Lost at Sea: “Surviving Hell with a Vision of Heaven”

Real accounts of being lost at sea has served as inspiration for Movies and Books. Image: Unbroken.

After 75 long days and 75 -even longer nights Steven saw what he had not seen in over 2 and half months...lights on an island...sights of land. During all that time no one had heard nor seen him....and he had heard and seen from no one.

“In the wilderness... your are really on your own,” Steven Callahan told Kick Arse.com Radio Podcast this January. Today Steven is a recognized International Expert in Ocean Survival but in 1986 he drifted over 1,800 miles from waters near the Coast of Africa to the Caribbean alone in a basic liferaft. The official story says he was rescued by fishermen of Guadalupe Island but listening to him speak today it becomes pretty clear he rescued himself from a situation which would have killed almost everyone. But why is Steven´s story still today so relevant?

If you are among those sailors who believe that fancy GPS and modern Emergency systems and fool proof and that recent technological innovations have erased the words “Lost at Sea” from the press you would be completely off line.

This year...On January 28 the Spanish Government rescued 49 migrants after coordinating search and rescue operations with Moroccan authorities.  On January 12 Australian Press reported that Sailor Alan Langdon from New Zealand and his 6 year old daughter were found alive in Australia after being lost at sea for 27 days. That same week Sarasota Magazine reported that local waters of Florida are Beautiful but Deadly. “Every year, Florida boaters are injured, killed or lost at sea. It doesn’t have to be that way”.

“Lost at Sea” reports rise in the International Media week after week non-stop. Divers, Sailors, Explorers, Immigrants, Fishermen, Tourists, the list goes on and on. Unfortunately many of those Lost at Sea do not make it.

Canada Coast Guard reported on February 1 that people has been lost to the sea “everywhere in Shelburne County”. “In an area made up of small fishing communities, there are few people who have been untouched by the loss of a life to the sea,” the Coast Guard of Canada reported.

The US Coast Guard 2015 Accident Statistics Release on Recreational Boating Accidents reveal a total of 4,158 accidents in Sailing which resulted 626 deaths, 2,613 injuries and caused 42 million USD dollars in property damages. The numbers are on the rise compared to 2014 by 2.5% on average. Inexperience, lack of safety instructions, lack of safety training and proper safety gear has been linked to the tragic numbers.

Surviving at sea is "living in another World," Steven Callahan says. You get “a view of Heaven from a seat in Hell.”

“..it’s a funny thing about the survival experience - there are mixed feelings. It’s like you’ve been king of your own World, and you’ve been seeing things and witnessing things that you never could have in any other way. There’s a kind of nostalgia for it when it’s over,” Steven says during his public speaking engagements.

Steven Callahan describes himself as “Sailor, Boat Designer, Ocean Survivor and Author”. Callahan is also known for having collaborated in the movie Life of Pi. Perhaps more interesting is the fact that he holds US Patents for boat stability and directional control device, patents for Folding Rigid-Inflatable Boat FRIB and a patent for a Folding Rigid-bottom Boat FRB. His designs for ocean security are based on his survival experiences. His liferafts are not designed to survive but actually to thrive in complete ocean isolation. Fishing and even sailing is possible in his inventions.

But does it take a special something to survive 76 days at sea? Is Callahan a rare specimen of nature with the unique ability to adapt to a situation that is literally terrifying as well as desperate. No not at all. In fact his 76 days at Sea do not top the record of Ocean Drifting.

In 2014 Salvador Alvarenga reached Marshall Islands after having drifting over 6 thousand miles and a staggering 438 days -more than a year. In 2006 three fishermen from Mexico Salvador Ordonez, Jesus Vidana and Lucio Rendon reached land after being swallowed by the Pacific Ocean for over 286 days. In 1942 Poon Lim survived 133 at Sea after the ship he was on was sank by a U-Boat torpedo. Maurice and Maralyn Bailey survived 117 days after being rammed by a whale. And the list goes on...

John Glennie, Phil Hoffman, Rick Hellriegel and Jim Nalepka  survived 119 days at sea in 1989.  “These four men were in good enough shape that they had a tough time convincing authorities that they had indeed been adrift for 119 days,” Steven explains the paradox of social disbelief to Ocean surviving.

Ocean survivors are not only doomed and overwhelmed by the psychological impact of the experience of surviving but strangely tend to have a whole new bag of problems when they reach back home. International press attention is but just one of those problems. The thing is that when a person who has been missing for a long period of times Lost at Sea washes up on firm land people and Authorities have questions, lots of questions. While some are just happy for them to be around others are in doubt.

Alvarenga who survived more than 400 days at sea was accused of cannibalism, Mexicans Salvador Ordonez, Jesus Vidana and Lucio Rendon were accused of drug trafficking, John Glennie, Phil Hoffman, Rick Hellriegel and Jim Nalepka were accused of staging the story and just recently Alan Langdon who survived 27 days at sea -without a rudder with her 6 year old daugher now faces custody charges for illegally leaving the country with her daughter.

Land problems are a handful but ocean survival problems are the kind of problems that one either gets down to work on them or they will take of you.

“First, take care of the worst, and the best takes care of itself. Secondly, at sea Murphy proves to be an optimist. Typically, in reacting to a crisis, about 15 percent of people either panic or become completely inactive. Another roughly 15 percent of people will show strong leadership qualities. Two-thirds of untrained people can become productive, but without guidance they may act too slowly or not at all. Some even turn to useless familiar activities, like cleaning up,” Steven explains.

Intelligent investment and reasonable thinking is priority. The ability of split psicology -diferenciating emotions from thoughts key.

Callahan safety training is as literal as it gets. He provides a real insights on what it is like surviving at sea.

“True, most ocean survivors are now picked up within 48 hours, but that can seem interminable, and even they can benefit from the confidence gained from being prepared for a longer experience. Besides, long-term survival drifts remain common decade after decade. EPIRBs malfunction. There are huge swaths of the earth where you can be days away from any rescue, even if someone knows where you are. So how can you make a living out there?,” Steven asks.

Incredibly Steven managed to create a drifting ecosystem which was able to feed him for the months he spent at open ocean. Using lines he fostered growth of basic sea organisms which in turn attracted the attention of fish on which he fed.

The expert compares Transatlantic experiences with Climbing mountains. In the case of crossing an ocean alone once your sailboat goes down into the deep abyss Steven says it is like climbing a mountain with broken legs.

“Don’t focus too much on getting down the mountain with broken legs, but upon negotiating the immediate obstacle, getting around that rock, crawling the next yard,” Callahan says.

“Eventually, the island that is your liferaft will develop an ecosystem upon which you will depend on for sustenance. It takes great patience and practice to learn how to live off the sea like an aquatic caveman, but it is your goal to reach a point where you can continue your survival voyage indefinitely,” he explains.

Despite dealing with fears, depression and life threatening situations, heat stroke, dehydration, chronic malnutrition and other sufferings Callahan assures that there is something else out there.

“A view of Heaven from a seat in Hell,” Callahan his words echo. Perhaps we will never know what it is like out there, minute after minute, hour after hour and perhaps it is better that way.  

“I still don’t regret my 76 days alone in the raft. To this day I feel enlightened by what I went through because it changed me for the better. But would I want to be adrift in the ocean again? No way.”