These people spent a year on a boat and lived to tell the story

And they discovered a new theory of time. Other sailing families they met called it "wa" -- a feeling of composure and slowness, an ability to be completely present. In California, they delighted in making each moment count for something. But life moved more slowly on a boat. To be precise, it moved at 7 knots, and that, it turned out, could be delightful.

"One of our goals was to make time the resource of plenty, so we could enjoy our kids, do things for ourselves, and enjoy simple pleasures we don't allow ourselves at home," Zuckerman says. Grocery shopping was one. Instead of a rushed stop on the way home, a trip to an Italian market was an event to savor. Small moments came to define the voyage.

"I went home in February for a week of work," Meyerson recalls. "I'm glad I went. It was a scary glimpse into my life. I was struck by seeing some very good friends living the kind of life I lived. They looked and talked about just how tired they were." It was a vision from her past. Was it also one of her future?

"When I was told that this trip was a certainty, 12 months seemed like forever; but it has gone by so fast that I can recall most of the 340 days like they were yesterday. I've been looking forward and waiting anxiously for the day that we would arrive home, and still am, but now I have mixed feelings."

-- Danny's journal, July 25, 2003

On August 6, 371 days after first setting sail, Meyerson and her kids left the Nowornot in Athens to fly home. Zuckerman sailed on to Spain to sell their home of a year.

The first dinner back in California was burritos -- real burritos, long promised. Danny, Adam, and Sarah took delight in reuniting with friends and in rediscovering their big house. Meyerson prepared for her new post at Stanford, which she won just a week before setting sail. Already a grant deadline loomed.

Much had changed. Among the kids, Sarah had learned to manage her temper. Adam had grown more confident. Danny had revealed a comical side. Mom and Dad, meantime, had learned to better confront their differences. And, of course, they had discovered wa.

Will the changes stick? Meyerson and Zuckerman worry about retaining the spirit of their year's adventure. Will they get sucked back into their old routines? Both parents want to create rituals that will preserve the intimacy their family has enjoyed -- regular dinners together and evenings reserved for board games. But they know those are disciplines that can be easily abandoned. The wind will help. Every time there's a good wind, they will remember the lessons of Nowornot. "But I don't know," says Zuckerman, "whether this year was enough to break us of our habits."