Korean sailor makes waves for END POLIO NOW

Enjoying calm winds and peaceful Pacific waters, Seung Jin Kim dove off his 43-foot sailboat, the Arapani, to swim with some dolphins nearby. The serenity that day near the equator was a stark contrast to the 60 mph winds and 23-foot waves he had to fight around Cape Horn, the southern tip of South America. But Kim, a veteran sailor and member of the Rotary Club of Seokmun, in Chungcheongnam, Korea, expected such challenges when he set out in mid-October on a 25,600-mile journey around the world. In addition to fulfilling a lifelong dream, Kim is using the trip to raise awareness and funds -- his goal is $200,000 or more -- for Rotary's End Polio Now campaign.

He's now more than halfway through the voyage, which is expected to take eight months. As of 23 March, he'd passed South Atlantic and is now in the middle of the Indian Ocean en route to Western Australia. 

"I want to give people the belief and aspiration to create a better and more prosperous future," says Kim, who chose Sailing With Hope as the theme of his voyage. "Rotary is doing that with polio eradication, so I'm sailing around the world in support of the effort to wipe this disease from the face of the earth. I want people to know how close we are."

To spread the word, the Arapani carries a 68-foot mast whose sail is emblazoned with the End Polio Now logo. He hopes people who see the logo will be curious enough to look into his cause.

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