Steven Callahan

Steven Callahan (born in 1952) is an American author, naval architect, inventor, and sailor most notable for having survived for 76 days adrift on the Atlantic Ocean in a survival raft. Callahan recounted his ordeal in the best-selling book , which was on the New York Times best-seller list for more than thirty-six weeks [amazon.com [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0618257322 "Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea"] ]

Callahan departed from El Hierro in the Canary Islands on January 29, 1982, in "Napoleon Solo", a sloop he designed and built himself. He was bound for Antigua as part of the Mini Transat 6.50 single-handed sailing race from Penzance, England. Six days out on February 5, his vessel was damaged during a night storm and sank. In his book, Callahan writes that he suspects the damage occurred from a collision with a whale. He escaped in a small inflatable life raft and managed to bring with him an emergency kit containing some food, navigation charts, a torch, materials for collecting rainwater and a copy of Sea Survival. [ [http://www.cleveland.com/sundaymag/plaindealer/index.ssf?/sundaymag/more/tinkerbelle1.html "Cleveland sailor inspired survival at sea, its lessons"] , The Plain Dealer, August 14, 2005.]

The raft drifted westward with the South Equatorial Current and the trade winds. After exhausting the meager food supplies he was able to salvage from the sinking sloop, Callahan survived by eating mahi-mahi and triggerfish that he speared, along with flying fish, barnacles, and birds which all followed him across the ocean. He collected drinking water from two solar stills and various jury-rigged devices for collecting rainwater.

While adrift, he spotted at least nine ships in the two sea lanes he crossed, but he soon concluded that he could not expect to be rescued.

On April 21, 1982, the eve of his seventy-sixth day adrift, he spotted the island of Marie Galante, south east of Guadeloupe, and fishermen picked him up just offshore the following morning. During the ordeal, he faced sharks, raft punctures, equipment deterioration, and physical and mental deterioration. He survived the ordeal and continues to enjoy sailing.

A naval architect by training, Callahan holds U.S. patent 6739278 as the inventor of "the Clam", a folding rigid-bottom boat developed on the basis of his survival experience. [ [http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/sailing/04/22/clam.ppl/index.html "Sinking survivor designs life raft"] , CNN, April 22, 2002.]

Notes

References

Citation | last = Callahan | first = Steven | title = Adrift: 76 days lost at sea | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Company | year = 1986 | isbn = 978-1885283160 Citation | last = Ritter | first = Doug | title = Equipped to Survive Foundation - Board of Directors | newspaper = equipped.com | date = 2001-10-30
year = 2001 | url = http://www.equipped.org/etsfi_bod.htm#callahan
accessdate = 2007-08-15

