Comments on: 1000 Days Non-stop at Sea

1000 Days Non-stop at Sea

rmmcclay — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 12:26:52 -0800

Reid Stowe and Soanya Ahmad have embarked on a 1000 day journey aboard a 60 foot schooner named Anne which Reid built. They will remain beyond sight of land and will not be resupplied during the voyage. Reid has considerable experience as a sailor, having first sailed at 20 to Tahiti from Hawaii...and later building a a catamaran which he sailed across the Atlantic.

By: aladfar

aladfar — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 13:03:39 -0800

Interesting. Reminds me a bit of Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki expedition.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 13:44:37 -0800

For personal reasons I'm excited to hear about a couple of young people sailing around the planet on a schooner. My father did that in 1949 with three friends, who later became my godfathers. One of the men, William Ward Vickers, just published his excellent and entertaining memoir of the 5 year trip around the world, On Wits and Wind. Am looking forward to exploring the 1000 Days at Sea site. Thanks rmmcclay. Wishing Reid and Soanya bon voyage!

By: matty

matty — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 13:45:54 -0800

It'll be fun to follow the daily photos and videos - especially up to Day #666, the day Reid flips out (aka loses his shit) and starts to plot Soanya's untimely demise. After reading the blog, something about it seems CREEPY.

By: T.D. Strange

T.D. Strange — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 14:52:09 -0800

ehh, call me in 3 years when they're back. or in 14 months when one of them goes insane and kills the other.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 14:52:44 -0800

matty, I'm curious as to what prompted you to say "CREEPY". The black background isn't my cup of tea it's true. Here's their other site. Now I've read the blog it seems quite inspirational: "This amazing attempt at living self sufficiently on the watery part of the planet for a thousand days at sea". and "Because the voyage will involve a similar length of time as travel to Mars and poses similar human endurance issues, Reid sees the 1000 Days Non-Stop at Sea project as a space analogous expedition, and published an article in 1990 titled, "Seafarers of today can provide a role model for spacefarers of tomorrow." Apparently they will not refuel, not re-supply and will not pull into any harbor. It is hard to live in close quarters with anyone, especially in times of stress, such as on mountaineering treks etc. But the couple seems to have lived together over a year already and the boat has been Reid's home for 27 years. They seem to be level-headed. I think it's a cool, worthwhile and brave adventure they are endeavoring to accomplish.

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 16:11:03 -0800

I've never heard of anyone being at sea 1000 days. That presents a lot of problems on many levels, for one, maintaining the hull of the ship. In one picture she was making a fresh salad.. ahh.. the salad days.. then the rotten banana days.. then the vitamin pill and rice days.

By: Aloysius Bear

Aloysius Bear — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 16:27:54 -0800

I can see why Matty thought it creepy. They evidently write their blog entries themselves, but refer to themselves in the third person as two "extraordinarily unique individuals" and so on.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 17:22:40 -0800

ah, that's an interesting point. I get the feeling the blog was on partly written by Reid and Soanya because there are statements like "We all join in wishing Reid & Soanya: Bon Voyage, Godspeed, and Smooth sailing for a Thousand Days!" There is a "Staff mailing list Staff@1000days.net", which makes me think the blog is a group effort. Yes, it will be interesting to see how the food issue is managed. It's an experiement/adventure...they'll find out.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 18:08:09 -0800

*not on partly, only partly written by Reid and Soanya and not experiement, but experiment. drat no edit function.

By: wilful

wilful — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 04:07:23 -0800

I still have to ask why.

By: Inkoate

Inkoate — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 09:20:14 -0800

Ok, I'll be honest, I'm also getting a creepy vibe. But, the creepy vibe I'm getting is that the captain here is 55, and his "first mate/girlfriend" is 23, in addition to which each picture we see of her, she just looks vaguely worried, but forcing a smile (which I suppose makes sense, if you're about to leave on a 1000 day journey on a boat. Three years without touching land would make me a bit nervous too, and I'd like to do some long haul sailing at some point in my life. Still, it's a bit odd. In any case, I'll wish them fair winds and following seas, and hope they return safe.