The WHIM that became a DREAM that became a PLAN that became a REALITY...

There are two conflicting stories to how the "dream" of sailing around the world came about.

According to John the story goes something like this...

Keith came back from New Zealand after a year abroad and was having a tough time adjusting to the rigors of Cornell life and Ithaca weather. What was helping him get through it was wrestling. You see, Keith was a good wrestler and a 3 year starter for the Varsity but half-way through his junior year he tore his hamstring. He was sidelined for most of the year and he was going to quit Cornell and travel the world; throw two and a half solid years of Ivy League education out the window. I wasn't worried about him surviving because he is an experienced traveler, trekking through Europe, Australia and New Zealand and most recently South America; however, I wasn't going to stand by and watch him throw away his Ivy League education. It would be a decision I was sure he would regret. So we made a promise and he didn't leave. The promise was this: If he stayed and graduated, I would sail around the world with him. With that promise, the dream of sailing around the world was born. We have been friends ever since our freshmen year when we roomed together and he has known of my love of sailing, but the funny thing is that Keith has never sailed before. Yet, after we purchased the boat that is going to take us around the world, the promised dream became a reality.

While John's account may be true, Keith remembers the story differently...

This is actually how the story happened. I was in New Zealand, John and I were chatting on-line via instant messaging. He was in the cold Ithaca winter and I was enjoying the warm New Zealand sun. He, almost in a joke, says he wants to do something and that I am the only person that we knows who is "crazy enough to do it." To which I respond, "Let me hear it." He then asks me if I wanted to "sail across the Atlantic?" I responded, "I have never even set foot on a sailboat and I get violently seasick... LET'S DO IT!!!" That was in early 2005 and from that point on it was a slow planning process. Throughout our junior year at Cornell, we budgeted, planned and talk about the trip between ourselves and agreed that if we were going to sail across the Atlantic we "might as well sail all the way around the world." The idea soon took on a life of its own and we kept it a secret between ourselves mostly. As we neared the end of out junior year, we realized it was time to make a decision. I told John before I was leaving to South America that I would call him on his 22nd birthday and at that time we would officially decided. Accordingly, I called him on his birthday and said, "Ok buddy, we are gonna do it!!!" He agreed and from that time on it became official. Our senior year at Cornell was comprised of preparation, education , and determination. During autumn we began learning how to survey sailboats and understanding what we needed in OUR sailboat in order to complete the trip. We spent many hours at boat shows, on the internet and talking to brokers and sailors. Budgeting-wise we had calculated our limit for the boat and outfitting and also how much money we would each need to make it all the way around the world without having to stop and work. When it came time to actually look at perspective sailboats we felt confident that we knew what we needed. It was a cold day in November when we made it out to Massachusetts to look at a 31 foot Westerly then called StarShine.  It didn't take long for us to realize that this boat was the one that we wanted. We spent 4 hours inspecting every inch of the boat. We were confident in our assessment but decided to pay for a professional survey to "just make sure." When the professional surveyor came to the same conclusion as us- the boat was sound and capable- we bought the vessel. We renamed the boat LongShot to represent the improbable dream.

While both version of the story are different and both are factually accurate the important part of this dream is that it is a promise between two best friends who are committed to their word and each other.