Nothing could have prepared award-winning documentarian Keith Famie for terminally-ill cancer patient Maire Kent.

What began as a documentary interview evolved into great friendship as 23-year-old Maire, who was facing a lonely final year on earth, found genuine care and concern in Keith. He became giver of unconditional support, promise keeper, and helper on her journey from abandonment to connectedness.

After her death, blind master carpenter George Wurtzel crafted a small pine sailboat to carry her ashes to the ocean. The little vessel's journey would touch the lives of...