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"So this is what it feels like when a dream comes true!" I wrote those
words in my diary, shaken by the rapid events that had taken place in
just a few short days.
Twelve years earlier, Tom and I had formed a dream - to one day buy a
sailing boat and cross the oceans. We didn't have a dime to our name and
we were just kids but the dream was strong and the plan was simple. We
would build a business of some sort, get the money and go.
Years passed by and building a business to profit turned out not to be
so easy. Instead of gaining money, we were losing it and our boat was
just a vague shadow on an uncertain horizon.
One of those endless days of struggle, on a gray and rainy autumn
evening, we went to a bar to relieve pressure from the day's work. In
there, displayed behind a glass screen, was a model of an ancient ship.
"Come have a look," Tom said. "It's Columbus' boat." I stared at it in
awe and then realized, "That's it," I said, "that's the name of our boat
- Santa Maria."
The dream began to come alive again.. Breathing life into itself day by
day.. Yours can too.
The year was 1987, we had a dream, we had a name but we still had no
boat. Instead, our struggles took us through life in a rather dramatic
way, to places we hadn't planned and situations we hadn't anticipated.
Pursuing a dream proved tough, extremely tough, but also empowering,
joyful and educational.
 Now,
as I wrote the words in my diary, it was 1998, more than 10 years later.
We had gained other priorities but we had not forgot the dream of our
youth. We weren't millionaires yet but we had some funds saved and
suddenly there was a picture ad of a boat in the paper.
It was nothing fancy - an OŽDay coastal cruiser, 37 feet, 20 years old.
In our visions, we had expected to wait for something flashier,
something grander. But here she was and she was only $30,000 dollars. We
realized that this was our chance. We were going on a dangerous climbing
expedition the next year. Climbing high mountains had taught us that
life can end anytime. Therefore, dreams should not
 be
kept on hold. We had to go. And we had to go now!
It took just a few days of inspections and negotiating. And finally, one
evening, we assembled our friends and family in our kitchen. We raised a
toast to a long time dream of two people finally come true: To Santa
Maria.
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