No 'Land Ahoy!' for 1000 Days

by Sail-World Cruising/Adam Nichols, Daily News on 10 Jan 2009 Is he crazy? Or is he inspired? Is he the greatest adventurer of all time? Or is he just a nutty fame seeker? Whichever is true, Rick Stowe, who has been at sea for over 600 days now, and is going for achieving 1000 days without sighting land (except for once) is pressing on regardless.

Sail-World Cruising has been reporting on his progress for a couple of years now - see story and story.

And what a story it is. They departed New York on the 60 ton 70 ft gaff-rigged schooner called The Anne, in April 2007. Not long after departure with his sole crew, girlfriend and first mate Soanya Ahmad, they collided with a ship in the middle of the night, severely damaging the bowsprit. Undaunted, Reid jury-rigged a new, shorter one, and kept going. After 'doodling' around the Atlantic for a few months, the pair set off for the first of a planned three circumnavigations.

The passed the 100 day mark and the 200 day mark, and all seemed well. However, after the 300 day mark, Soanya opted out, claiming she had suffered 'recurrent and debilitating' seasickness since entering the stormy Southern Ocean in November.

'At times the nausea was enough to lay me flat and incapable of doing anything,' she wrote on their website. 'While I've adjusted to the environment a little more this past month, I am still prone to feeling horrible on and off. I feel two more years of this would not be good for me and so I have decided to leave the boat.'

As they happened to be within range of Perth at the time, The Anne waited about 15 nautical miles off Perth for Royal Perth Yacht Club general manager Stuart Walton to rescue Ms Ahmad. The boat wanted to maintain a position beyond sight of land so Mr Stowe could continue his attempt to break records.

'I have prepared for this for many years and have always said that I would go on alone if I had to,' he wrote.

Was she kidding? Or didn't she know? In July 2008, Soanya gave birth to a baby boy.

Since then, Reid has sailed solo through the Pacific Ocean, tracing the shape of a gigantic whale with his route. Now he's headed for the Horn, seeming completely content and fulfilled with his life and mission.

Good luck Reid, we'll be watching and wishing you well as you keep dipping lower to round the Horn.

Volunteers are keeping a website going to follow Reid's journey. Click www.1000days.net!here! to access it.