The journey has ended and Kijana is for Sale

by Jesse Martin & Josh Schmidt on 3 May 2003 This is just a note to say thanks for the support you guys have been to me personally and to all of us involved with Kijana. The trip from my perspective has been a life changing event, a true journey of young people. We went looking for adventure and we found it in places I never expected to find it.

I’m sorry for any of you who feel let down that I will no longer be onboard.

The Journey of Kijana has been about chasing dreams and I hope everyone is still encouraged to do the same. It’s just that sometimes the journey doesn’t go in the direction you expected.

I hope our footage will make it to your television screens and explain in detail the direction our journey has taken.

I’m working through the hours and hours of video we have until something gets made. Until then thanks for taking an interest in our dream and all the best for what ever your dreams may be.

Jesse

A final note from Josh

They say it's the journey and not the destination that counts, and what an amazing journey it was.

When I think back on The Journey of Kijana, all I can think is what a brilliant opportunity and an amazing year it was. It is sad that the journey has been cut short by one year, but I never expected to be involved in such an event and am grateful for every moment while sailng. Over the year of sailing we lived with Australian Aboriginals, Indonesian Dyaks and perhaps the biggest culture shock of all...each other.

It was a unique event with the use of the website, Apple's onboard editing system, Telstra's sattelite systems enabling weekly video diary entries and the young crew, it was the first of its kind and as such, a lot of lessons were learnt and everyone involved feels richer for their part in it.

Thank you to everyone who's been involved...sponsors, friends, family and all the people who provided support and feedback along the way. They say it takes a whole village to raise a child. Thanks for being our village over the last two years. Kijana has taught me a lot, and made me who I am today. The support received is something I'll remember forever. Especially all the sponsors willing to believe in a dream and get behind a bunch of young people.

In my eyes I will always deam the journey a success, for the people it reached and the idea that it was. We haven't been able to secure the extra support needed to continue the journey but the barrage of supportive emails has been priceless, and shows me that there are a lot of good people out there willing to give young people a shot.

Dreams change and some dreams fade, but for me The Journey of Kijana was about the quiet days, sitting at the back of the boat, sailing through life with 4 other great friends, and the powerful opportunity of being able to share what we saw with others through the web, Herald Sun and the footage that we are currently editing on the journey.

The yacht Kijana is currently on the market in Thailand and such a rare and beautiful boat will most likely sell pretty quickly. If you know anyone in the market for a yacht tell them to check out the pics of the boat on kijana.net and email us at info@kijana.net.

Kijana has ended, but it does so with a knowing that Kijana has been just one amazing learning experience in the greater journey of life.

Thanks for being a part of The Journey of Kijana.

Josh