What kind of brownies do these islanders make? While Tom was in the marina today, he smelled the "other" brownie ingredient wafting out of the marina bar. Between the rum and the reefer, no wonder it's called GMT.

COMMENTS:

mary

Nice photo. Wow, a month already. Time is flying by. Miss you all, Auntie Mary

20 Aug 2008

send me some of those brownies sounds like the vessel will be tip top

20 Aug 2008

Lisa "G"

Missing you all and loving your stories. After a month, I can now read then without the constant welling up of the tears...Enjoy the GMT time while you can! PS just obtained passports for all so you will definitely be seeing us! Love, The Hornings

21 Aug 2008

Denise

Mops and en famille! Hi, How are you? Wow, what a trip, I am completely jealous. Hey I just got a new passport maybe I'll come and meet you along the journey. Good luck, I'll keep reading the blogs and checking in with you guys. Have a safe trip and I wish you nothing but calm waters. xoxo, D-

21 Aug 2008

Sparky Jan

Wow, you're adventure is SO incredible. Thanks for sharing your stories. My husband and I are going to retire on a cat in 3 years and we can't wait to start our adventure, too. God Speed... Jan 'Sparky' Garrett Sparks, NV

Tobagan Treasure - Tobago Cays Grenadines

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 02:41:37 GMT

Our favorite anchorage in the entire Caribbean

Barbados was great, but Tobago Cays kept calling, "Zen....Zen....come."

Winds favored our departure from the ritzy Port St Charles. A mere 10-15 knots blew us here, almost directly downwind, to our favorite anchorage in the entire Caribbean. There are tons of pics, but we are anchored in 7 feet of crystal clear water, behind a reef, with a few little uninhabited islands surrounding us...in other words, no high speed connection for Photo Gallery transfers.

When we cruised in 2001, we anchored here for what we thought would be a few days. It quickly turned to a few weeks. What is the big attraction? There's winds, coming right at us, down our hatches, blowing any insects into oblivion while keeping us cool. It's flat waters, giving beautiful views of sea turtles, manta rays, and the coolest fish with wings and "fingers".

And...there's no civilization whatsoever, except for a passing "boat boy" coming by with fresh bread, fruit or fish for sale from his colorful dory. There's time, and plenty of it, to get inspired, creative, or inventive.

This is what sparked the Tobago Treasure Hunt. After having enjoyed a star-filled overnight passage from Barbados, playing with our new Code-Zero sail for the first time, (thank you Kenny Read and the guys at North Sails Portsmouth...we love it!) you'd think a nap would be in order.

Tom, maybe over-tired and punchy, came up with a plan to keep himself awake for dinnertime. He hatched the idea of the Tobago Treasure Hunt. After 90 minutes of dingy trips, a few ziplocs, a hand-held GPS and some cryptic notes, hidden all over the surrounding 3 islands, he returned to Zen, sandy, sweaty and very ready to see our little pirates try to follow his trail.

The morning brought plenty of energy and ambition. Kids, armed with the GPS, started at the given waypoint and successfully hiked, traversed and swam their way to the list of ziplocked clues.

What was the big treasure, you might ask? We have a few buddahs on Zen, of course. One is a small 4" ceramic Buddah sculpture, purchased in Nantucket, that holds herbal oil. He is the boat's good luck charm. The winning pirate, Cole, gets temporary possession our lucky buddah until the next "Hunt".

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll stretch our stay for weeks. Weather is coming from Africa. There are conflicting reports. We may stay another few days, but it may be anchors aweigh Grenada-bound for some tropical cyclone protection. In the meantime, we'll float here in the outrageous turquoise waters eating the local treasures (lobster l'americana....think butter, sherry, tarragon, garlic...of course). As I've said before, "It's all about the food!".

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Cataway

Hi Zen, this sounds really niiiiccccceee! We are jalous - wish we had have to the time to join you! We are in Grenada, hich is nice, but your report sure beats ours! Hope to see you soon. Your friends from Cataway

11 Aug 2008

glad you all made some friends, both human and animal. Excellent posts, fun adventure, and true education where the classroom has no walls, We miss you all

11 Aug 2008

Carla Tedesco

Yes, I am jealous!!!! I remember that spot like it was yesterday. Grilled lobster, pasta, and don't forget the spa (exfoliation). Miss you!

12 Aug 2008

Erika

Sounds like you are having an amazing adventure! I absolutely love the picture that you posted with this...it is stunning. Miss you guys!

13 Aug 2008

Seth Lieberman

Looks like a fantastic spot- Tom you'll have to let me know the coordinates so we can follow in the future. I expect the fish you are seeing is a flying gunnard: http://www.marinecreatures.com/Flying-Gunnard-web9.gif Keep making folks jealous.

Bajan Beginners - Port St Charles Barbados

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:52:30 GMT

We are all beginners

Sensei Jesse, Cole's long-time karate instructor and family friend, says, "We are all beginners." How true that is. No matter how many times we've cruised, chartered or raced, when anchoring in a place you've never seen before, you are a beginner. As first-timers to Barbados, anchoring at 8 am after a 24-hour overnight sail from Marie Galante, Guadeloupe, we felt like amateurs.

Nancy and David Staples, friends from Newport, who also own a place in Barbados, made us look like pros, rolling out the red carpet treatment. We are grateful for their never-ending hospitality ranging from a list of local contact names as long as your arm, to a vehicle at our disposal and hooking us up with a world-class marina. "Thank you" just doesn't cut it.

Arriving on Monday, landed us here on a holiday. Normally, customs/immigration is closed for sure, but somehow, that list of Staples' contacts got us "beginners" through customs within an hour of our arrival. Hmmmm, go figure? Then, it gets better. Within 48 hours of arrival, I had my own personal physician making a house-call on Zen. Yes, Dr Mike Brown diagnosed me with a case of tennis elbow. No biggie. The biggie was watching him receiving patient calls on his cell while hanging out in our cockpit. That one goes in the record books.

"Stay left, stay left, stay left!" is the mantra we chant while driving in these islands. A surprise field trip landed us at the Barbados Animal Refuge. The park was amazing, teeming with monkeys, deer, turtles, jackrabbits and swarms of birds, all free to come and go as they please. None of them are caged, or afraid of humans, for that matter. We stumbled out of the park with a camera full of pix and a plan to return. Photo Gallery has been updated. The field trip didn't end there. A great dinner in town and top-notch live calypso music to boot. This island gets better and better.

Barbados is not an easy island to reach. It's located due east of Bequia, which is pretty much upwind from all the nearby islands. Bajans, the locals, know this fact and treat you with gracious hospitality, good service and delicious cuisine....and you folks who know our family, know for us, it's all about the FOOD.

The best part of today was being able to share a dinner with another cruising family, The Reymann Family (www.cataway.net). After a month of not seeing any cruising boats, we finally met Nicole, Mathias, Tim and Niklas. For a while, the only people who talked to us were folks we paid...a server at a restaurant, a marine specialist, a cab driver....you see the pattern. We wondered, "Do we stink? Should we take more showers? Is it our breath? Are we giving off bad karma?" In a boat named "Zen", I sure hope not.

Thankfully, today marked the day we hit the cruising circuit. It's the best part of cruising...beginnings of a new friendship.

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

great post, like I'm there. a little weather is always invigorating, happy your first was a quick , uneventful exercise.

04 Aug 2008

mary

Very exciting. Great description. I can just imagine. I agree with the kids. During a storm, go to bed and let Dad and Mom handle it!

04 Aug 2008

Bill Ganon

shorten the main, take in the second reef on the jib, harden up on the rudder? As a golfer, I take it you're hitting the fairways and making putts thus far!! ;-) All best, Bill

06 Aug 2008

darlene Barkman

Awesome post, Tom. Wish we were there to experience that one. Pete would've been all over it!! I know Zen won't let you down; you chose a perfect cat. Miss you guys! Thks for b-day message. Love, Dar

14 Aug 2008

tortor

hi! cool blog!!!!!!

15 Aug 2008

tortor+lulu

cam this is lu how are you ? how is the trip? hear is tor cammi help me lucys is shoving a mickey mouse ears hat around my head HELP!!!!!!!! love tor and lu

Weather - Marie Galante Guadeloupe

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:13:47 GMT

Tropical Weathr pattern in Caribbean - tropical wave brings lightning, squalls, thunder and rain

We have been writing a lot about our land adventures lately so I thought I would insert a little sailing entertainment for you.

We had an exciting sail from Antigua to Marie Galante yesterday. It's an 80 mile run around the Eastern shore of Guadeloupe, an easy day sail for Zen. We'll have breakfast in Antigua and be on the hook in Marie Galant for an early dinner we figured. Well, we nailed the beginning and end but, besides the outstanding dinner Monique whipped up when we arrived (what's new??), the middle part is what's worth writing about. This time of year the weather patterns in this part of the Caribbean are very similar to that of the US East Coast. The only difference is that the Tropical Waves (similar to the New England Cold Fronts) travel in the opposite direction, East to West. These Tropical Waves pack rain, thunder, lightning and blustery squalls. Once they blow through there is a 3 to 5 day period of 15 to 20kt Easterly trades. Two days ago a Tropical Wave passed over the area and we decided it would be a nice window for a leisurely day sail to Marie Galant. I watch the weather very closely. This is not a race, it's a family cruise and if the weather is not good then we don't go.

A little side bar for the sailors out there. This time around I decided to use a suite of software products from a company named Ocens for all our on-board weather (www.ocens.com). It allows me to download and display every kind of weather map/forecast you can imagine. They compress everything so it only takes a few seconds over our very slow satellite internet connection. It's like having a weather man on board. This is a huge difference from our last cruise back in 2000. No more futzing with the SSB to try and capture a barely legible weather fax. I simply click on the products (surface maps, wind/wave, text) and send a request to their server. In less than 30 seconds I have all I need to make a safe and informed weather decision.

Okay, back to the story. Sorry for the little commercial above but what do you expect from an advertising guy :). Now let me tie all this together for you. Ocens is great but let's face it I'm no Gary Ley (our trusted local weather guy back in RI) and sometimes a little "gotcha" sneaks through. The general prediction was spot-on. The wind speed and direction matched the forecast (15 kts from the E) and we started with a beautiful 8 to 9kt close hauled course towards Guadeloupe. The seas were still a bit boisterous from the passing Tropical Wave but we knew they would subside as we sailed. About half way between Antigua and Guadalupe I looked out toward the horizon and saw a HUGE gray thunder head. Hmmmm, I thought, probably should prepare for that one. Monique saw me gesticulating in the cockpit, saw the thunder head a couple miles dead ahead and said "you need help taking in a reef". We reefed the main and jib and hardened up on the runner. The wind started to pick up from 15 to 20 and auto (our autopilot steering system) was doing just fine. Then the rain began and the wind kicked up to about 30 and started to back. I took over for auto at the outside helm because I thought a little natural shower would be good for me and I wanted to take advantage of the wind direction. As I altered course the rain got harder and the wind started to increase again. Shoot, I thought, I should have gone to the inside helm...too late now, I'm already soaked. When the wind hit 45kts the rain hurt as it hit us and we were really hauling-the-mail...through the blinding rain I saw 14kts on the GPS. The seas had been flattened by the driving rain and Zen was humming along like it was born for this...solid as a rock and under complete control. At this point we had twisted off the main and taken in a second reef on the jib. We knew it was going to pass as quickly as it arrived so we didn't bother further shortening the main. I started to see sunshine through the pelting rain, oh good.I thought....just a little further. A few minutes later the wind started to drop and the rain was replaced by the rays of the sun. With the wind back down to about 15 kts it seemed like we were going backwards. The whole event lasted about 10 minutes. We shook out the reefs and kept going. The remainder of the trip was beautiful. After we passed the tip of Guadeloupe we turned to a broad reach and blasted at 9 to 10kts to the anchorage in Marie Galante. BTW...what were the kids doing during all the excitement...you may be asking? They were sleeping in the main salon and didn't even notice.

