76 Days Lost At Sea
Long before writing Adrift or consulting for Ang Lee on Life of Pi, Steven Callahan was an experienced sailor. He designed boats. He designed his own, Napoleon Solo, a 21 foot sailboat.
Like his childhood hero, Robert Manry, Steven set out to fulfill his dream of sailing solo across the ocean. He trained. Doing smaller sail races before taking Napoleon Solo across, first a test-run with his friend Chris traveling from Rhode Island to England. They had the time of their lives.
On the return voyage, he would finally set out on his own. Launching from Portugal, it was smooth beautiful sailing for the first week.
Solo sailing requires skill and discipline, there is no room for error. Steven slept in short bouts while managing his boat.
On the eve of February 4, 1982, he was traveling steady. He set his course and removed his clothes as he took his scheduled rest. He could not have foreseen the whale that swam by, going its own path, accidentally clipping the side of his boat.
In the middle of the night, there was a loud Boom. Within minutes, his small craft was flooded with a rush of water.
He grabbed what he could. He heaved his life raft into the ocean. He snatched his emergency kit. Desperately, he abandoned his beloved ship and entered the raft.
It was night. His boat was gone. Months of food and water and all his supplies, gone. The cold sea rippled beneath the raft chilling his exposed skin.
He was naked and alone on the wide black ocean.
The emergency raft was not designed to last long, it would begin leaking small amounts of air as soon as it was inflated, as all rafts do.
Every item in his emergency bag was sacred, irreplaceable. It would quickly deteriorate; like the raft, like himself.
He was seven days out from land. But the current flowed the opposite direction, pulling him deeper into the sea.
He was sinking. He had no food or water. Cold nights, scorching days, storms, the sharks could kill him just by puncturing the raft.
Every day was a puzzle he had to solve or die. Each small victory brought impossible new challenges; as he floated adrift, the complete length of the Atlantic Ocean, for 76 Days.
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
While going through some personal trials, I came across Steven’s book in a used bookstore. I bought it as a distraction. I figured I’d read a couple chapters and see how it was even possible to float completely across the Atlantic Ocean on an inflatable raft.
As I was reading I was surprised with all the connections I made with the author. A man still wrestling with who he was, having a difficult time relating to others and the world around him, looking to challenge the limits of what he could do sometimes beyond reason.
He found himself in an impossible situation. In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, in a life raft so small he could not stretch out completely. His raft broke and the air leaked out of the bottom tube. He was out of water and food. No one could find him and eventually no one looked – he was presumed dead. He was attacked by sharks at night.
It was hopeless and horrific. Eventually, rather than a slow and torturous demise, it seemed less dreadful to quietly let go of the raft and slip off into the ocean. Why hold on? Steven does not see himself as a hero. When I asked him about this, he simply said he was more scared of dying than comforted by it.
His predicament at that moment was worse than my own, but also relatable. So on that raft with nothing but over 1,800 miles of unpredictable ocean to cross and his problems completely and utterly overwhelming, what did he do? Throughout his story, it was always the same thing. He did the ONE thing in front of him he COULD do. Whatever that was. Then the next. Then the next. Focusing on one puzzle at a time and facing each triumph and failure as it came. Steven was forced to challenge his limitations in ways he never dreamt. And eventually, miraculously, those little things added up.
It is a great privilege that I was able to reach out to Steven and get his support and the rights to make this film. It has been a tremendous journey putting this together, step by step, getting it across the ocean.