Citation | last = Ritter | first = Doug | title = Equipped to survive - Steven Callahan Bio | newspaper = equipped.com | date = 2001-11-02 | year = 2001 | url = http://www.equipped.com/callahan_bio.htm
accessdate = 2007-08-15 Citation | last = Klein | first = Allison | title = Harrowing Survival Stories | newspaper = howstuffworks.com | url = http://travel.howstuffworks.com/survival1.htm | accessdate = 2007-08-15 Citation | last = Dortier | first = Jean-Francois | title = Survivre seul en mer | newspaper = scienceshumaines.com | url = http://www.scienceshumaines.com/articleprint2.php?lg=fr&id_article=5599 | accessdate = 2007-08-16 Citation | last = Guillerm | first = Luc-Christophe | title = Survivre en radeau: le defi psychologique de Steven Callahan | newspaper = Bulletin de psychologie | volume = 58 | issue = 479 | pages = 589-598 | year = 2005 | url = http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17232418 | accessdate 2007-08-16 Citation | last = Oaks | first = Tammy | title = Sinking survivor designs life raft | newspaper = cnn.com | date = 2002-04-22 | year = 2002 | url = http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/sailing/04/22/clam.ppl/index.html | accessdate 2007-08-16 Citation | last = Harkavy | first = Jerry | title = 'Adrift' author: Dinghy would have eased ordeal | newspaper = Burlington Free Press | url = http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/specialnews/outdoor/0502092045.shtml | accessdate 2007-08-16 Citation | title = Folding hard-bottom inflatable dinghy/lifeboat | newspaper = Wooden Boat Forum | url = http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=14210 | accessdate 2007-08-22 Citation | title = Worst nightmare travels | url = http://crazylinkz.blogspot.com/2007/02/worst-nightmare-travels.html | date = 2007-02-26 | accessdate = 2007-08-15 Citation | title = US Patent 6739278 - Folding rigid-bottom boat | url = http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6739278.html | date = 2004-05-25 | accessdate = 2007-08-15 Citation | title = US Patent 6684808 - Boat stability and directional-control device | url = http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6684808.html | date = 2004-02-03 | accessdate = 2007-08-16 Citation | title = Listing of available speakers | url = http://cruisingworld.com/article.jsp?ID=9459&typeID=398&catID=577 | newspaper = Cruising World | date = 2003-12-22 | accessdate = 2007-08-15 Citation | title = Steven Callahan | url = http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/catalog/authordetail.cfm?authorID=2552
newspaper = houghtonmifflinbooks.com | accessdate = 2007-08-15

Books by Steven Callahan

Citation | first = Steven | last = Callahan | title = Adrift: 76 days lost at sea | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Company | year = 1986 | isbn = 978-1885283160

Citation | first = Steven | last = Callahan | title = Im Atlantik verschollen. Der 76tägige Überlebenskampf eines schiffbrüchigen Segler | publisher = Schweizer Vlgshs., Zürich | year = 1987 | isbn = 978-3726364809 Citation | last = Nalepka | first = James | last2 = Callahan | first2 = Steven | title = Capsized: The true story of four men adrift for 119 days | publisher = Harpercollins | year = 1992 | isbn = 978-0060179618

Citation | last = Nalepka | first = James | last2 = Callahan | first2 = Steven | title = Gekentert. 119 Tage im Pazifik verschollen. | publisher = Schweizer Vlgshs., Zürich | year = 1993 | isbn = 978-3726366698 Citation | last = Howorth | first = Francis | last2 = Howort | first2 = Michael | title = The Sea Survival Manual | date = Foreword by Steven Callahan | publisher = Sheridan House

Articles by Steven Callahan

Citation | last = Callahan | first = Steven | title = The Life Raft: Don't Leave Your Ship Without It | newspaper = equipped.com (originally published in Ocean Navigator magazine) | url = http://www.equipped.com/callahan_life_raft1.htm | access-date = 2007-08-15 Citation | last = Callahan | first = Steven | title = The Proactive Emergency Craft | date = December 1995 | newspaper = Cruising World

Citation | last = Callahan | first = Steven | title = A Sea So Great, A Raft So Small | date = 1987-02-01 | newspaper = The New York Times | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5DF1631F932A35751C0A961948260 | access-date = 2007-08-16

Citation | last = Callahan | first = Steven | title = Reflections at the Water's Edge | date = 2002-07-01 | newspaper = Cruising World | url = http://cruisingworld.com/article.jsp?ID=200950&typeID=419&catID=0 | access-date = 2007-08-16 Citation | last = Callahan | first = Steven | title = Catamaran Overview: Catapulting to the Future | date = 1997-04-01 | newspaper = Cruising World | url = http://cruisingworld.com/article.jsp?ID=201081&typeID=397&catID=571 | access-date = 2007-08-16

ee also

* Dougal Robertson, survived 38 days adrift in the Pacific.
* Maurice and Maralyn Bailey, survived 117 days adrift in the Pacific.
* Rose Noelle, trimaran on which 4 people survived 119 days adrift in the South Pacific.
* Poon Lim, who survived for 133 days adrift in the Atlantic.