Final note.HAPPY B-DAY Darlene!!!!

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

great post, like I'm there. a little weather is always invigorating, happy your first was a quick , uneventful exercise.

04 Aug 2008

mary

Very exciting. Great description. I can just imagine. I agree with the kids. During a storm, go to bed and let Dad and Mom handle it!

04 Aug 2008

Bill Ganon

shorten the main, take in the second reef on the jib, harden up on the rudder? As a golfer, I take it you're hitting the fairways and making putts thus far!! ;-) All best, Bill

06 Aug 2008

darlene Barkman

Awesome post, Tom. Wish we were there to experience that one. Pete would've been all over it!! I know Zen won't let you down; you chose a perfect cat. Miss you guys! Thks for b-day message. Love, Dar

14 Aug 2008

tortor

hi! cool blog!!!!!!

15 Aug 2008

tortor+lulu

cam this is lu how are you ? how is the trip? hear is tor cammi help me lucys is shoving a mickey mouse ears hat around my head HELP!!!!!!!! love tor and lu

Stumbled Upon - Jumby Bay Antigua

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:00:52 GMT

Cole high-tailed it back through the gates to the best hiding place he could find...a large tree, leaving his family members holding the bag.

Another week gone in paradise. FedEx is holding us hostage in Antigua. They have our windsurfing board and sails. It was all supposed to arrive on July 15th. Ya mon, patience. We waited, and waited, and Falmouth Harbor, as beautiful as it is, got a little old, so we hoisted sails and took a weekend excursion to the northern part of Antigua.

Government must know Zen has troublemakers on board, they sent a huge war ship to escort us part of the way (see pic). Unsure of exactly which government was tracking us, we are having Jim do some research for us. Thanks, Jim! After giving the navy wide berth, our course was set for Long Island, Antigua.

Weaving up inside a reef, passing St Johns to starboard, with beautiful winds and flat water, feeling the 10-knots-boatspeed was exhilarating. A 4-hour sail turned out to be a perfect shake down for Zen. Couple of little things will make it to the "fix it" list, but overall, considering she sat on a mooring for 3 months, it was seamless. Only one other vessel, a chartered cat, w/French aboard, were in our anchorage. In just 6 feet of water, sandy bottom, and reefs all around, we found a new slice of paradise.

Ashore lies the Jumby Bay Resort on a 300-acre private island. It looked to inviting, so we got on proper attire, hit the dinghy, and went in to check out the resort (voted #1 in the Caribbean 2 years running....so they tell us). It didn't disappoint. The resort, recently closed for renovations, open only to the 15 local homeowners, has 1 restaurant serving lunch and dinners. And fortunately for the Burgess Crew sweet-tooth, desserts, too!

The resort was deserted and dark, but beautiful. It took a few minutes and a couple of wrong turns, but finally found the place and had the whole dining area to ourselves. The homeowners go off-island for weekend excursions, which is a good thing. "Why?" you ask?

The walk back to the dinghy dock, (did I mention it was dark?) was a bit convoluted, to say the least. A few more wrong turns later and we stood in front of a well-lit set of gates. Tom says, "Oh, this must be the way. We can cut through here to the dock." The Zen troublemakers all follow the leader. Down past an open-air foyer, with a fountain, and beautiful tiled floors, low-level ambiance lighting, we suddenly realized we stumbled upon one of the 15 owners' living rooms!

As their voices started to increase in volume, Cole high-tailed it back through the gates to the best hiding place he could find...a large tree, leaving his family members holding the bag. The remaining Zen burglars hustled quietly through the gates, down the manicured path, retrieving our "lookout" from behind his tree. We think we got away undetected.

Tomorrow's dinner reservations will bring new promise for other trespassing opportunities. Maybe we'll keep the dinghy engine running for a quick getaway.

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Darlene Barkman

Holy cow! What a Gladys moment that was. You left so quickly!! Missing you. Love, Dar

27 Jul 2008

Gramma & Harley

I love Cammi's blogs--good to get the children's take on your adventures. Hope the board shows up soon or it will take you 3yrs to do the trip!!! We miss you but we are happy. Mucho love to all, G&H

27 Jul 2008

Jim

I had nothing to do with the research for these directions...lol

28 Jul 2008

Adam

I am surprised you didnt stop in for a second round of desserts.

28 Jul 2008

Adrienne West

It sounds like you're definitely making the best out of a strange speed bump in the trip...very nice fam shot, too! :D

28 Jul 2008

"Lisa G"

Love the family shot! Sounds like some fun and excitement was what the crew needed! Love the Hornings

Channeling Energy - Falmouth Antigua

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:38:32 GMT

Keeping weight down on catamaran - books, books, books and a PSP

Channeling energy. We bring in the sun's powerful rays with our solar panels and convert it to battery juice, that flows through so many devices, it's hard to list them all. From recharging the iPods, chilling our food stores, lighting us up at night, and to powering our navigation station, we distribute the juice at regular intervals. After being onboard for a few days, I saw my kids as little battery packs themselves. Mornings brought full power, mid-day heat made them glaze over, and then evenings, post-dinnertime, they were topped-off again. On Zen, we aggressively manage the batteries and the energy they store. It's woven into our daily rhythm. For example, if I want to recharge my Mac laptop, it happens in tandem with the sun's rays, in the daylight hours. It's the same for just about any juice-hogging device....daytime. As you may have read in Tom's entry of "Weight and Sea", the younger crew members are blowing through books like mad...yes, both of them. If anyone from St. Michael's Country Day is reading this, they can see my smile from Newport. But, are piles of literature, I don't know if "Butt Zombies from Uranus" can really be called 'literature', a good way for them to expend all their stored energy? Normally, I'd say "yes" every day of the week. With homeschooling as a new blip on our radar screens, we decided, as a floating democracy, to start our school year and let their morning energy flow into the pile of textbooks we toted along.

Both students had plenty of energy at 9:00 am. One finished schoolwork at 10:30 am and another at 12:30 pm. Can you guess which was which? 4th grade first, and 6th grade second. Did the teacher have enough energy to direct the student-juice? I sure did! It flowed from one student to another. While one was self-directing herself, the other was hearing me read a history lesson, all ending with a culmination of a full-on science lab of sea water, salt, flour and olive oil (yes....extra-virgin). Being a homeschool teacher was something I was dreading and looking forward to at the same time. As long as I am armed with all the right books and page numbers, my little ever-ready-battery-students are off and running.

Today was a day of small adventures and big ones. Thankfully, the small one was homeschooling. The big one was Devil's Bridge. At around 4:00p, we were all finished with our chores and ventured to shore. The objective was to hike around a natural bridge near a reef on the northern side of Antigua. Dirt roads are common and we discovered a beautiful one overlooking Nonsuch Bay. Kids cowered in the backseat as we propelled up, down and around. It ended with volcanic rock and crashing waves. It felt good to reach our objective and enjoy the natural scenic vista. Family batteries were running low and did I mention we were on a small, remote, peninsula? Going on a hiking adventure means tank tops, sandals, and no need to shave. That's how we looked when we drove to the new, exclusive, resort called The Verandah and requested a dinner table. Eyebrows raised, shoulders drooped and heads wagged in disapproval, but in the end, they seated the Burgess Crew, who were way outside dress code. We stuck out so much that we caught the attention of the Property Manager, Cedric. He came by our table, which was discretely placed far from other guests, to introduce himself. He made us feel welcomed with engaging conversation that ended with a tour of the hotel property...anything to get us out of his nice, classy restaurant....just kidding! If you are looking for nice vacation spot, the Verandah should be on your short-list. After a pitch black ride of navigating narrow, winding, unknown roads, all the while chanting "Stay to the left, stay to the left, stay to the left", we parked Row and Don's island buggy in the marina and dropped our adventurous, battery-depleted selves into our dinghy.

Tomorrow is another day of energy.

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Kate

Who is the teenager with Cole??

24 Jul 2008

Gramma

Cammi & Cole--How do you like your new teacher?:) Sounds like you all are going to be Al Gore's new best friend w/ your wonderful harnessing of solar energy. Harley send a woof and a wag. xxx's to all

25 Jul 2008

B.J. Porter

Congratulations on getting out finally! We'll follow along vicariously for now; hope to get out there some day to.

25 Jul 2008

Auntie Mary

Sounds like a pretty good school to me. You gotta love hands on learning! I love to hear about the lessons. Amy and I both agreed that we've learned way more on the go than in a class room. Keep up the good work Cammi and Cole.

Weight & Sea - Falmouth Antigua

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:38:09 GMT

Keeping weight down on catamaran - books, books, books and a PSP

Tom here...Although the work list on a boat never ceases to grow we seem to have it under control, for the moment. The communications and weather systems are up and running, the engines and water maker have had their fluids changed and all the spares I picked up back in the States have been installed.

Fortunately we had a great person watching the boat during its 3 month stay in Antigua. If any of the cruisers reading this blog need a good place to leave your boat in Antigua, make sure you talk to Deon at Antigua Slipway. Zen was parked in Falmouth Harbor (John/Sea pony supplied the mooring) so Deon had easy access via dinghy. He visited the boat weekly and worked with a few local vendors to make sure some minor maintenance was performed while we were away. When we arrived Zen was waiting for us, cleaned top to bottom including all mooring gear that had been floating in the algae rich Caribbean water for three months, at the Falmouth Harbor Marina.

I was having nightmares about the dinghy rides back and forth to the mooring with the 19 travel bags we brought down for the final move aboard. BTW...to the annoyance of the rest of the family I broke out the scale before we left and made some minor adjustments to the contents of some of the bags. All-up we kept the total weight under 500 lbs. Got to keep the weight down on the multihull. The family refused to share the same tooth brush so I compromised on that one. Instead I cut them all in half...saved a few ounces on that deal...you have to watch the ounces and the pounds will take care of themselves!!

Cammi and Cole have already burned through 4 books. At that pace, let's call it 4 books a week for 12 months, the kids alone will churn through more than 200 books before we reach the next major shopping metropolis (New Zealand). Thank goodness for the new Sony ebook. Got to love technology! Now, for those of you who are thinking there could be worse problems (other parents and grandparents), don't get me wrong. I love the fact that our kids are devouring books and you can be sure that Monique and I will continue to encourage this trend but, as with all cruising boats, weight is the enemy on Zen. At best it slows us down and at worst it can make the boat unsafe in bad weather. Everything is a compromise. The bottom line on this topic...it is currently 8am and both kids are contently reading away. Wait a minute...scratch that, I just checked, Cole is not currently reading. As a few of you have probably already guessed, he is playing his PSP. Oh well, I had part of it correct, at least he is content...the book will surely come out when Mumma does her morning tour of the boat.

What's next? Who knows. We are watching a very active tropic weather season and trying to make some decisions on our next stop. Do we dive South and get out of the path of the next inevitable hurricane or do we take advantage of the incredibly quiet off season anchorages (and surprisingly beautiful weather...not as hot as we feared) and enjoy some time without worrying that some whack-job will be anchoring on top of us while we are off enjoying the Island. In any case, we have a close watch on the weather and Zen is fast. The boat is ready to go at a moment's notice and we are only two days away from the South American Coast. Hmmmm, stay tuned.

Guess what...Mumma is up! What do you think Cole is doing now? Hope you are laughing, we all are...even Cole.

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

darlene Barkman

I had the reading scene already played out in my head as I was reading your post. I am sure I envisioned it perfectly if I know Mumma! You know my vote is to stay put and chill, and blow outta there when necessary, but that's just me! Thanks for the great updates, and let Cammo know we LOVE the hair. Love, Dar

21 Jul 2008

Gramma

Glad to hear that you are all settled in and above all that Cole has read 4 books already.Loved his blog about Uranus.I opt to stay put til these trop.storms go away then grab the first window and go south.Harley says Woof to all. xxx's to all,Gramma

Hairdresser & Mechanic - Falmouth Antigua

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:17:00 GMT

Scissors and oil

Boat lives have officially started today. Tom put on his mechanic hat, changing the oil for both engines and inspecting our watermaker. Like all ocean cruising boats, Zen is equipped w/a salt water conversion system. He's accustomed to knocking these tasks off his lists.

