Thursday, January 14, 2010

1000 Days at Sea - An Adventure for All

I have been enjoying the adventures of the 1000 Days at Sea Team ever since July of 2007. That was about Day 80 or so days into the ocean going adventure that officially began Day one leaving New York Harbor in April 23,2007.

The premise of this extended ocean journey has been to circumnavigate the globe on a boat (A 70 foot schooner) without stopping, restocking or resupplying for a thousand days. It has been a life long ambition of sailor Reid Stowe.

While this journey like many,  hasn't quite turned out as expected,it has been an adventure non-the-less with lots of interesting twists and turns of events. The schooner is now expected to return to New York in June of 2010.

What I have liked is watching the path of the Schooner Anne on Google Earth, discovering weather overlays and exploring surrounding land areas I had no real knowledge of before. In the early days, photos of the adventure were posted by Soanya. It was amazing to see how many shades of blue there were. When Soanya left the journey (about day 300) the photos were still posted but not with her practiced eye. Reid, however soon filled in the space with his art and interesting stories and reflections.

Recently, the several times weekly posts have decreased due to computer problems. Regardless, it is always interesting to read the updates and check out the Schooner Anne's position on Google Earth.

By following and understanding the components of an adventure that is not our, it can suddenly seem to become partly our own life and experiences. It can be a great break in our day to follow an epic journey or a time period progression (see The Uniform Project). It can be a window into a world that we never knew existed. It can be the catalyst for our own future adventures.

 
Other post on the Transition Your Life Blog about 1000 Days at Seas Adventure

900 Days at Sea 
Take A Desk Vacation
Seek to Enjoy All Things
600 Days at Sea
300 Days at Sea
Remote Island...Very Remote 

3 comments:

Fred said...

Thanks to Terry for introducing me and others to this incredible adventure. The log is very fascinating, such as how the great blue heron showed up at his schooner far from land and stayed with him for several days until the bird died. It does us good to broaden our horizons by participating in vicarious adventures like this.

I simply cannot imagine 1000 days at sea. My Dad and I went out to the Gulf Stream for one day in our flat-bottom boat back in 1965. Unlike Reid, we were poorly prepared with a taped on compass and a leaky bottom boat and not even aware what color the Gulf Stream is (it's dark indigo blue, not light green like we thought, so we had been in it a long time). We were rescued by the Myrtle Beach Rescue Squad at 11 PM later that night when we couldn't find our inlet. That was just one day at sea. I wonder if he'll be able to walk on land after feeling the waves under his feet for so long.

It was a real testament to his spirit and perseverence to keep going for this long in the seas. As Sonia said, you can't really fully appreciate the giant waves during the storm unless you're in them, but the photos were really graphic and the descriptions give us a good idea! I really loved reading through parts of their long log! There's also romance in using the sails as during the 19th century, so that they were more aware of the quiet and raw elements.

What a great true life adventure, and thanks to Terry for introducing it to me! When our oft office-bound lives become humdrum, we can escape our cabin fever by reading about the 1000 Days at Sea!

Susan said...

Very interesting adventure. Thanks for linking to me - I just added your blog to my link list.

transitionyourlife said...

Hi Susan:

I also really enjoy reading your MY2K blog. It is very informative and educational.


Your Fan Also:

Terry