| In 1994, Herbert Stuemer was the co-owner of a successful advertising business, living a normal suburban life with his wife and three children. But everything changed after he had a serious accident, and his wife Diane, was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a potentially fatal skin cancer. Soon the couple embarked on a re-evaluation of their priorities and a search for a way to live life more fully. In 1997 they sold their business, rented out their home, took their three sons, then aged 5, 9 and 11 out of school, and set out on an ambitious four-year plan to navigate around the world by sailboat. Their entire sailing experience at the time consisted of six afternoons of sailing on the Ottawa River on a 23-foot boat. When they departed Ottawa in September of 1997, the Stuemers had never even once sailed Northern Magic, the 42-foot, 39-year-old steel ketch they had purchased and refitted for the world-circling voyage.
This is a story of a family who made a decision to live life with passion and let nothing stand in the way of their great dream. As they learned how to sail and cope with life at sea on a cramped and tiny boat, they overcame many obstacles – including two deadly storms in which other boats and lives were lost, a close encounter with waterspout, a lightning strike, an arrest at gunpoint, surgery in Sri Lanka, pirates, the terrorist bombing of an American naval destroyer in Yemen, dysentery in Sudan, and a difficult crossing of the stormy North Atlantic. Yet at the same time they found new closeness as a family and a profound realization about their role in the world. |
 |
 |
During the voyage, Diane wrote weekly dispatches for the Ottawa Citizen newspaper, generating more response from the public than any series in the paper’s history. When the Stuemers began getting involved with local people – finding a teacher for a small island in the South Pacific, helping volunteer veterinarians care for endangered orangutans in Borneo, and providing school fees for poor African village children – readers from all over North America began to participate as well.
By the time the family returned to Ottawa, in August of 2001, more than 3000 people lined the shores of the Ottawa River to welcome them home. Shortly after they returned home from their trip, Diane started the Fund with two other friends, Karen Hooper and Diane King, in 2002. Sadly, Diane passed away in 2003, a recurrence of her melanoma and Herbert stepped in as President. Herbert is passionate about carrying home the message of how ordinary people can achieve great dreams and make a difference in the world. He continues to remain involved and raise funds for their two projects in Indonesia and Kenya. |
