An Evolving Plan

So two weeks ago, Girlfriend sends me an email that certainly gets me thinking. How about a sponsored circumnavigation?

Yes, I say; without hesitation.
I like that idea. I like that idea a lot.

But how exactly would we go about it? I've had a bunch of ideas floating around my head since then.

The first was to get sponsors by conducting a raise awareness campaign for a deserving charity. The only issue being that it didn't really seem...well, like a good idea. At least a feasible one. My doubts were telling me that sponsors would need more. A better sailing resume. A better campaign. A better way to bring in new sponsors for the cause and a hefty donation. Plus, I'm not really good at asking people for money (despite a couple stints working for grassroots campaigns harassing asking people on the street to support a worthy cause - I didn't last long cause I'm not pushy enough. When someone said they couldn't because of this reason or that reason, I would end up agreeing with them that the economy sucked and I was broke too so I totally understood. It doesn't make for a good fundraiser).

The next idea was start up a non-profit. Sailing for Charity or something similar. Then, Girlfriend and I could devise our route/sail plan and start taking pledges (certain amount for # of miles sailed). We could then work with sponsors and raise awareness about our trip and maybe setup a website where people could pitch in and buy halyard here or flare kit there. The funds would then go (what we didn't need to outfit the boat and food) to the charity or organization that we worked with. Hopefully the further we get, the more people will catch on and hopefully make a pledge or donation to the charity that we were working with.

I kinda liked that one since I would be able to combine two things I love doing: sailing and helping others. Helping people by sailing the world. Not a bad plan if I do say so myself...

I've done some charity work in the past and I would really like to be able to give back a bit more than I have lately. So many reasons not to. We're all busy. I'd like to change that though.. Anyhow, the project that I worked on most recently was an anti-suicide Public Service Announcement (PSA) in Maryland that my friend, Dan Gvozden, was the director and writer for (which can be found as a pure video here, the campaign here, and the facebook group here - BTW if you can get this film out there, we are still looking to put it in more school curriculums outside of Maryland). Before that, I was in a college service group and was an Eagle Scout so I'm familiar with service and charity work.

Anyhow, I think that if we can sail around the world and benefit others at the same time, that would be pretty clutch. Its all still a work in progress but I feel a bit more confident about accomplishing and achieving this dream of mine than when I started this blog.