Days before the Quest set off on its doomed trek across the Arabian Sea, Bill Rouse, a Texan attempting to sail around the world, made Quest owner Scott Adam an offer.

Pirate attacks had become so intense, that he and a group of yacht owners decided to transport their vessels across the Arabian Sea by cargo ship. Mr. Rouse and the others would fly to Turkey to reclaim their yachts. The cost was steep, $35,000 a piece. There was space for the Quest.

Mr. Adam declined. The Quest was planning to sail as part of a convoy for safety. Plus, circumnavigating the globe under his own steam "was a life-long quest," Mr. Rouse said Mr. Adam told him.

"He smiled," Mr. Rouse recalled, "because of the obvious pun."

Less than two weeks later, Mr. Adam, his wife, Jean and their two crew members Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle, were dead at the hands of Somali pirates.