Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea

After the 21-foot sloop Napoleon Solo sank in the mid-Atlantic, its skipper, Steven Callahan, survived 76 days at sea in a small rubber raft because more than anything else he refused to be The Man Who Cried U.N.C.L.E.

If you recognize and are groaning at that allusion to Ilya Kuryakin’s partner, all I can say is it certainly fits the tale told in Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost At Sea.

Callahan’s experiences in surviving the loss of his boat were brutal. By comparison, it’s almost as if Shackleton and his crew were quartered in the Antarctica Hyatt. In Adrift, Callahan suffers on a virtually daily basis physical torments and psychological stresses that are desperate. He tapped knowledge, ingenuity, tenacity, and a bit of luck to keep show more himself alive long enough to survive. I say, let us treat this man to the sweet ice cream, starchy baked bread, rich fruits and vegetables, sherried crab in flaky pie shells, chocolate pies, and cold beer that filled his fantasies as starvation ravaged his muscles but failed to vanquish his will.

While there may be better written survival stories out there, I’ve not seen any that excel his in its detailing of vivid privation and pushed-to-the-limit greatness. It’s also a book that explains how love of the sea put him out there in the first place and afterward returned him there again. It is filled with surprises. The way dorados punch the bottom of his rubber raft, targeting where he’s sitting. How piscine eyeballs compared to other items on his raft’s menu. I wonder if Steven Callahan orders them up these days when dining at seafood restaurants. I’m guessing probably not. show less

This book chronicles a harrowing 76 days lost at sea. Intriguing and awe inspiring, the book covers all the hardships he had to face - near starvation, body sores from being wet all the time (except when he was baked by the sun), lack of water due to equipment breakdowns, etc. The first couple times I read about the water stills not working and how he ingeniously repaired them, I was intrigued and amazed. By the 10th or 12th time, I was skimming.

Callahan relates his mental struggles to keep positive and to keep his brain thinking and planning. While well written, by the last quarter of the book it began feeling very repetitive.....as I guess your existence would be if all you focused on was trying to find food, water, and a ship to show more save you.

I read this for my non-fiction category in the FB challenge. show less

If you like Jack London you will enjoy this book. The author doesn't waste a lot of ink on his life before and after the 76 days which is often a problem with these first-person accounts. Nor does he prevaricate on the cause of his accident in the first place. You might think that 76 days alone on a raft plus knowing the outcome (spoiler alert: the author survives!) would make for a dull read but I felt a growing sense of dread as Callahan's situation went from bad to worse. There are very few books I can't put down. This was one of them.

First of all, let me be clear. I would NEVER have survived 76 days at sea. I wouldn't have survived 76 hours. Possibly 76 minutes. Steven Callahan is super human, or blessed, or both. You know the saying, "God takes care of children and fools"? I believe this holds true here.

He sets sail alone. His boat capsizes and he somehow gets a lot of his emergency supplies (lucky!) and gets into his raft in one piece. And he survives by catching and eating fish, including the eyes. Blech. I would so not have lived. Pass. Steven, you are a strong, strong dude with an especially strong stomach.

Much like his journey, it gets a bit repetitive, and he gets rather maudlin about the fish by the end, but overall a good true survival story, which is my show more jam. Steven, glad you made it home. What a crazy story you have to tell! 3.5 stars. show less

I bought this by accident after seeing a preview for the new movie Adrift that’s coming out in summer 2018. Turns out that’s a different tale of disaster at sea.

Anyway, this one is about a young guy in the 80s who is sailing solo from the Canary Islands to Antigua when something (likely an accidental whale strike) causes his sailboat to sink. He throw what supplies he can into the lifeboat and spends the next 76 days adrift.

It’s terrifying just to consider it for a single day!

Callahan writes beautifully about his time on “rubber ducky iii” and describes well his physical issues but more importantly his mental state and how he feels about what’s happening to him and his relationship to the ocean and the fish he observes show more alongside his raft. There’s plenty of technical detail too - including diagrams - that I admit I skimmed over in large part.

Not a book for everyone, certainly, but time well spent for me. show less

Callahan's description of his time at sea is filled with vivid details and beautifully written. I found the beginning eerie since things are going smoothly and appear calm but you know something is going to happen to his ship.

Adrift is as much a story of man's persistent nature as it is about the sea.

I read this book in one layed out afternoon after reading some of the reviews herein.
A fascinating read, and then bought the book on 'Sea Survival' Steven mentions, which probably saved Stevens' life from the knowledge gleaned from it.
The middle of the book somehow wanders (like chunks had been cut out and the continuity was not looked after afterwards), and yet the storyline builds dramatically in the last 1/3 to an almost mystical ending, (and I felt the mystical aspects could be written more fully if this book was ever revised).
This continuity in the middle part (of missing details of what was actually happening to Steven on the physical/ emotional/ mental levels) could have added to the story considerably.
An amazing story, that show more it is... and in some parts the writing could be better, yet the experience shared, moved me greatly . . . show less