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TO MEET CHILDREN AROUND THE WORLD BOAT PARADE SEND-OFF FROM MARINA HARBOR SET FOR SEPT. 14 MARINA DEL REY, CALIF. (SEPT. 5, 1997) -- Marina del Rey voyagers Jim Sullivan and Kristine Maas have quit their careers, sold their belongings and will be embarking on a three-year mission of friendship and goodwill beginning next Sunday, September 14. The couple will navigate their 30-foot sailboat, the Elusive, to ports of call around the world to visit terminally ill children on a trip entitled "Ocean Friends The Voyage." A log of their trip will be posted to a Web site located at http://www.oceanfriends.org, where online users will be able to follow their progress. A bon voyage party will begin official send-off festivities on September 14 at 10 a.m. at Tahiti Way Marina slip A-617. At noon, there will be a boat parade send-off as the couple sets sail for Catalina on the first leg of their trip. The Ocean Friends crew is scheduled to meet their first group of new friends at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco on September 29. "The goal of our voyage is to visit hospitalized children for a week or two and create a network of 'ocean friends,'" explains Sullivan. The crew will listen to the children's life stories and post them to the Ocean Friends Web site, where others who face similar challenges can share their experiences. "We hope that by spending time with the kids we meet and sharing stories through our Web site we will make a difference in their lives and those of many more who we'll meet virtually," says Maas. Ocean Friends Web specialist Dean Urban will update the Ocean Friends Web site with weekly latitude and longitude readings and logs from Sullivan and Maas as they are transmitted back to shore with the latest communications technology.
Ocean Friends The Voyage is self-funded with merchandise and assistance from various Los Angeles sponsors. The organization has created a sponsorship program and welcomes the support of other companies and individuals that want to help. Grace McCallum, Ocean Friends onshore Hospital and Event Coordinator, is managing sponsorship and hospital visits at various ports of call. For more information or to become a sponsor, send email to mailto:oftv@oceanfriends.org, call Grace McCallum at (800) 533-1656 or visit the Web site at http://www.oceanfriends.org.
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