may 2016cruisingworld.com45freedom. “We were not in the U.S., with safety tape everywhere,”
she says. “When the kids got back to school, there were so many
restrictions.”
If anything, Mike Zani believes the trip was a good investment
in family relationships. “It’s the old axiom ‘You get out of life what
you put into it,’” he says. “You put so much time and energy into
home schooling, and it’s hard. Kids would never cry at school. On
the boat, they would cry three times over one assignment. But it
was so rewarding to understand how they think and learn.”
Zani, who never spent a night of Fabuloso for seven months,
fully embraced the liveaboard experience. But the Smiths and
the Gonsalveses say they only partially settled into the full-time
lifestyle afl oat.
“I didn’t truly relax until February,” says Jef Gonsalves. “But
once I did, it was a level of relaxation I haven’t had since before
we had kids.” Mege fi nished the trip feeling that they could do it
again, maybe during a gap year in the children’s university years.CLOSING THE CHAPTERI
n many ways, the Zanis, Smiths and Gonsalveses represent
many weekend cruisers, who hop aboard their modest sloops
on a Friday night with the kids, a block of ice, and a desire to
get away from shore and the hustle and bustle of daily living. That’s
often enough to whet the appetite, to stoke the fi re. All three of
these families started that way. And they’re still doing that now:The Smiths still carve out weeks to snuggle up on Rebecca, and the
Gonsalveses are transiting Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay via motor-
boat. The Zanis are even taking the next step and have purchased a
new 66 -foot cruising catamaran. But there’s a lot of inspiration to
be gained from their liveaboard adventures.
“There are a thousand reasons, a laundry list of why not to do
this,” says Conley Zani. “But we’re glad we did it.” She says they
had the same barriers as anyone would when embarking on a
liveaboard experience: their professions, their kids’ educations
and everyone’s healthcare. “It’s about creating space for this op-
portunity in your own life. We weren’t in this crazy-special spot.
You create your own luck.”
Time will tell the impact six months aboard with their par-
ents will have on the six children from this group. First signs, say
the parents, are all thumbs-up. But Conley Zani says she was also
surprised by the impact the trip had on her husband.
“All his motivation — he got after it every day,” Conley says.
“He was captain, Super Dad, master of navigation. Even bleeding
engine injectors was energizing for him.”
The culmination of Mike Zani and his wife’s con-
fi dence came near the end of their tour. Newly found
friends had been having engine troubles. When two
attempts at engine repairs failed, the couple split up,
Mike helping to sail the stricken monohull to the
next port, some 35 miles away, while Conley skippered
Fabuloso for the fi rst time without her husband.
The Zanis hit the go button on their Caribbean adven-
ture on Labor Day of 2013. By the end of October, Mike
had closed the deal on Fabuloso. Now that it’s all over,
Mike admits he is more philosophical about the decision
than he was during that mad dash at the beginning.
“At our fi fth reunion for grad school, everyone was talking
about their jobs,” recalls Zani. “At the 10th, everyone was talking
about their families. I asked the organizer what people talk
about at the 25th reunion. ‘About the work-life balance,’ he said.
And that people had regretted not making decisions based on
that balance. This was an investment in work-life balance.”
Jef Gonsalves isn’t sure if there is a residual positive ef ect
from their six months of sailing on Meridian. “When we were on
the trip, it was great for all of us,” he says. “I’m not sure we’ve
captured something and held on to that. It’s more like we all wish
we were back there.”Chris Museler has covered sailing as a journalist for 20 years. He regu-
larly contributes to The New York Times, and his work, both in print
and online, appears in a broad range of publications and media outlets.
He lives in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where he nurses a dwindling rac-
ing career and a growing family cruising schedule.Tan and fi t after a winter of sailing and swimming in the
Caribbean, Asa and Orly Gonsalves take in the surround-
ings on Culebra, in the Spanish Virgin Islands (above). Jesse
Smith and Annice Kenan help anchor a pyramid of new-
found friends (inset). Aboard Rebecca, Selah Smith keeps a
weather eye on a brewing storm cloud (below).
COURTESY OF THE SMITH AND GONSALVES FAMILIES