M ine was a little more out of the ordinary. My 11-year-old daughter requested a haircut. She has such beautiful, shiny, thick brunette hair, which was professional coiffed only 3 weeks prior. But...after multiple polite pleas, I got the courage and the scissors. Here's the result. One more pic is in our photo gallery. Tom didn't take any photos of his old or new oil...ha ha ha!

Happy to be back on board!

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Kate

The do is awesome but I was hoping to see the old and new oil too!!! Visited Bruce today and all his new friends - all are well and happy and send their love!!! xo Kate

19 Jul 2008

Jim

Monique...you should become the floating hair stylist of the South Pacific...it looks great...

23 Jul 2008

Nonna

Loving the updates and pixs - almost makes me feel I am there and connected w/your daily lives. You guys are great communicators! Keep the news coming! Love, Nonna.

Back on Zen - Falmouth Antigua

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:58:46 GMT

8 carry ons and 11 checked bags

We (2 adults, 2 kids, 8 carry-ons and 11 checked bags) flew from Boston to Antigua yesterday. The excitement of getting out of the house and onto our boat was immense. The whole thing went off without a hitch. We'll now unpack, organize, start up boat systems and slowly get back into the boat-life we love so much. Hope all of you are enjoying the summertime with your families! Stay tuned for more of the Burgess Family Adventure.

Happy to be back on board!

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:
Kate

HOORAY!!! We are so happy to hear you (AND THE BAGS!) made it safe and sound!! Can't wait for the next installment! Love, Us

17 Jul 2008

mary

I'm totally jealous. Glad you made it safely. Miss you guys! mary

17 Jul 2008

Jim

YEAH...all of the luggage showed up! Miss you all...enjoy the journey...I will be living vicariously through the website.

17 Jul 2008

Bill Ganon

Boy, I didn't know the water in Antigua was so polluted! Bill

18 Jul 2008

Paul Giroux

Great to be able to watch you do this. Looking to do it with my family someday. Tom, if you need anything, I still get my discount at West. ha ha. Have fun, Paul.

18 Jul 2008

Adam

that looks painful. are you sure you dont want to come back to boston?.

Bon Voyage - Portsmouth RI

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:44:07 GMT

One week to go

Bon Voyage party consisted of beautiful weather, 75 people, many under the age of 12, two grills, two inflatable slides, sweet-tart necklaces and our 90-year-old grandmother in cognito. Pleasantly, at times, it seemed more like a reunion, than a Birthday/Bon Voyage party. A bunch of the pictures are in our Photo Gallery. Channel 10 News came to cover our departure from the "rat race" and entrance to the "simple life" at sea. They aired the story on the six-o-clock news. We hope to attach the video to our blog soon.

Won't bore you with the lists, but you can imagine all the stuff happening around here. Best story is Tom's quick 30 minute visit to the dentist for a routine cleaning...it turned into a multi-hour wisdom tooth extraction. He's still rinsing with salt water. He's fine and will be surrounded by plenty of salt water in a few days.

One week to go!

Birthday and Bon Voyage

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:
Darlene Barkman

Our crew is soooo ready for our time in RI...get ready, we're comin' home! Love the new pix- lots and lots of smiles. See you tomorrow! Love, Dar

06 Jul 2008

Tom Vanicek

Just saw your lead story on NBC 10. I love following sailing events and all of you are at the top of my list. God speed and fair winds, you have a new admirer (and follower!) in Portsmouth.

07 Jul 2008

Lisa Horning

Thanks for including us this past weekend. Jules and Blair can't wait to blog with Cammi and Cole and of course Andy will be following your every move. We love you all and wish you smooth sailing!

08 Jul 2008

Adrienne West

I ran across your sailblog accidently today. I was so intrigued by your story that I read every page. :D I send you and your family good mojo from Cranston, RI. May the wind be always at your back, Adrienne ______________________________________ "There is nothing -absolutely nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." -Ratty said to Mole in Kenneth Grahame's beloved 1908 classic, The Wind in the Willows.

Packed Schedules and duffles - Portsmouth RI

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:31:42 GMT

Jamming it all in

Strawberry picking, NYC, 2 recitals, many stage rehearsals, windsurfing lessons, sailing camp, sleep-overs and reunions. Can we possibly shove any more activities into our final few weeks on land?

School is over and everyone is counting down the days. Last minute orders have been placed for charts, books, software, and DC power cords to keep it all running. We have 2 big bags of homeschooling curriculum downstairs, 3 more duffles of gear, books, cords, movies, even the FlowBee...you name it, it's being packed.

Our schedules are as packed as our luggage, full of family, friends, business associates and well-wishers. Bon Voyage party is this weekend, our buddies, the Barkmans are coming in from PA to stay until our grand finale, and the flights will take us from Logan to Antigua.

Soon these logs will be submitted from Zen's navigation station. Can't wait!! Enjoy some new pictures in our Photo Gallery from the past few weeks.

Everything is packed to the brim, even the Jeep.

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:
Darlene Barkman

Our crew is soooo ready for our time in RI...get ready, we're comin' home! Love the new pix- lots and lots of smiles. See you tomorrow! Love, Dar

06 Jul 2008

Tom Vanicek

Just saw your lead story on NBC 10. I love following sailing events and all of you are at the top of my list. God speed and fair winds, you have a new admirer (and follower!) in Portsmouth.

07 Jul 2008

Lisa Horning

Thanks for including us this past weekend. Jules and Blair can't wait to blog with Cammi and Cole and of course Andy will be following your every move. We love you all and wish you smooth sailing!

08 Jul 2008

Adrienne West

Zen Crew is Blue - Portsmouth RI

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Sat, 31 May 2008 19:20:10 GMT

Field Day school spirit

Field Day....had to share this one. The grandmas will be so proud. Ha ha ha. Enjoy more Field Day photos in our Photo Gallery.

Love the sibling joy

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:
Adrienne West

these are truly the times you (as a family) will never forget. the friendship within family. the fun. knowing you can rely on each other. the adventure and thrill in life and celebrating that vibe together. You are inspiring. =) "The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails." -William A. Ward

Weeks not Months - Portsmouth RI

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Sat, 24 May 2008 19:13:23 GMT

7 weeks, Earth Class Mail - remote mail manager

You can see from the smile on my face, I am one happy mama! We are getting really close to departure from land life....7 weeks to be exact. But who's counting? The kids, who are counting down towards the last day of school, are very aware of the multi-meaning: end of school + end of land life + beginning of cruising life. When I asked if there's more they'll miss than what they're look forward to, I was happy to hear their adventurous positive responses. Good news, they are still grinning from ear to ear when talking about their future.

Our one-way plane tickets to Antigua (where Zen is moored) are purchased, the utility bills are routed to our property manager, our Bon Voyage party is approaching, Earth Class Mail will digitally handle all our paper mail, and our ever patient assistant, Jim, is ready to solve any problem for us while we are at sea.

No wonder we are smiling.

Count down smiles

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:
Jon Finegold

Happy Sailing! -The Frame Media Team

02 Jun 2008

Regina

I am so excited for you... I'm sure you're near to bursting at the seams!

One Step Closer - Portsmouth RI

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:52:15 GMT

Calvert Homeschool placement tests, pre-cruise surgery

A week ago, I hobbled (yes, my foot that underwent surgery is still in recovery-mode) up and down the stairs at home to monitor my two students while they took their Placement Test for Calvert Homeschooling. Due to our July departure, we needed to administer the test prior to the completion of their school year. Calvert warned against this, but knew we had no choice. A call came in on Tuesday putting all my worries to rest. Both Cammi and Cole matriculated to the next grade. We officially start 4th and 6th grade! Congrats to my kids and to their teachers over the years. Today, Calvert's website will receive payment and the kids will become homeschoolers.

The skipper had a wonderful week, too. Tom's back working for a large VC firm in Boston as an EIR, entrepreneur in residence. As he beefs up his resume, he also beefs up his muscles at the gym. One such muscle rebelled. Call in the big needle of cortisone. Tom went from needing my crutches to Superman overnight.

I am quickly checking off items: meeting with Property Mgr for our home, phone call with our Mail Manager in Oregon, and financial management meetings. Management overload! At one point last week, I was in the car, driving the kids to all their after-school commitments, for 5 hours straight. That is one chore I do with a smile but am not going to miss.

Last week I felt very connected to my new life. Two sailing women, Kathy Tillman (of s/v Someday Came) and Jennifer Spring (of s/v Safari and Aquila) reached out to me. Kathy, who's currently sailing in the Caribbean and is from RI, went out of her way to check up on Zen. She sent the photo from this week's blog from Antigua. We already have floating good neighbors waiting for us. Jennifer saw our blog and emailed me. She runs the Tall Ships event in Newport and we met for coffee. She and her family, also 2 kids and a hubby, are making their plans to start a cruise next year. The new web of friends is forming...the ones that last a lifetime...right, Don?!

Zen happily waiting for us in Antigua.

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Shorter Days, Longer Lists - Portsmouth RI

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 18:27:43 GMT

Typhoid, yellow fever, Volvo Ocean Race and Calvert Homeschool

How exactly are we going to bring all this stuff to "Zen"? Our pile of boat-supplies, currently accumulating on Tom's office floor, is gaining in real estate. Counting down the days until we leave is fun, but the list of "must haves" seems to be elongating. Since the boat is in Antigua, we'll be flying all this stuff down w/us. The big items have been checked off: medical kit, doctor visits and vaccinations. The Yellow Fever and Typhoid, the Hep A and B, and let's not forget Tetanus and Malaria pills are all administered and/or ordered. Now, my big anxiety, is to administer the Placement Test from Calvert Homeschool.

Both the kids will take a test to figure out which curriculum should accompany us in July. There's lots of customization, but basically, all I want is Cole to learn 4th grade and Cammi to master 6th. We've begun Rosetta Stone French.... ce bon! A guitar, or two, and a keyboard are now on the "List". We hope someday to share a sibling song on the blog, but in case it's not pretty, we have a large supply of earplugs onboard.

It's starting to finally feel "real". We're getting flights nailed down and planning our goodbye weekend. Meetings for financial and property mgt are taking place and mail is being rerouted. Skype will be a new form of communication we'll test out and I am downloading as many things as I can to supplement studies onboard.

It's weird receiving emails from our friends in Antigua describing how Zen is faring without us in Falmouth. Sitting pretty w/fair winds. A joke from Don on "s/v Persuasion" about the Arabs cooking goat in our heads was hysterical. Some other adventurous cruisers from RI are on "s/v Someday Came". They have been emailing w/us and making us feel like we already have a floating welcoming committee awaiting us in the Caribbean.

Today, walking around at Newport Shipyard, was a very "salty" event. Seeing Puma, a multi-million-dollar Volvo Ocean Race boat, being lowered into the water for the first time, set off strong emotions in all of us. The 4 of us congratulated our friends, the Read Family, on the official beginning of their fast trek around the globe. We reconnected w/sailing friends and marina workers who helped us while Zen was in RI. Now, it's only 2.5 months away from our watery trek. Since our first cruise, we've spent 7 years on land. Wow, I look at the kids and they reflect how much has happened. Today, Cole and a friend sang a capella at a school talent show audition and Cammi performed Swan Lake with the state ballet company. Yup, they've gotten so big. Maybe the reason why our boat list is getting longer is because our crew has elongated as well. But, the fun is bigger too!

Keep in touch, we love all the notes and well wishes!

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Swells - Mamora Bay Antigua

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:53:23 GMT

Virgin Gorda to Antigua - first mate w leg cast

"Everybody off the dock." states David our dockmaster here at St. James Club in Mamora Bay, "A major swell is comin' through and it's a big one."

