New York City artist, adventurer and sailor Reid Stowe has less than one month left in his epic 1,000-plus-day non-stop, non-resupplied sea voyage aboard the 70-foot. gaff-rigged schooner, Anne. Originally scheduled to return to New York Harbor last winter, when the North Atlantic storms were at their peak, Stowe decided to sail with the variable winds and currents of the Atlantic doldrums instead, postponing his return until June 17, 2010, after logging 1,152 days at sea.
When he returns, Stowe will be accompanied by a flotilla of boats up the Hudson River to Pier 81 where he will set foot on land for the first time in over three years. He will reunite with his companion, Soanya Ahmad, who sailed with Stowe for the first 306 days of the voyage, and now holds the women’s record for the longest non-stop sea voyage. Stowe will also meet his two-year-old son, Darshen, for the first time. Ahmad returned to land because of the seasickness that resulted when she became pregnant with Darshen aboard Anne.
Stowe left port April 21, 2007 to embark on his “Mars Ocean Odyssey,” the name given to his voyage because it rivals a future mission to Mars in its length and isolation. Stowe’s primary motivation is “to take exploration on the sea further than anyone has before.”
Stowe maintains connection to life onshore via the Internet where his website is linked to thousands of followers who track his daily progress. On day 638 he wrote, “It takes more to live at sea than a good boat and all the preparations, skills and psychology than you can imagine. It takes the continued support of the loving consciousness of humankind.”
To read daily blogs from Anne, see her current location and hear audio clips, click here.
