BAR HARBOR, Maine — Two and a half months. 76 days. 1,824 hours. 109,440 minutes. An eternity.
No matter how you measure it, surviving for that amount of time in the open ocean in a 6-foot raft with minimal supplies takes endurance, ingenuity, the will to survive, and perhaps a little luck.
In 1982, Steven Callahan of Lamoine set out on a sailing adventure across the Atlantic in a 21-foot sailboat. The Napoleon Solo had been designed and built by Callahan himself in Lamoine.
Callahan sailed the boat from Rhode Island to Bermuda, solo. From Bermuda, he and his sailing partner Chris Latchem sailed Napoleon Solo to Cornwall, England, before parting ways, with Callahan continuing on alone for the next part of his adventure.
Then, five days out from the Canary Islands and 500-600 miles away from any shore, Callahan encountered a severe storm. During the storm, Callahan struck what he thought must have been a whale, causing catastrophic damage to the Napoleon Solo.
With only minutes before the boat sank into the Atlantic, Callahan gathered what he could and took it with him into his 6-foot raft, embarking on an 1,800-mile fight for survival.
Along with his intelligence, ingenuity, and will to survive, Callahan had four items that would help him through that long drift: a short spear gun bought on the spur of the moment at one of his earlier coastal visits during the trip, and three solar stills from around the Vietnam era.
Those stills produced, in total, about one pint of water per day, or about half of the amount the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says an adult man needs to drink daily.
Two and a half months, or 76 days later, Callahan was rescued about 140 miles off the coast of Marie-Galante, which is roughly 140 miles from Antigua.
Much of the information above comes from Robert Sennott, an executive producer of “76 Days Adrift,” a documentary about Callahan’s survival on the ocean that will be screened at Reel Pizza in Bar Harbor.
“There is so much social profit in this movie,” Sennott said. “I don’t care how much money it makes, but I deeply care about the social profit.”
Sennott and Callahan went to high school together and while not the best of friends, they were both on the school’s track team. Sennott was very much aware when Callahan was lost at sea and when he was rescued. He followed his post ordeal appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, his book’s publishing, how he made a life for himself as a consultant to sailors and movies, and became the senior editor of Cruising World magazine.
Callahan’s book about his survival, his ordeal, titled “Adrift: 76 Days Lost At Sea” spent more than 36 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list.
Having been involved in movie production before, Sennott says that he had a “Field of Dreams” moment about five years ago and knew that if a movie about Callahan’s ordeal could be made properly, the viewers would come.
Joe Wein the director and producer of “76 Days Adrift” had also thought that Callahan’s story would make a great movie and by the time Sennott hooked up with him, Wein had already recorded 25 hours of interview with Callahan at Callahan’s Lamoine home.
The rest was movie-making history.
The film has been earning widespread acclaim and consistently selling out screenings at numerous prestigious festivals and art-house theaters.
At the DOC NYC, the largest documentary film festival in the country, “76 Days Adrift” stayed in the top-ten most popular films for each day it was available. Then, it hit the #1 spot. History happened in real time.
The history of the film’s making includes the film makers teaming up with Executive Producer Ang Lee. The Academy Award-winning Lee is known for such movies as “Life of Pi,” “Brokeback Mountain” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
Callahan had worked with Lee as a consultant on “Life of Pi.” Deeply moved by the profound resilience and emotional depth of Callahan’s remarkable survival story, Lee joined Wein as executive producer.
That history also includes a detailed recreation of the story using recorded interviews, original 8mm film that was taken on the Napoleon Solo prior to the disaster, previous news coverage as Callahan’s saga unfolded in 1982, and painstaking recreation of events using items authentic to what Callahan used.
Wein actually plays Callahan in the movie for the raft scenes which feature shots from under the water. The total effect of the scenery in the film both under the water and out of the water combine to make what, according to Sennott, is an “amazing confluence of nature.”
All 105 minutes of the film are set to an original soundtrack composed by Patrick Stump, lead singer of Fall Out Boy. The score was recorded by the Royal Scottish Orchestra and plays behind the narration done by Callahan himself.
When the credits roll, standing up is a challenge as Stump’s cover of Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger” starts to play, a fitting end to a remarkable story.
“76 Days Adrift” will be playing at Reel Pizza Cinerama in Bar Harbor, Friday, Oct. 10, through Thursday, Oct. 16. All showtimes are 6:45 p.m.
This story was originally published by The Bar Harbor Story. To receive regular coverage from the Bar Harbor Story, sign up for a free subscription here.