The waves are breaking over the entrance and surfing into the bay would be a wild ride. After lucking out with the northerly winds for our overnight ride on the Sombero Passage, from Virgin Gorda to Antigua, we can't complain about the swell. We departed the Bitter End at 10:30a and arrived in Antigua at 5:30a after 185 miles passed under our hulls and a moon shone above our sails. Having a leg cast hanging off my left foot, we opted to saddle up to the dock in Mamora Bay, making it easy for me to get on and off the boat and allowing our visiting family members on land to access Zen. However after just one day, the weather off the East Coast of the US stirred up a low pressure and built waves that have set a 40 year record here in the islands. The monohulls in our anchorage are certainly rocking, but not gunnel to gunnel. This is such a wonderfully protected cove. And Zen, well, she's barely swaying, just enough to lull us into "vacation mode".

As we sit here listening to The Black Keys blasting on our stereo (thanks, LJ!), watch the rolling puffy clouds overhead and get ready to dingy ashore to cheer on the kids in the resort's Aqua-Olympics, we are ever grateful. And YES, we would love to have you here with us enjoying this perfect ocean moment.

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Erika Magilton

Harley and I wish we are on the boat with you too!! Though she is enjoying her naps with Stella, romps on the beach and chasing the cats constantly!!

22 Mar 2008

Jim

Sounds like you are having a great vacation...Happy Easter...Jim, David and Max

27 Mar 2008

Regina

I can't wait to be back traveling on the water!! svserendipity.blogspot.com

20 Apr 2008

sophie and anna from antigua!

hey cammie and family great video. i enjoyed watching it !!!! travling on a boat everywhere looks really fun. thank you for sending me the picture of me and cammie. love sophie and anna xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Video At Sea - Tortola

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:13:55 GMT

Video at Sea

Cooking along at 12 knots on way to Tortola

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Mark Fahey

Placid seas are no fun!

12 Mar 2008

John

that was a slow day...

22 Mar 2008

Jim

AWESOME...hope to get on Zen some day...

Tacking - Trellis Bay

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 01:57:21 GMT

Lameshur Bay, Jost Van Dyke, Soper's Hole & Trellis Bay

We've been everywhere...and then some. After Puerto Rico, we moved east to Lameshur Bay (catching our first fish while underway-Cole gets credit for hollering "fish-on!"). What a beautiful, calm location! It was just us, and the turtles, sting rays and sharks, nurse sharks that is. After some fun snorkeling, we did a little hike and enjoyed the vistas. We learned from a local, who was an "old salt" volunteering for the Park Service, that Lameshur Bay was originally the training center for the first astronauts. An underwater community was assembled to simulate cramped space travel.

After years of reminiscing about a fateful night of New Years Eve anchor-dragging on Jost van Dyke some 18 years ago while chartering a huge Morgan sailboat, it was time to face our demons again. Off we went, blasting through the island chain, across the Sir Francis Drake Channel and straight on at 10 knots toward White Bay, JvD. It was a tight anchorage, loads of head boats, charter vessels, megayachts and anything else that would float. But, we pulled up the daggerboards and found some real estate, hook secure, and we started thinking about one of the many places ashore for dinner.

It was a great couple of hours watching phenomenal anchor follies, but as the day wore on, so did the ocean swell. Boats in front of us were rocking from gunnel to gunnel as the waves picked up and gained fetch over the shallow reef. Kayaks were surfing them w/glee. Finally, a "Cap'n Ron" came in w/some paying day customers on his sloop. After abandoning his dragging vessel, while it ran into a huge skippered catamaran, he re-anchored only a few feet from us. That was the tipping point. It seems Jost would continue to hold its lure over us, never a dull anchorage.

Tom started scanning the nearby bail-out harbors, while I scanned Cap'n Ron and his hunk-o-junk swinging a foot away from us. Thinking we'd arrive in Soper's Hole at 5:00 pm with all moorings taken, it turned out to be fortuitous timing instead. One mooring, just for us!

Dinner was ashore, followed by another family movie night (a new tradition loved by the kids especially) and all was forgotten of our whirlwind day.

Today, we enjoyed the thrill of tacking up Sir Francis Drake Channel in 30 knots of apparent wind. No boat was safe from our race zone. Zen was smooth with one reef in the main and one in the jib. She was moving through 100 degrees and never dropping below 8 knots in a big choppy sea. At many times we were over 9 or 10 knots and it became difficult to find a contender.

The full length of Tortola was completed in 3 hours flat. Our "prize" at the finish line, Trellis Bay, was witnessing a pair of monster-sized manta rays soar completely out of the water, flap their wings, and then dive back again. It was such a crazy sight, I yelled to Tom "What the hell kind of swimming bird was that?"

T rellis Bay was a blast from the past. It's an artist haven; pottery being made before your eyes, handmade baskets and the infamous woodcut printed shirts. We were here w/Uliad in 2000, and it was just as good the 2nd time around. Maybe better! The Last Resort Restaurant is home to this ridiculously talented chef from Portugal. Best meal we've had ashore, hands down. Tomorrow is laundry, watermaker pickling, and full cleaning before we head out on Monday. Eh...I'm not whining...it's all fun work when done under the sun, in the tradewinds, w/family only 48' away.

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Zen

Yeah Mon, cool runnings. From one Zen to another... fair winds

Liquid Pixie Dust - Culebrita Puerto Rico

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 01:43:58 GMT

Liquid Pixie Dust

The entire trip has been fantastic but the past couple days were particularly interesting to me so I'm giving Monique a break from the log so I can write a few lines. Before I get rolling I need to say that although we've only been on the boat for 11 days it feels like we never left. The biggest difference is the kid's independence and significant participation. Back in 2000 they were passengers along for the ride, this time they are partners in the adventure and it makes a big difference in our day to day life. There are so many things that I could tell you about how they've impacted this trip but I think I will save that for another time. Let's just say that the family really clicks when we are all together on a boat and there has been a lot of laughter and camaraderie over the past two weeks.

The past couple days could be scenes right out of a movie. Last night we swam under a moonless sky in a cove so thick with bioluminescence that Tinker Bell would be jealous (see details below) and today we splashed around in a natural hot tub formed in the rocks and then we hiked a trail on a tiny island that lead to a secluded little cove with bright white sandy beach and coral blue water that had crashing waves just begging you to jump in and start body surfing. Okay, so we skipped the body surfing part but I was thinking about it when we were standing on the beach and I bet you can picture the kind of spot I'm talking about...right?

So, what the heck was that reference to Tinker Bell all about? To be honest it is kind of hard to explain. It's one of those "you had to be there" kind of things but I will do my best because it was a once in a lifetime experience. Cole even tried to bottle some of the water to show his friends back home (much to his dismay it didn't work). It started off with a short paragraph I read in one of our cruising books. The author briefly mentioned a little cove on the South side of a relatively unknown Island near Puerto Rico named Vieques. This particular cove, Puerto Mosquito, caught my attention because the author mentioned the extraordinary bioluminescence that occurred on moonless nights. Just so happens we are in the phase of the moon that fit that description so we charted a course for Vieques from St. Croix. The cove is so small it was barely recognizable on the chart and we couldn't even see the entrance until we were 100 yards away. The channel was about 50 yards wide and only 5 feet deep but it was very protected and we slowly slipped our way down the small channel and into a wide open mangrove lined cove about half the size of Newport Harbor. Not surprisingly, less a couple local fishing boats, we were the only boat in the entire cove. We anchored in about 9 feet of water and waited for the sun to go down. At about 9pm I jumped off the back of the boat and the water exploded with tiny glowing liquid pixy dust. Now I'm not talking about the little glowing trails you see sometimes at night in Narragansett Bay, I'm talking about a complete illumination all around me as I swam. It was so unreal Cammi spontaneously jumped in after me. She never swims at night and now she was splashing around and laughing uncontrollably. Cole pulled out a couple of his huge water guns and started shooting glowing water spouts off the back of the boat. We were laughing like idiots and splashing around like lunatics for about an hour. This was one of those experiences we will all remember for the rest of our lives.

-Tom

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Happy New Year - St Croix

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 01:36:51 GMT

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! And it's starting off with another sailing adventure. "Zen" zoomed over from St. John to St. Croix in about 2.5 hours. It was a rockin' ride.

A 2nd reef was taken and only a small portion of the jib was flying. As Tom said from his ride from Newport, "She gets in a groove and steers herself." Very true. Kids found a little dry zone on the back deck and then slept in the saloon for an hour or so.

Our anchorage in Christiansted, open to the Caribbean Sea except for a small patch of reef, is not our favorite. But the town is lovely and so unique. Our first phone call upon arrival was to my old friends, The Giorgini Family, who live here part time. They picked us up yesterday and gave us a day that is already considered a highlight of our vacation.

Mrs. G, waving atop a little hill, was a warm sight. There's nothing like old friends. She brought us to a resort near Green Cay where we met her family, Anj, Nick, their two little girls, Gianna and Gioia, and Mr. G. Everyone enjoyed great conversation over lunch and then stepped onto the palm fringed beach to play w/the kids and catch up some more.

Cammi and Cole loved hearing stories the Giorgini's told of dad and mom when they first met and chartered in the islands w/Lisa Giorgini. Mr. G, accustomed to a daily call from his daughter, who was now absentee on a ship w/some random 24-year-old skipper, laughed heartily as he recalled phoning the Coast Guard on us over 18 years ago. Remembering our Gulati/Giorgini Christmas was also a fond topic of conversation. And the list goes on.

The kids took to the water, Cammi carrying and playing with Gianna, while Cole discussed the origins of grayish sediment with Anj. When we finally got back to "Zen" around 6 pm, the kids kept repeating what a great day they had. We hope to spend Thanksgiving w/them next year.Lisa.you are booked!

Today, we'll start off 2008 with a 3 hour sail to Vieques, an island off of Puerto Rico to experience a rare luminescent lagoon. After that, we hope to return to Culebrita for a night, then over to Jost and finally, Tortola. It's funny how many more destinations we can easily reach with a multihull beneath us. Keeps many options open. I love that.

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Kate

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! St. Croix is a beautiful island and has lots of happy memories for us as well! So glad you were able to get together with Lisa! Slather on more sunscreen and enjoy the rest of the trip! We will be heading to the beach today too - but to watch the polar bears!! Don't think I will have my flip flops on!! Love you! Kate, John and Thomas

01 Jan 2008

Lisa Giorgini Horning

Happy New Year to you all! I was well informed of your awesome visit by my dad immediately after you all parted ways. "Lovely" and "fascinating" were just a few of the words used over and over in the conversation. "Jealous" and "envious" were two words rattling around in my head as he went on and on about your wonderful visit. Oh, how I wish I was there! and I will not miss Thanksgiving 2008! Your visit was a highlight for my family and I was so glad to hear that many stories were shared. Happy New Year to you all. Safe travels and I'll see you soon. Love, Lisa

03 Jan 2008

Darlene Barkman

As I sit here in 20 degree weather (3 degrees with the wind chill), I, too, am envious! What a wonderful way to ring in the new year. Loved the picture. Kids are badgering me to plan a visit to RI when you return. Love to everyone. Love, Dar

Happily Anchored - Anegada

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 01:24:05 GMT

Happily Anchored in Anagada

The new anchor is down and seriously doing its job. I had to power forward for fear of it ripping the windlass right off the deck. As we sit with coral reefs 3-quarters around the boat, we're back to the life of cruising we left a few years ago. The passage from Virgin Gorda to Anagada is 15 miles. We were here in 1 hour and 15 minutes. It was nuts! Tom said, while were cookin' at 11.5 knots, "Hmmm, feels like we are going kinda slow." He and "The boys" must have really rocketed down here from Newport for him to be saying that, don't you think?

