An amateur sailor's plan for a record-breaking 1,000-day ocean voyage was
sunk Thursday when she jumped ship - because she felt seasick. Soanya Ahmad,
who had never been aboard a boat before meeting shipmate and boyfriend Reid
Stowe five years ago, was due to bail out at 2 a.m., only 306 days into the
odyssey.

Stowe will continue on alone, but his shipmate's decision ended his plans to
stay out of sight of land until his schooner reaches New York harbor in
2010.

"He's frustrated, I would say he's not particularly happy with
developments," said Joe Barello, a member of the trip's New York-based
support team.

"But he's going to take care of his friend, do the right thing, and then
continue with his dream."

Ahmad, 24, from Queens, and Stowe set sail from Hoboken, N.J., last April
aboard a schooner called the Anne.

She has wanted off the boat for five weeks, said Barello. It took this long
to make the arrangements. She was due to be picked up 11 miles off the coast
of Rottnest Island, near Australia, by members of a Perth-based sailing
club.

"They're not going to go to port, but they will be within sight of land,"
Barello conceded. "They wanted to do it further out, but there are some
strong gale-like winds."

Efforts to reach Ahmad by satellite phone yesterday were unsuccessful.
Writing on a blog from the schooner, she said, "The past three months have
been especially rough for me as we entered the Southern Ocean.

"I'm still prone to feeling horrible on and off. I feel two more years of
this would not be good for me."

"I felt really sorry for her," said Stowe, 56. "I felt she did the best she
could."

The voyage aims to beat the record for the longest ongoing sea voyage -
currently held by Australian Jon Sanders who sailed for 657 days. Sanders is
a member of the Perth club carrying out the rescue.

Stowe and Ahmad's trip has been criticized by many other sailors who
consider it ill-conceived, dangerous and irresponsible.

"Everyone ... no matter how critical they've been about the cruise, is
expressing relief that she's off the boat," said "Regatta Dog," a member of
Internet-based sailing group Sailing Anarchy.

"She had only experienced day sailing on the Hudson River. That she didn't
realize she was prone to seasickness shows how little Reid had prepared her
for the trip."

Barello said her decision has given rise to "mixed feelings."

"Soanya's happy to be getting off the boat and not being constantly
seasick," he said. "But they've been through a lot together and she's upset
about not being able to participate anymore."



=========================



Let's see;;; the Cappy must hang out on the ocean for two more years..
while his little tarp is back in NY.

Ya think she may be just a little tired of the Cappy?

I wonder if he packed a "blow up doll" for company.

"Roger Long" wrote
Well, the next couple years are really going to make the old adage apt for
that fellow.

One hand for the ship and one hand for yourself.

Aye. Seems he's made some new friends already:

http://1000days.net/home/index.php?o...51&Item id=70
Soanya's spirit is still on board, in our bed or perched on the gimbaled
pilot house bunk watching out the windows. Things she had to leave behind
are everywhere. Even before she left through out the voyage the spirits of
great sailors like Sir Peter Blake were looking over my shoulders saying
things like," Humph, Reid, you can do better. You have to be stronger than
that to sail a boat like this by yourself". Captain Cook dissed me. Sir
Chichester said,"Reid, lets have a sip of gin. Maybe things will go better."
I needed more support and who should come out of deep retirement wondering
where his sword and arrows were, but Ulysses.He was feeling a little testy
and said," Reid, I am here, have no fear. This is The New Voyage of
Ulysses."

"Roger Long" wrote:

Well, the next couple years are really going to make the old adage apt for
that fellow.

One hand for the ship and one hand for yourself.

Seems odd that it would take her almost a year to find out that she
was seasick. Could she be pregnant?

"Roger Long" wrote:
Well, the next couple years are really going to make the old adage apt for
that fellow.

One hand for the ship and one hand for yourself.

Now that was mean.

Rosalie B. wrote:
Seems odd that it would take her almost a year to find out that she
was seasick. Could she be pregnant?

I thought of that too, but it also seems likely that she was seasick
from the beginning and had a very plentiful supply of "medication"
which masks nauseau very well. Let's say neither of them is likely to
suffer from glaucoma any time soon, either. When the meds start
running low, problems begin!

DSK

On Sat, 01 Mar 2008 07:25:47 -0800, dougking888 wrote:


I thought of that too, but it also seems likely that she was seasick
from the beginning and had a very plentiful supply of "medication" which
masks nauseau very well. Let's say neither of them is likely to suffer
from glaucoma any time soon, either. When the meds start running low,
problems begin!

DSK

She did mention the Southern Ocean. She also lasted 306 days.
Personally, considering the circumstances, I think that's not bad.

