Unable to stay aboard Napoleon Solo as it filled with water and was overwhelmed by breaking seas, Callahan escaped into a six-man Avon inflatable life raft, measuring about six feet (1.8 m) across. In his book, Callahan writes that he suspects the damage occurred from a collision with a whale. In a growing gale, seven days out, his vessel was badly holed by an unknown object during a night storm, and became swamped, although it did not sink outright due to watertight compartments Callahan had designed into the boat. He departed from El Hierro in the Canary Islands on January 29, 1982, still headed for Antigua. Callahan made repairs and continued voyaging down the coast of Spain and Portugal, out to Madeira and the Canaries. Bad weather had sunk several boats in the fleet and damaged many others including Napoleon Solo. He had left Cornwall that fall, bound for Antigua as part of the Mini Transat 6.50 single-handed sailing race from Penzance, England, but dropped out of the race in La Coruña, Spain. Main article: Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at SeaĬallahan departed from Newport, Rhode Island, United States, in 1981 on the Napoleon Solo, a 6.5-metre (21 ft) sloop he designed and built himself, single-handedly sailed the boat to Bermuda, and continued the voyage to England with friend Chris Latchem. The last time I lost my boat, had I been able to beam reach, I could have shortened my drift from 1,800 miles to 450 had I been able to sail even dead downwind but increase speed to a moderate 2.5 knots, I would have been afloat 25 days rather than 76 had I been able to do both I would have sailed to safety in a mere 6 or 7 days." Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea Ĭallahan asserts that "It certainly would be nice to have a completely different kind of raft now, what the French call a "Dynamic" raft, meaning the thing sails. The Clam is a multifunction self-rescue dinghy, designed for use as a proactive lifeboat (as well as a yacht tender) that allows the sailor to sail to safety. The initial model FRIB, called "The Clam" was developed on the basis of his survival experience. 6367404) and a Folding Rigid-bottom Boat (FRB) (Patent No. 6684808) a Folding Rigid- Inflatable Boat (FRIB) (Patent No. patents: a drogue-like boat stability and directional-control device (Patent No. Callahan recounted his ordeal in the best-selling book Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea (1986), which was on The New York Times best-seller list for more than 36 weeks. In 1981, he survived for 76 days adrift on the Atlantic Ocean in a liferaft. Steven Callahan (born 6 February 1952) is an American author, naval architect, inventor, and sailor. Surviving for 76 days adrift on the Atlantic Ocean Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea Author, naval architect, inventor, and sailor
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