After passing a bunch of other boats, we finally just giggled. It's like we got our own toy from Santa. And speaking of St Nick, he successfully found "Zen" and her "Christmas tree" of white lights yesterday. The kids were up at 7am and the parents were down by 8:15a for a nap. Grin! Lots of smiles and surprises. After a day at Bitter End, we went to Saba Rock Resort for dinner. We befriended a family from St Louis the night before and saw them again on Christmas. The subject of "The Pursuit of Happiness" , the lesson of hard work and gratefulness was discussed and felt by all.

Paradise, family and teamwork makes for a beautiful holiday. Some huge fish swam just a few feet from our dinner table, captivating sight. After dinner, as the moon rose so brightly it resembled the sun, we dinghied back to "Zen", taking it all in.

The kids are learning innumerable boat rules while also enjoying new found freedom. Every meal onboard is cleaned up by Cammi and Cole. Cleaning is not all that simple. Scraping food overboard, conserving water, and adhering to a system is mandatory. Not having a full time chef, at-the-ready is a new concept. Both, especially Cole who cooked his own egg sandwich, have learned to cook for themselves. Appreciating the use of propane, the time to clean, etc makes for very pliable palettes. What originally rec'd a turned up nose, is now being accepted without a 2nd glance.

T he kids have also discovered they can watch a movie, after figuring out how to use the inverter or DC outlets, into the late evenings, well past their parents' bedtime. Totally different than home! It's all a compromise, I guess. No matter what, the photo shows exactly how things are going w/our crew members.

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Jim

Sounds this is the best gift Santa could bring you...enjoy

27 Dec 2007

darlene Barkman

I am peaceful just reading these posts! What a loving holiday you have just spent together. We miss you more than anything, and this brief window of your life to come is so exciting. Starting to plan where we will meet. We love you, we miss you, can't wait to see you!! Merry Christmas and it WILL be a Happy New Year! Love, Dar

27 Dec 2007

Gramma

My thoughts are w/ all of you all day every day. I am so happy that you are having such a wonderful Christmas. Sounds as tho Cammi and Cole are quickly becoming a great crew. Little dog is curled up beside me as I write this.It's snowing AGAIN.!!!! Pray for us all here in the Northeast. xxx,Gramma

28 Dec 2007

Kate

Chef Cole!! Love that idea!! Hope he is cooking for his dad! Everyone here is very relieved that Santa found you all.....keep the posts coming. We are living vicariously through you! Miss you tons and cannot wait to see you! Love, The Dunns

29 Dec 2007

John

Only 11.5 knots?????? Get the lead out Tom! sounds likes its going well, just booked my own tickets for Hieniken Regatta in March. I cant wait to be back down there. Back to work next week in the Pac-Northwest... I'd rather be sailing JD

29 Dec 2007

Kate

Getting ready for the BIG GAME!! Got beat Peytie-Pie's baby brother! Thinking of you and wishing we were together for the game!! Will send the scores by email!! Love, The Pats Fans in RI

31 Dec 2007

Kate

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! All the best for 2008!! We miss you! Love, Kate, John and Thomas

Christmas in BVIs - Virgin Gorda

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 01:14:06 GMT

Christmas in BVIs

"Zen" is happy and moving. Her family arrived and immediately took her out "for a walk". And I do mean "immediately". Within 15 minutes of getting onboard, we had her off the mooring and motoring towards Nanny Cay Marina for a quick haul-out.

Our saildrives needed a new seal and the oil was replaced. The job was straightforward, but the best part was the experience our kids had. Within 3 hours of landing in the BVIs we already had our first "local friend". Zoia, a West Indian girl, shared her culture w/Cammi and Cole and invited us to her school play this week.

After "Zen" had some new juice, our first anchorage of the trip was Norman Island. Renowned for it's rich pirate history, it didn't disappoint our crew. The Caves were snorkeled in the AM and our next local family was encountered. "Sonny", a beautiful 70' Empacher designed monohull (same designer as Uliad, our 1st cruising boat), was chock full of great people, and a cool dog, Carolina. The owners are from CT, and the crew is from St John USVI. Able, a 13-yr-old homeschooled boy, is the 1st mate/chef's son. He was another window into the future for our children. He and his mom, a teacher and lifelong cruiser who turned me on to another homeschooling option - Oak Meadow, came over to "Zen" that night for "Movie Night". Hearing the kids cracking up in the salon while we chatted on the back deck, was the picture of what cruising is all about to us. As Sara and Able motored away in their dinghy, we promised to overlap this holiday in the BVIs and again in Portsmouth, RI, when they bring "Sonny" up in May.

Getting here was an adventure. Luggage was lost, passports were expired and packages were floating somewhere between USVIs and Tortola. Passports, you ask? We would never have believed it, but we obtained new passports for our kids within 5 hours. No joke. Tom loves to gripe about flights, having been on a hundred too many over the past 6 years. Thursday morning was no different. Arriving at Logan Airport at 6 am was fun, even more so when we were turned away at the American Airlines counter for 2 expired passports. Yup, Cammi and Cole were going nowhere fast. We assumed, yes, go ahead make the slur, they had 10 year jobbers. Wrong. Kids last only 5 years. Off we trotted to Kinkos at 7am for passport photos, birth certificates were faxed there by our savior, Kathi Dunn, and then off to beg at the Boston Passport Agency. As I hobbled in w/crutches, long story, in the snow, with carolers singing in the lobby, we gleefully got through the system with our updated flight tickets. Snow was falling hard and the palm trees couldn't come quick enough. American put us on the next flight, didn't scalp us for change fees, and we left Boston bound for Puerto Rico.

Back to Norman Island. Wind was non-existent when we awoke in the morning. Very rare this time of year when the Christmas Winds are usually in full swing. We motored back to Penns Landing and picked up our mooring, rec'd our lost luggage and a few newly found packages. Only missing our new snorkel gear. All in all, not bad. Minus only one box, we departed Penns Landing with the Baths in our crosshairs. Virgin Gorda is the epitome of paradise. The Baths, huge rock caves, boulders and lagoons formed from volcanic activity, were scampered over with excitement and discovery. Cole could not contain himself. He's small enough to slither through the smallest crevices. Only Cammi, the graceful one, came out with a few cuts and bruises. Everyone loved it. Afterwards, it was game time. We landed at Bitter End in Gorda Sound and planted ourselves at the pub to eat dinner and watch the Patriots stomp all over the Dolphins. Perfect way to end the day!

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Kate

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!!! So happy to hear about the adventure so far! We miss you and wish we were there!! Oh, was I supposed to say, wish you were here....heavens no!! Flipflops for Christmas is my idea of heaven!! Thinking of you all - love you all!! Kate , John, Thomas and the northern crew!!

25 Dec 2007

mary

Hi all, I just had a flashback of how Dad/Grampa would have reacted about the expired passports): Oh well, the journey had to be somewhat exciting. Sounds like it was worth it. Harley is doing great with Pete. She keeps up with him very well. Lot's of toys for Christmas for them. Have a great time! Jump in the ocean for me...Love, Auntie, Mary

25 Dec 2007

Jim and David

Merry Christmas...we are jealous of the weather...enjoy the downtime...we will see you in 2008...

30 Dec 2007

Nonna

So glad to hear from you! Also that Santa arrived safely. Can't believe kids had expired passports. Hope you are staying off your feet, Monique and the crew is realiy helping. Able to write this as I am watching the Patriots / Giants game at Bud's. We are down by 5 pts. at the half. Hope you have a Happy New Year and an uneventful trip back. Love, hugs and kisses, Nonna xxxooo

5 More Days - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 01:03:54 GMT

5 More Days

Where are those scampering kids? Where is the big guy? And the little wife? Zen is pondering these thoughts as she waits another 5 days for our arrival in Tortola.

While she floats calmly on her mooring, her family is celebrating the holidays in costumes! Cammi (3rd time) and Cole (first time) are performing in Festival Ballet's "The Nutcracker" at Providence Performing Arts Center this weekend. It's been remarkable, making the holidays magical.

We hope the magic and wonder of the holidays are in full swing for you and your family. Wishing you peace and joy!

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Auntie Mary

You guys look awesome! Sorry I missed it this year. Your cousin Amy is back from Africa so I was spending some time with her. Have fun on Zen. We'll take good care of Harley. Love, Auntie, Mary

Best for Last - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:54:51 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Best for Last

Okay, sorry for being a day late on this final post. We nearly pulled an all-nighter to finish the trip and we needed some down time. We have arrived!!

It seems the wind gods saved the best for last. The final day sailing was nothing short of magnificent. We were on a beam reach with beautiful sun throughout the day and carried that tack in diminishing winds and seas throughout the evening guided by a bright white (nightlight) moon. We matched the subsiding wind and seas with increased sail area and maintained speed finishing our final day with 209 miles. As we approached Anagada, the northern most island of the BVI's, we came across the first sailboat of our trip. They hailed us as we approached from behind.

Get this small world moment...it was the boat that was docked next to us in Newport!! They left a couple days ahead of us and we miraculously passed them within 1 mile of our mutual final destination, the BVI's. Nice folks. Anyway, we decided to stop at the first inviting harbor and the moonlight made the entrance to Virgin Gorda's North Sound painless for the exhausted crew. We found an empty mooring off The Bitter End and called it a voyage!!

Now, it's one thing to arrive in paradise on an airplane. You step on the plane in your wintery home town and several hours later you are baking in the sun. It is quite a different thing when you sail for 7 days feeling every degree of climate change as the hours and days pass.

Note: You were thinking my next comment was going to be about the great sense of accomplishment completing such a voyage. The fact is that it is somewhat anti-climatic. You arrive in the same weather you have had for the past several days and all you want to do is sleep on a motionless bed!! In fact, the most satisfying thing is to drop the hook and shut down the boat. Hold on now, the story has a very good ending but please bear with me as I go on a little rant.

Secretly, I always take a moment to thank my boat for delivering me and my crew/family safely to our destination, no matter how long or short the trip may be. Yesterday was no exception. Zen performed flawlessly and yes, Mom, as you wrote in one of your blog comments, I guess I am somewhat like a proud parent. Zen has definitely earned a spot in the Burgess clan.

Okay, sorry for the rant...back to the end of the story. The fact is that the elation and sense of satisfaction comes the day after you arrive. It hits you square in the face as you awaken to a very different situation from the past several days. Your world is quiet and very calm, there is no cranky crew member shaking you from your dream of wrestling a washing machine (due to the ambients sounds of the smashing waves and whipping wind...get it...anyway) and you think for a moment, hey, I could roll over and go back to sleep!! That's exactly when it hits you...bam! Your eyes pop open and like a kid at Christmas you jump from your bunk and hustle up on deck to drink in paradise!!

Everyone is different at that point. Some sit down and just stare, others jump in the water and swim around in circles and finally others acknowledge the fact that you have arrived and begin cleaning the boat that so graciously carried you through the rigors of an ocean voyage (we had one of each...I will let you guess who did what). No matter how you spend those first few moments, the feeling is the same. Great satisfaction and pride in your accomplishment. What a great trip!!

Thanks to all of you for the fun comments on the blog. I hope you will join us again on the next chapter of this voyage. Zen will remain in the islands under the watchful eye of a boat management company until the the rest of the Burgess clan joins her for Christmas vacation. In the mean time feel free to check back for some more updates. Upon my return I will be posting some videos of the trip.
Cheers,
-Tom

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

CiCi

Hi babe, nice to see you're getting your sleep now, cause while you were gone the honeydo list grew :) xoxo can't wait to see you Friday

29 Nov 2007

mary

Awsome summation to an exciting progress. It was more addicting following you guys than some TV show. The Zen Show. It is meant to be. I would jump in the ocean when I got there! When can we see the VIDEOS!!!!? Good job.

05 Dec 2007

Susan K

Thanks for the link Tom. I'll be checking back. Happy Sailings and a nice warm Christmas ahead. It's freezing back home! Brrr...I'd have to say I'm jealous!

