Look, the sea is terrifying, y'all. I love going to the beach, but the thought of open ocean is just a step too far for me. Stories like this probably don't help matters. One of my worst fears is being completely alone in the open ocean and not knowing what to do. It's one reason I will never sail alone, and this story just reinforces that fear.
Steven Callahan thought he was living the dream when he went sailing across the Atlantic ocean in his sailboat at 29. But that dream quickly turned into a nightmare and fight for survival.
In a piece written in The Guardian, Callahan explained, "Late that night, something - probably a whale or a large shark - smashed into the boat with a deafening bang, creating a hole in the hull. I woke up in my bunk, water thundering over me. Judging by the level it was coming in, I knew she was sinking fast."
Oh boy, see this is when I would probably have a panic attack and die. But Callahan found some dark humor in his sailing adventure turned fight for survival. He wrote, "I felt an odd mixture of sensations: fear, panic, even slight amusement at the fact that there was a camera attached to the back of the boat taking these dramatic shots of the storm, and my sinking boat, that no one would ever see. Then I snapped into autopilot."
From Sailing To Surviving
Time was of the essence. He quickly tried to pack his life-raft, but he realized that he would need to brave the depths. He explained, "I started to pack my life-raft but realised that I'd have to dive down into the cabin if I wanted to get essential survival items - water, food, flares, a spear gun and sleeping bag. The boat was almost completely submerged, but I held my breath and went under again and again."
The most I can hold my breath is about 30 seconds if that. So I would probably exit the story at this point. But Callahan survived while his sailing boat sank. On the life raft, he floated endlessly for 76 days. For the first time in perhaps his whole life, he felt the loneliness of open ocean.
He wrote, "That night, I huddled under the canopy of my 6ft circular raft with waves beating the sides, constantly baling out water with an old tin can. Just before dawn, the rope came free from the boat and I knew I was totally alone. I was now adrift in the middle of the Atlantic, 800 miles west of the Canaries but heading in the opposite direction. All I had was a little food and enough water for a few days."
So how did he survive? He fished with his spear gun, made water using a solar still, and tried to flag down help. He only had a pint of water a day. The weather became hotter, and he was constantly thirsty.
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He wrote, "I was spotted by some fishermen off Guadeloupe after they'd seen birds hovering over the raft. The fish guts that I had thrown back into the sea had attracted both seabirds and fish, and a whole eco-system had sprung up around my raft. By the time the fishermen reached me, I had lost a third of my body weight, and it was six weeks before I could walk properly again."
So count me out on sailing!
