Last night we held a private send-off reception and revealed the Virtual Shipmates would will join us as we sail across the Atlantic Ocean. We wanted an occasion for local supporters, crew, and family join us, as we paused our preparations for departure, and recognize the importance of the moment.
Officially, we began the global voyage last summer, with the East Coast Expedition, visiting 5 ports in the United States. Atlantic Crossing Adventure aims to build upon the success of the previous voyage: a different vessel, a larger crew, international port stops, additional content and live interactions with our audience while offshore. We’ve continued to build our crew of Virtual Shipmates in the past year and we are proud to be welcoming them all onboard for this year of sailing adventures.
It was only fitting that our event last night allowed us to meet a few Virtual Shipmates in person, who helped us reveal the banners of names that we will lash to the rails of Ingwe. Each name represents someone affected by epilepsy who has decided to take One More Step towards living a fuller life. Jen, who is taking One More Step by raising awareness about epilepsy, and Teresa, who is taking One More Step by living a healthier lifestyle, joined Phil during a brief presentation to our guests. 313 people living in 17 different countries have become Virtual Shipmates and we look forward to sharing some of their inspirational epilepsy journeys while we’re underway. The recent addition of a high speed satellite system to Ingwe will allow us to connect by live video with our Shipmates, as well as conduct Saturday Q&A sessions live on Facebook. We look forward to showing you what life is like onboard and answering any questions you may have.
We thank everyone that was able to join us last for the reception. You helped us mark this important next step in the Sail For Epilepsy global voyage and it was wonderful to spend time together.
We’re looking forward to getting underway tomorrow at 11am ET (GMT -4). Shortly after we depart we’ll go live on Facebook so you can join us as we head out to sea.