Rancher looking for adventure discovers sailboat whose builder shared his dream

Dave Galdo is trading in cattle and cowboy boots for the open sea — embarking on a journey that the builder of his sailboat had dreamed of one day taking himself.

Over the summer, Galdo, 36, was ready to start a new chapter in his life, preferably one on the water. He sold his South Dakota ranch, herd of cattle, and truck, and bought Restless, a boat built by sculpture Bob Kingsland. In 1977, while recovering from a broken leg, Kingsland vowed that he would make his own boat and sail it around the world. Over 30 years, he put his heart and soul into Restless, writing on his website, "One of my primary objectives was to see something that made me smile every place my eye came to rest."

Kingsland died in 2012, before he could get Restless ready for open water. The boat remained in the backyard of his home in Scituate, Massachusetts, until Galdo — looking for a vessel that could take him on an around-the-world adventure — bought it. "To be able to take what he started and continue it is an honor," Galdo told The Boston Globe. "And the name he gave the boat fits me perfectly. It was waiting to be finished by someone who was restless."

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Galdo is looking forward to setting sail, with Florida as his first destination. "It's amazing the amount of stuff that was in my life," he said. "Now it's just this, which is a freeing feeling."