On a Mooring - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:29:51 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

On a Mooring

We passed Anegada at 11:30pm Nov 27th which means we made it from Newport to

the BVI's in 7 days and a few hours. In the last 50 miles we passed a boa
tthat was docked next to us in Newport a couple days before we left. The
yhailed us on the radio and we had a nice chat. I was a nice da
ytoday...very uneventful. Good wind and friendly seas. All we could thin
kabout all day was rounding Anegada. That's all for now. I will share mor
eafter we sleep for a couple days :
)-Tom

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Jim

Congratulations!

28 Nov 2007

Erika Magilton

So happy you guys have arrived safely!! Get lots of rest and soak in the beautiful weather!!

29 Nov 2007

Ed & Tina Magilton

Great job. Our family has enjoyed every minute, especially Scotts grandparents!

Amazing - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:06:47 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Amazing

You know the scene in the movies when someone is walking down a long hall trying desperately to get to the end but the hall just keeps getting longer? The actor seems bewildered with how difficult it is to get to the end of that damn hallway!! Well, on every sailing voyage I have ever done, this phenomenon occurs two days from arrival. The little digital boat on the little digital map just doesn't seem to be getting any closer to the little digital island!! During the past 24 hours the crew, and I'm sure Zen feels the same, entered into the "hallway zone". "When are we going to get there"? "What time does the little digital map say we are going to arrive?" These are the questions we asked each other all day. Now, if you are not careful you can be consumed by this feeling. It has the potential to distract you from the other events that may be unfolding around you. Let's face it, it is not every day you get an opportunity to experience events like these. Fortunately, I was snapped back to reality by an email I received today from an old friend. He said he had visited the Zen blog and it looked Amazing! I paused, I even turned around to Scott and John and read them the short note. My friend was right, this is amazing. I was getting so caught up in the "hallway zone" that I was missing some of the most amazing events of this entire trip. Thanks, Brian!!

So what was so amazing about today? The crystal blue water, the bright blue sky, the tractor trailer size waves, the relentless 30 knot breeze, the ease of sailing Zen in these conditions (although Scott may not agree with this :), the speed we were able to achieve when we purposely put the hammer down (we broke 25kts today...wait till you see the video), the fact that we were on an exact reciprocal (collision) course with a huge ship in such a huge ocean(see the pic), the rise of the "red" moon this evening and last but definitely not least, the desire to arrive, not just arrive in Tortola but to arrive back home to see the ones we can only communicate with through email while on this AMAZING voyage.

Have a great day everyone...you can be sure John, Scott, Zen and I will.
-Tom

Position at 0000 Nov 27th
22 00.2N
063 37.5W
Wind: 072 degrees @ 30kts
Speed: 9.6kts SOG

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Kate

I thought the tanker was looking for John to go back to work!! :0 - hope the rest of the journey is just as amazing! love you guys!

Pete and Dar

What an awesome adventure. You must be psyched on the speed Zen has been able to perform at. Way to go!! We totally get the "hallway zone" Great analogy. Stay safe, and hope to see you soon. Love, Dar and Pete

Jim

Thanks for taking us along on the journey with you. I am glad Zen has been an awesome guide for the three of you on this journey. Can't wait until you are back on solid ground...you are all set to board a plane on Friday and come home to your families!

Sunrise - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:00:54 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Sunrise

Good morning. Here is a pic of this mornings sunrise. BTW...I took some videos that need music and then we can post them to the site. Pretty good action shots.
-Me

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Mary Byrnes

Beautiful sunrise. I'm living vicariously. In reality I'm off to work in a 'wintry mix'. But just knowing that it looks like that somewhere helps!

Jim

Wow...what a beautiful sunrise...much better than here...glad you are having good weather

Lorie Sardelli

Hi Tom! We are enjoying your journal entries (and photos!)... Stephen and I love Tortola, so if you're looking for crew call us! Seriously, stay safe and we look forward to keeping in touch with you, Monique and the kids though this wonderful sight you put together for us landlovers. Best, Lorie & Stephen

Went for a Swim - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:56:02 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Went for a Swim

The winds were calm, the waves like glass and the sun was finally dominant for most of the day. It was a perfect respite from the last few days of hard charging conditions. We have been a motor boat for several hours as we wait for the trades to kick in and to take us to the BVI's. We made a respectable 186 miles today, even with our pit stop to take a swim. What the heck the water is 75 degrees and crystal clear, who could resist. Besides, we decided to check for hitch hikers on the rudder and sail drives. There were a fair amount of weeds to be removed. We hope this helps with some of the high speed shudder we recently experienced. No matter how many times I swim in the middle of the ocean I can't help think what lurks beneath me. You know what I mean. It's 18,000 feet deep and I'm sure my impression of a bait fish has to get someone's attention. Yikes, it gives me the heebeegeebees just thinking about it. No matter, I removed the weeds, snapped a couple pics of the boat and hustled back on deck just before the sea monster ate me...at least that's what my mind was telling me. The remainder of the day was spent hanging outside on deck and lounging on the tramp. At one point Scott looked at John and I and asked with a grin "I wonder what the weather is like in RI"...hahahha...we got a pretty good laugh out of that. An outstanding hot salmon mid day meal and some great music rounded out the well earned "vacation day" of the trip. The trades are said to be blowing strong and we are only a few hours from their effect. We are looking forward to hoisting the sails and getting the boat moving again.

Go Pats!!
-Tom

Position at 0000 Nov 26th
25 33N 062 59W

Addendum at 6:19am 11/26/07

Ground control this is Major Tom. No more rudder shudder. Damn weeds! Tested to 24kts. John says "the bad news is we are out of weed, the good news is we are back on the rails".
Over and out....

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

4 Birds - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:50:03 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

4 Birds

Little note from Tom to me....thought I'd share. -Monique

Kinda tired right now...I'm up for a my mid day nap to make up the hours lost at night. We finally started the engines. We are currently motoring in 0kts of wind. Big difference from last several days. We let the boat drift for a while just because it was a nice change. John had an idea to back down to see if we had any crap stuck on the rudders. We went backwards for a while hahahah we all laughed about it. We'll see if it makes a difference when we get to the trades and start sailing again. BTW...we had a visit from 4 birds today. They kept swooping down and talking to us but they did not land.
By for now....Love you

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Yippi Kai Yay! - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:45:57 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Yippi Kai Yay!

It's midnight on the 5th day of our voyage and the best way to describe the past 24 hours is Yippi kai yay!! Did you see the pic of the boat instruments? We had a max speed today of 21.3kts and we were consistently surfing at 17+ knots for several hours. But wait, I'm jumping ahead. As I think back over the day and decide what would be important to include in this log I immediately think of the exhilirating speed and the fact that we just clocked our third consecutive 200 mile day (yes, we have covered 600 miles in 3 days) but then I realize there is something more significant. It's the fact that we have achieved these goals and, I'm very happy to report, everyone is doing well. Well rested, well fed and well equipped for the rest of the trip. The fact is that we are doing well because we were well prepared. The speed is exciting but a happy& healthy crew and boat are even more satisfying to me.

Okay, watch out, I'm getting serious for a minute. More log details after this time-out for some well deserved thanks and recognition for our ground crew :)
1. Well prepared food (HUGE!!!! thanks to Monique for all the outstanding hot meals and plentiful food that was pre-cooked and well organized for the trip). Of course we also need to thank Kathi for the cookies and brownies...I'm still torn on whether this is a good thing :)
2. Good boat and designer (Zen is an Atlantic 48 designed by Chris White. The boat was built for this kind of sailing and the designer is extremely supportive) Note: I emailed Chris with a couple questions today and he replied within and hour. Thanks Chris.
3. Good weather forecasting (we used Commanders professional weather service and Ocens weather software on a daily basis to help us prepare for the weather ahead) Note: due to good weather forecasting we jibed and tucked the third reef BEFORE the bad weather hit.

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled program.....Today was the worst weather of our trip. We have seen gusts to 40kts, constant wind speeds over 30 and 10 foot seas for the past 12 hours. It's starting to die down now but it was a full day of reefed sailing. Now don't get crazy, I'm not talking about the "rasta mon" kind of reef, I'm talking about minimizing sail to contend with high wind speeds. We have had 3 reefs in both the main and the jib all day. The shorter sail takes stress off the boat AND the crew. We are expecting light winds later today and may even have to resort to the iron genny to keep us moving. That's all for now...wind is down and I think it is time to add more sail.
-Tom

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Erika Magilton

Happy to hear that the weather is turning around and that all is well on Zen!

Max Speed - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 22:33:19 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Max Speed

Max speed so far is 19.2 but we are consistently surfing at 15 plus. I grabbed this pic of 17.85 kts for the blog. I thought some people would get a kick. BTW...while doing this speed we are hanging around reading and napping.

Note from Monique: Looks like two hulls are better than one for the Burgess Crew! Thanks Chris White!

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Comments:

Kate

Reminds me of a line from a Bill Murray movie, What about Bob....where his character is strapped to the mast, shouting "I'm sailing! I'm sailing!" Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! Have fun!! Love, us

Front Passed Over - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 22:27:10 GMT

Front Passed Over

To: Commander's Weather
Hey guys,
Thought it might be helpful to know that the front passed over us at 1030
EST at 30 27.0N 064 10.5W. We now have 25 to 30kt winds from 5 to 20mag. Following seas from the NW will make for some good sleeping weather. We're doing about 10kts on a course of 165. Thanks for all the foresight.
-Tom s/v Zen

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Need the kids' help - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 21:40:41 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Southbound -Fifth Day - underway Newport to Tortola

Hey,

For the past couple nights I have been joined on my 12 to 3am watch by a very bright star/planet. It sits very low on the Eastern horizon and seems to have a red tinge. Can they research this and tell me what star/planet it is?

BTW...tell them we had a visitor the other night. A huge flying fish jumped up on the starboard transom step. He made it to the top step. John found him still alive. I flipped him back into the sea. So far that is all the sea life we have seen. Been too rough to fish.

Love you....

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Notation from Monique: if any of you reading the blog feel like figuring out this star, PLEASE DO. Post it to the blog in the comments section. :-)

Lots of Miles - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 21:35:55 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Southbound -Fifth Day - underway Newport to Tortola

I decided to call this log entry "lots of miles" for two reasons.

First of all we have covered a lot of miles so far (641) and we have a lot to go (785 at the time of this log 0000 Nov 24). The second reason is that we are currently on a tear. We have sailed 110 miles in the last 12 hours. I'm not sure we can keep this up for another 12 hours but it would be nice to better the 200 miles we did yesterday.

That's pretty good for a 48 foot cruising catamaran. The best part is that we had a nice hot meal, got some rest and watched a movie while doing it.

I look at this trip as three legs; the first is crossing the Gulf Stream, the second is passing Bermuda and the third is reaching the Easterly trades down to the Islands. We crossed the Stream early Thurs and we passed Bermuda (34 miles to our East) just a few hours ago.

Today we are hoping to reach the Easterly trades and turn South for the final leg of the journey. Conditions are very good for sailing fast and flat today. The wind is still in our favor but the seas have abated. For those of you who are sailors, you know what I mean when I say that sailing at night with 20 plus knots of wind is, well, exciting (it's currently blowing 25kts).

Tonight the winds are blowing and the boat is screaming along with very little effort. The lack of seas makes it even more interesting. Not only is this a big change from the rather bouncy ride we've experienced so far but the sound as the hull passes through the water at more than10 knots is similar to a train rushing down a track. If I didn't know the speed and someone told me we were going 50 miles an hour I would believe them. What a rush.

I sent some pics to Monique today. We took some time to snap a few shots while the sun was shining. As you can see from all the smiles, no one is having any fun :) Oh well, I need to grab a midnight snack. Stay tuned for another episode of the Midnight Log!!! Okay, maybe that was too much...I think I need some more sleep :)

Oops, I forgot to send our position.