"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
"Rosalie B." wrote


Seems odd that it would take her almost a year to find out that she
was seasick. Could she be pregnant?


Far from the most likely explanation on the basis of process of
elimination.

Think what else would you be sick of if you had been out there for that
year. You don't think a guy who would take a crumpet like that who he
just met on a voyage like this was doing his own washing, cooking,
cleaning up, etc. do you? Even if he was, does he strike you as someone
you would want to spend 1000 days with without even some scenery to ease
the boredom?

She should be on "Today" or "Good Morning America" soon so we'll find out.
Might be a smart move. She can (ghost) write her own book about terror at
sea and have it in the stores before he gets back (if).

--
Roger Long


==================

Roger,, I think the weather has effected you .. it has driven me over the
edge.

I"ve even changed my name...

What next .. who knows..

On the 1,000 days at sea.. I never could figure out the purpose of this.
If the Capt had stopped a few times and enjoyed the scenery etc, maybe he
would
still have a crewmate.

"Roger Long" wrote:

"Rosalie B." wrote


Seems odd that it would take her almost a year to find out that she
was seasick. Could she be pregnant?


Far from the most likely explanation on the basis of process of elimination.

Think what else would you be sick of if you had been out there for that
year. You don't think a guy who would take a crumpet like that who he just
met on a voyage like this was doing his own washing, cooking, cleaning up,
etc. do you? Even if he was, does he strike you as someone you would want
to spend 1000 days with without even some scenery to ease the boredom?

I don't know what either of them are like. I haven't read anything
about them at all. But having been pregnant several times - at least
once not realizing that it was morning sickness and thinking it was
the flu or something, it did occur to me.

I also read in one of Lynn Pardee's books that on one voyage her
seasickness lasted a lot longer than it usually did. (She was always
sick for a couple of days when they started out on any voyage.) She
eventually concluded that she was nauseated from tension. She didn't
understand why because it wasn't that they were going anywhere they
hadn't been or doing anything differently. But once she realized what
it was, the nausea went away.

I didn't realize until I read what she wrote that the same thing had
happened to me. I have rarely been motion sick. But the first time
we went down the ICW I was nauseated every morning. It was just like
being pregnant except no weight gain and no baby at the end..

She should be on "Today" or "Good Morning America" soon so we'll find out.
Might be a smart move. She can (ghost) write her own book about terror at
sea and have it in the stores before he gets back (if).

Ernest Scribbler wrote:

"Roger Long" wrote

Well, the next couple years are really going to make the old adage apt for
that fellow.

One hand for the ship and one hand for yourself.


Aye. Seems he's made some new friends already:

http://1000days.net/home/index.php?o...51&Item id=70
Soanya's spirit is still on board, in our bed or perched on the gimbaled
pilot house bunk watching out the windows. Things she had to leave behind
are everywhere. Even before she left through out the voyage the spirits of
great sailors like Sir Peter Blake were looking over my shoulders saying
things like," Humph, Reid, you can do better. You have to be stronger than
that to sail a boat like this by yourself". Captain Cook dissed me. Sir
Chichester said,"Reid, lets have a sip of gin. Maybe things will go better."
I needed more support and who should come out of deep retirement wondering
where his sword and arrows were, but Ulysses.He was feeling a little testy
and said," Reid, I am here, have no fear. This is The New Voyage of
Ulysses."

Sounds like ol' Reid may have had a sip too much gin already...

DT

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:06:07 -0500, dt wrote:

Ernest Scribbler wrote:

"Roger Long" wrote

Well, the next couple years are really going to make the old adage apt for
that fellow.

One hand for the ship and one hand for yourself.


Aye. Seems he's made some new friends already:

http://1000days.net/home/index.php?o...51&Item id=70
Soanya's spirit is still on board, in our bed or perched on the gimbaled
pilot house bunk watching out the windows. Things she had to leave behind
are everywhere. Even before she left through out the voyage the spirits of
great sailors like Sir Peter Blake were looking over my shoulders saying
things like," Humph, Reid, you can do better. You have to be stronger than
that to sail a boat like this by yourself". Captain Cook dissed me. Sir
Chichester said,"Reid, lets have a sip of gin. Maybe things will go better."
I needed more support and who should come out of deep retirement wondering
where his sword and arrows were, but Ulysses.He was feeling a little testy
and said," Reid, I am here, have no fear. This is The New Voyage of
Ulysses."

Sounds like ol' Reid may have had a sip too much gin already...

DT


Much as I hate to admit it but a comment on this might be exactly
Wilbur's forte.


Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct email address for reply)