31 28N 065 03W

Wind: from 250 @20 to 30kts

Course is 165 @ 10.5kts

Yes, very good, the boards are half way up. They make a bit of noise in the choppy seas so we need to reef them down with the up/down lines to get some sleep. Not for the log: sleeping tonight is tough. The sound and hum/vibration of the boat is wild. We also have an occasional loud slam on the underside of the bridge. About an hour ago the damn laptop jumped about an inch while I was checking our course. Everyone is sleeping on the settees in the bridge deck. Too loud in the berths. Need to bring ear plugs next time.

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Saturday morning Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 21:32:44 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Saturday Morning

Looks like we will see the front this afternoon. We made it pretty far south so it will be minimal. Commanders is telling us 20 to 25 with gust to 30. That's what we have had most of the way. The worst will be the light winds it will create before the trades kick in. Ear plugs will definitely do the trick. I do not think we will see much of this weather going across the Pacific. It was squally and confused sea for two days. Everyone agrees that ear plugs would have made a huge difference.

Let's book flights for Friday am. We will likely arrive mid to late Wed. I want a day to put the boat away. Yes, JetBlue is a great idea. Don't care if we fly to PVD or Bos. Whatever flight get's in at a better time. Have Jim book a town car (not rental!!) if no one wants/can get to the airport.

Tell the kids I agree. It is probably Saturn. Not sure if I will see it tonight with the front coming through. We have had a great moon the whole trip. I think it is full tonight. I sat on the back deck fr a couple hours during my watch last night. John freaked out when he could not find me. He came flying out on the back deck. Ooops. We all took showers today. It's 80 degrees so we have the boat wide open to air it out. Gotta go...the wind is clocking around to the North. The beginning of the frontal passage.
Love you....

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

The good, the bad, & the ugly - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 21:27:44 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Southbound -Fourth Day - underway Newport to Tortola

Please excuse typos and grammar...I wrote this at midnight in the toilet bowl (read on and you will understand)

The good, the bad and the ugly.

The good part is that we are making great time. We covered almost exactly 200 miles in the last 24 hours and there is no sign of change. The wind is supposed to stay in our favor for the next several days. We are making for the trades on the outside (huh, that would make a great line for a song...sorry, I couldn't help myself) of 64W below 28N and it looks like the wind gods are looking after us.

The bad part is the sea state. Scott put it best, he says it's like sitting on a little plastic boat in a flushing toilet. We're currently sailing between 7.5 and 9.5 knots slamming across confused 4 to 6 foot seas in 17 knots of wind. Somewhat like a car, I have come to learn that Zen has many different gears. The tricky part of this trip is chosing the right gear for the conditions.

We could be doing 15kts right now but we would have to be strapped to our seats as we skipped across the waves (not to mention the stress on the rig). We could also be doing 5kts and sleeping like logs (we tried this gear earlier today and all three of us almost went to sleep at the same time...oops).

We are currently sailing in about 3rd gear, two reefs in the main and 1 reef in the jib. This allows us to keep the boat moving but not so fast that we have to hang on too tight (well, maybe a little tight). It's also good on the boat. This is a long trip and the boat takes a lot of abuse.

I heard a boat on the SSB earlier yesterday that was bailing out to Bermuda. They couldn't take the conditions and wanted to get off the bumpy road in hopes of more settled conditions. Zen's flat composure and inside pilot house really make a difference in these conditions.

The ugly part is that we haven't taken showers in three days, wet foulies and harnesses are scattered all over the pilot house and there is no sign of change. Even worse, none of us are complaining about it. I guess that tells you something about the crew :) That's all for now. Happy Thanksgiving!!

-Tom

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Thanksgiving Aboard Zen - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 21:18:08 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Southbound -Fourth Day - underway Newport to Tortola

Here we are in the middle of the ocean having a fantastic turkey meal that Monique prepared before we left.

Cheers,

-Tom

Comments received:

Mary Byrnes

Hi Guys, Looks like so much fun! I hope the smell of the beautiful Turkey dinner overrides the scent of the languishing unwashed gear and yourselves. I can't wait to tune in tomorrow. Is it warm yet? Keep up the good humor and song writing skills. When I read that line I automatically put the melody to it. :) Mary

Maureen Burgess

Oh my,sounds like a trip Dad and I took off MVI to the Cape but You are 10x worse. So much for fair winds etc. Just keep repeating,"this to shallpass' Stay safe and ALERT!!!! Love to all,Mom

From Monique: when I post these, if I am lacking photos from crew...I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Welcome to Ocean Sailing - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 21:13:36 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Southbound -Third Day - underway Newport to Tortola

Captain's Log: Tom

0130 position

37 03N 69 11W

course: 158

Speed: 9.2kts

Welcome to ocean sailing.

The Gulf Stream set us back a bit but we seem to be breaking free.

The sea temp is down a bit and the sat photo shows that we should be on the back side by now.

All is well on Zen. Pretty uneventful day today. Mostly motoring and motor sailing until about an hour ago (12:00 midnight). Scott was woke me for my watch with news of increased winds. We reefed the main and rolled out the jib (one reef) and off we went.

We're currently sailing close hauled at 10kts in 20kts from the SE. The seas are very confused as we leave the Stream.

Gotta love the pilot house. I'm sitting at the nav table with all the controls at my finger tips typing an email while waves and rain spray the boat. Funny, it seems pretty fast and furious after the lolly gagging we have become accustomed to over the past couple days.

Weather is supposed to stay like this through tomorrow. We're making good time on a direct course for Bermuda. NICE!! We need to get East to prepare for the Easterly trades. We listened to Herb earlier today and he mentioned strong Easterlies at 28 degrees. We going to shoot for 64W and turn South for Tortola.

Life on board is settling into a groove. This is hump day, day three. My internal clock always seems to calibrate to the sailing schedule on day three. We're all sharing the cleaning but it seems like John is the cook. We'll see how long that lasts :) I may have to burn something to maintain my "cleaner" status :) Shhh don't tell him. Keep the emails coming for the boys

Cheers,

-Tom

0130 position

37 03N

69 11W

course: 158

Speed: 9.2kts

From Monique: when I post these, I am lacking photos...so I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

Birds in the Sky went Down for an Hour - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:05:28 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Southbound -Second Day - underway Newport to Tortola

Captain's Log: Tom

Hi everyone.

I have a funny story to tell. Last night (about 3am) the GPS went down. Not the ships gear, the sats. I could not get a fix on the hand-held either. John and I traced wires and check ships gear but nothing was wrong. Suddenly, about an hour later, it came back up with no more issues. Hmmmm. I thought we were going to be sailing off the compass for the rest of the trip.

Have a great day at school and home.....miss you guys.

-Tom

0700

Position: 38 53N 70 06W

Heading: 173

Seas: SE Swell 4-6

Wind: 300 @ 10 to 15kts

50% cloud cover

Temp: Air 60 Sea 55

From Monique: when I post these, I am lacking photos...so I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

John's First Watch - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:00:07 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Southbound -John's First Watch - underway Newport to Tortola

Captain's Log:

Good Morning Cici,

Just a quick hello. Its 0445, I'm on watch. we are at 39 05.8 N 070 12.2 W Heading just about due south at 180 at the moment. Seas are pretty mild, about 3-5 feet and its a dark morning. The wind is at our backs from about 310.

Pretty uneventful so far. Went through a Satellite hole at about 2am which freaked us a little, but other than that things are smooth.

Motor sailing at about 7 knots. should be in the stream at about 1pm

Hope all is well. Should be I haven't been gone too long.

love you

From Monique: when I post these, I am lacking photos...so I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun!

First day out Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 20:52:46 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Ship's Log:

Position 30 39N 70 27W

Speed: 10.7kts

Course: 173

Southbound - First Day Out - underway Newport to Tortola

Captain's Log:

It's midnight on the first day and I just relieved Scott from his first solo watch of the trip.

He's awesome. He's as good standing watch on the boat as he is diving under the boat (in 50 degree water no less). The fact is that all four of us (that includes Zen of course) are doing well so far.

John and I flipped for the 12:00 to 3:00 and I lost. Not sure he did much better with the 3:00 to 6:00 but we are slipping into a good watch keeping groove :)

We had a great dinner of jambalaya. Monique worked for several days preparing meals for the delivery. The only problem with food is choosing which outstanding meal we are going to eat next. Kathi will be happy to know that there is a constant munch of cookies and brownies!! No need to wait for desert when you are on a delivery.

The conditions have been good. We started in Newport with a light breeze (5 to 10kts) on the nose. We motored at about 7kts until about 9:00pm when the breeze moved into the SW and built to about 12kts. The engines were quiet by 10 and we are currently sailing under full main and jib sailing smoothly in 4 to 6 foot seas at about 10kts.

I t was pretty darn cold when we left NP but the temp has moderated. It's currently 50 degrees and the heater is off. We've covered about 120 miles so far. We have about 93 miles until the Gulf Stream and about 1050 to Tortola. Breeze is moving more into the West...gotta go ease the sails

-Tom

From Monique: when I post these, I am lacking photos...so I'll add some random sailing ones to keep it fun! You can see who's really driving the Opti. Image of what's to come. Grin!

Left the Icy Dock - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:42:05 GMT

Passage from Newport RI to Tortola BVI - Atlantic 48 - 2007

Southbound - Tom's first log while underway to Tortola

Tom, Scott and John left from a very icy dock this morning at 8:35a. There was ice on the deck and cockpit to boot. After filling all 4 tanks w/fuel, they were underway. This position report was entered at 3:19pm today. Here's the first email from Zen:

Hi,

Everything is going very well. We have been motoring the entire day and expect to keep this mode for several more hours. The rain stopped but we have the heater blasting becasue it is still very cold. Probably going to sleep iin the salon tonight.

I need some help with tech support from Nobeltec, the company that makes the PC navigation software. I connot determine how to get the software to produce the correct date and time. It is set currently set 17 hours ahead of our local time. Not sure how this happend. Can you contact them and determine a fix? We are running VNS 9.122.

Current position: 40.46'N:70.59'W

Note: I rec'd another email at 7:30pm stating they got the software issue resolved.

Guess I am able to finish my dinner and curl up w/Harley.

Ciao!

On Her Own Bottom

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 18:31:38 GMT

Nix the Yacht Transport. ZEN will sail down to the Caribbean on her own bottom(s). The shift in Super Servant's itinerary was sealed the new plan.

Change in Plans

There has been a change in plans. We've decided to sail Zen from Newport to Tortola on her own bottom(s).

I still believe shipping Zen would be more economical and far less time consuming but the shipping company changed their sailing schedule. Instead of sailing from Newport direct to Tortola, they decided to sail from Newport to Newfoundland and then to Columbia.

Not sure about you, but I did not want to send my boat to Newfoundland in November and then have to take delivery in Columbia.

So, we decided to make a last minute change and sail her South ourselves. It took about 15 minutes to find willing crew. I will be joined by two good friends John Dunn and Scott Magilton. John is a 2nd Engineer in the merchant marines and Scott is professional rescue and recovery scuba diver. Monique will sit this one out and tend to the kids busy schedule. This is a delivery.

Our primary goal is to get Zen to Tortola so the family can enjoy the Islands this winter. Fortunately I will be joined by a couple great crew members for what we hope is a fast and uneventful 10 day (approx) sail from the Northeast cold to the sunshine and trade winds of the Caribbean tropics.

We will send daily positions and log entries so stay tuned to the web site for more info. The weather window is open and we will depart Newport on Tuesday Nov 20th.

ZEN going to St Thomas USVI

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 17:22:40 GMT

When time, weather, and crew are in short supply, it's time to call in the big guns. Yacht Transport to the rescue.

Super Servant Yacht Transport, to bring ZEN to St Thomas

Looks like Super Servant is going to be our "crew" for the first time.

We thought a casual sail from Newport to Florida or the Bahamas could happen this November. Lack of crew and babysitters pushed Zen towards a Yacht Transport voyage instead. We are "reserved" on the freighter and contracts/pricing are the next stage. We'll be floating Zen into the hold of a large ship loading in Newport, cradles are adjusted for each boat's hull, the sea water is emptied, and bon voyage. Five days later fly down to St Thomas and meet Zen at a dock. Mind-blowing concept.

Here's some video to entertain you...shows the actual loading of the boat onto the super tanker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpNKBxa9LO0

Countdown Starts on ZEN

monique@burgess.media (Monique Burgess) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:21:07 GMT

Counting down, making lists, prepping the boat for ocean crossings - Atlantic and Pacific. More lists.

Beginning of a 2nd family sailing cruise

The Burgess family is preparing to leave terra firma AGAIN!

Our dream of cruising started almost 2 decades ago. After doing it for over 10,000 miles on a wonderful monohull, s/v ULIAD, (see older blogs) with an infant and toddler in the Caribbean, it's time to try 2 hulls. Zen, our 2005 Atlantic 48' Chris White catamaran has been terrific this summer. She's perfect for taking us to the Pacific. It already feels like HOME.

Kids, grades 3 and 5, are enjoying their final year of land based school. We'll sail Zen down to Florida after hurricane season and let her be our vacation destination this winter. As soon as school ends in June, it's time to cast off and move away from US waters. February '09 will be the timeframe for Panama Canal. Beyond that, weather will be our guide.

We are looking forward to hearing your stories, sailing plans and exchanging ideas. The cruising community is something we cherish. We are ready for the lifestyle containing SSBs, to-do lists, book and dvd exchanges, weather charts, dinghy visits and sunsets.

Cole's Summer Sailing Journal

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 17:05:21 GMT

From Southwest Harbor, Maine to Plymouth, Provincetown to Padanaram MA and Martha's Vineyard.

Senses. How an 8 year old boy sees the summertime aboard a sailing catamaran.

Southwest Harbor, Maine:

Smell : gasoline from the dinghy

Taste : limeade from XYZ restaurant

Touch : the feel of the dinghy handle

Sight : the shack next to West Marine

Sound : the sound that daddy's computer made when he forgot to turn it off

------------------------------

Sight : an American Eagle and his mate

Smell : homemade pizza that mom made

Taste : Nutella pizza for dessert

Sound : the sound of the rain on the roof

Texture : the iPod stereo

------------------------------

Passage from Southwest Harbor to Plymouth, MA

Sight : the seals I saw

Smell : the sauce for the chicken

Taste : the rice I had

Feel : the feel of the nets on my skin

Sound : the sound of the water on the hulls

-------------------------------

Plymouth Harbor, MA

Smell : the smell of the pilgrims at the Pilgrims Museum

Sight : the ancient sword I saw

Taste : the ring pop I had

Touch : the piece of Plymouth Rock I touched

Sound : the sound of our tour guide saying "THE ROCK".

------------------------------

Passage from Plymouth to Provincetown, MA

Smell : the smell of the meat

Sound : the beeping sound the boat made and the cool engines I heard in the harbor

Sight : the sight of the tacos and the Chevrolet BelAire that I got today

Taste : the taffy I had

Touch : the chain I felt today

-------------------------

Passage from Provincetown to Padanaram, MA

Taste : the taste of salt water

Sound : the echo I heard when I was swimming

Sight : the tug boat dock in the canal

Smell : the smell of the chocolate muffin I had

Touch : the texture of the inside of the hull

---------------------------

Padanaram to Vineyard Haven, MA

Taste : the ice cream I had

Smell : the smell of gasoline

Sight : the sight of Woods Hole

Sound : the sound of the echoing

Touch : the touch of the metal speaker on the boat

End of 2007 Summer Cruise

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 16:36:46 GMT

Summer Cruise in 2007 from commissioning in Maine to Newport, Rhode Island

July 9th, 2007

Today we went to Martha's Vineyard. I took a nap on the trampoline on the way here. Tonight we went to a place for dinner. We also got some ice cream. After that we went to a meditation store. It was cool.

July 11th, 2007

We're home! Today we sailed from Martha's Vineyard to Newport. My clothes are clean now and I'm in a house. Tomorrow Kak leaves. :-(

July 12th, 2007

Today we dropped off Katherine in Connecticut. I got to see Lolly and Darlene. We all had lunch together. Then Mommy and I went to Ikea to get stuff for the boat. Bye!

July 13th, 2007

Today I got a purple watch! It's really cool. I got it at Walmart when Cole got sunglasses. Right now I'm on a dock in Providence. We sailed here in two hours and 30 minutes. Wow, that's fast from Newport.

My Birthday in Plymouth

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 16:21:16 GMT

Captain's logs, as seen through the eyes of a 10-year-old soon-to-be global cruising daughter of ours!

Happy 10th Birthday!

Happy Birthday! Guess what, you'll never guess that today I went to Plymouth! One cool thing we saw was a replica of the Mayflower. It's really cool! The bunks are gross and the boat smells. There was a little boat next to the big boat. It's like a dinghy.

Today we also went to a museum. Cole, Kak and I did a treasure hunt. It was really cool. We also saw a rock. It was the first thing a pilgrim touched. It is only half its real size. The sweetest thing we did today was go to a candy store! I got salt water taffy and got more candy. A guy named Larry took us on a walking tour around Plymouth. We learned a ton about its history.

July 6th, 2007

Today I'm in Provincetown. We were just in the middle of a thunder, hail, and lightning storm. We "sailed" off our anchor with a big gust of wind. We "sailed" past a boat that was at least 50 feet in front of us. Also during the storm, Kak, Cole and I watched the "Incredibles". One time, something happened (BOOM) in the movie and at the same time there was a loud clap of thunder. We had a really good dinner. We haaaaaaaaaad TACOS!

July 7th, 2007

Today we went to P-town. I got "Blubber" and Kak got a journal and another book. We also got sailor's knot bracelets.

July 8th, 2007

Today we went to the Cape Cod Canal! The current was so strong. We were going 12 knots with only a motor and current. It took us only about an hour to get through.

Fourth of July - Maine to Plymouth

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 01:46:05 GMT

"Right now we are on the exact path of the Pilgrims!"

July 4th, 2007

Tomorrow is the fourth of July! Also I will be TEN soon! Today Katherine started to feel sick. I think she is fine because right now we are laughing like crazy. See ya!

July 4th, 2007 - Morning entry: Happy Fourth of July! Right now we are on the exact path of the Pilgrims! In five hours we will be in Plymouth. Mommy said maybe tomorrow, if it rains, we can go to Plymouth Rock. Tomorrow, as you know, is my birthday. I was hoping to go to Camden, but we can't. The dinghy doesn't fit on the hangy thing so it's on the back deck. We are going to go from Southwest Harbor, where we were, straight to Nantucket, but it's too long. So now we are the 2007 Pilgrims. I feel like one too seeing that we're living on this boat, had a problem and had to turn around. It not exactly what they did, but who cares? See ya! Evening entry: Tomorrow is my birthday! I just saw the best fireworks I've ever seen. We are in Plymouth and right under amazing fireworks...(happy almost bday)!

Sailing vocabulary:

Dolphins: some dolphins live in very cold water with the seals.

Speed: If Zen is going 6 knots, Uliad, our old boat, would be going 4 or 5.

Navigation: When you navigate, you use something like a tool. You measure miles with it, using a map key, and put it on your map. Then keep its shape and twist it or walk it to count the miles.

Batons: Batons are things in a sail that help it keeps its shape.

Sailing Vocab and Maine

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 23:54:10 GMT

First-ever provisioning run on Zen. Doing it in USA seems mundane compared to the future provisioning that occurred in the South Pacific.

Today is July first! In four days I will be ten!

Today Mommy, Katherine and I went to get groceries and return the car. We got to go on a bus to get back to Zen. Here's some senses I recorded: see=Cole hip checking the garbage can, taste= limeade, hear=Bald eagles screeching.

Sailing vocabulary:

Longitude and Latitude=they are lines on the earth that help you navigate. Buoys=they are things in the water. They tell you where to go. Ex. Red right returning, green left going.

July 2nd -

Today I saw a bald eagle! It was soaring with its mate and more birds looking for food. Also we found out the dinghy does not really fit on the back deck. Now, we may not go to Camden. See ya!

Maine Journal Entry

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 23:00:11 GMT

Welcome to our travel blog...we start with a budding writer, Cammi, age 9.

Maine

Today Katherine, Me, Cole, Pete, Daddy, and Mommy drove to Maine. It took us about six hours to get here. We drove in a "truck" ,as I call it. When we got there we unpacked all of our stuff. Katherine and I share one big cabin. Oh on our way there we played the license plates game, and we played our DS`s and SP`s.

For lunch we had Mc.Donalds Katherine and I shared a Caesar salad, lemonade, and fries. Back to my cabin. So Katherine and I made our beds, and we all went on land for dinner. I had clam chowder, and apple pie. After dinner Katherine, Cole, and I went out to the hammocks outside the restaurant. Then we went to the boat and motored to a mooring. Finally we got in our beds, and went to sleep. Goodnight!

ZEN - global ocean cruising on a performance catamaran

Favorite place - The Galley

Very unique hope chest & the treasured item inside.

We bought Zen...AGAIN!

What does a simple sail on a friend’s boat, the steps of City Hall and a cartoon strip have in common?

Pacific Passage - Our route 2007-2010

From Southwest Harbor Maine to Whangarei NZ

Passage to Cartagena Columbia from Curacao past Barranquilla River

3 day sail to Columbia

Screen me - Biting bugs on boats - Curacao to Cartegena Columbia

Flying Bandits

Kids become PADI certified divers - Bonaire

Kids are scuba certified

Halloween in Bonaire

Los Roques, Los Aves and Bonaire

Amistad - Cultural Immersion in Puerta La Cruz - Venezuela

Special Delivery - Jorge, Male & Luna

Puerta La Cruz - Venezuela

Landfall - mainland South America

Twin Water Spouts - Tortuga to Puerta La Cruz - Venezuela

Fish on! Tanker and Twins

Bandits from above - Isla Blanquilla to Tortuga - Venezuela

Doing the mosquito-slap tango

3:00am on Route 128 - Isla Blanquilla - Venezuela

It's NOT a dream. The smell of diesel in the morning.

Tuna Steaks for Dinner - Isla Blanquilla - Venezuela

Fish on! Fish on...again!

Hey Norm - Los Testigos - Venezuela

Hey Norm! ﻿

Birthday Gratitude

Birthday Gratitude ﻿

Erika

Paul Giroux

mary

Hiding in Tobago Cays

How's the Weather? Check out the storms coming across the Atlantic

COMMENTS:

Still Hiding in Tobago Cays

Weather approaching. Nothing between Africa and Zen.

NA

Prickly Armada - Prickly Bay Grenada

Brian

Rescued - St Davids Harbor Grenada

GMT - St Davids Harbor Grenada

Tobagan Treasure - Tobago Cays Grenadines

Bajan Beginners - Port St Charles Barbados

Weather - Marie Galante Guadeloupe

Stumbled Upon - Jumby Bay Antigua

Channeling Energy - Falmouth Antigua

Weight & Sea - Falmouth Antigua

Hairdresser & Mechanic - Falmouth Antigua

Back on Zen - Falmouth Antigua

Bon Voyage - Portsmouth RI

Packed Schedules and duffles - Portsmouth RI

Zen Crew is Blue - Portsmouth RI

Weeks not Months - Portsmouth RI

One Step Closer - Portsmouth RI

Shorter Days, Longer Lists - Portsmouth RI

Swells - Mamora Bay Antigua

Video At Sea - Tortola

Tacking - Trellis Bay

Zen

Liquid Pixie Dust - Culebrita Puerto Rico

Happy New Year - St Croix

Happily Anchored - Anegada

Christmas in BVIs - Virgin Gorda

5 More Days - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Auntie Mary

Best for Last - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

On a Mooring - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Amazing - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Kate

Pete and Dar

Jim

Sunrise - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

Mary Byrnes

Jim

Lorie Sardelli

Went for a Swim - Atlantic - Newport to Tortola

﻿

Hey Norm!

Birthday Gratitude