Reid Stowe and 1000 Days at Sea - Reality Check

900 DAYS

2009-10-08T21:28:00.001-07:00

Review the objectives/goals Reid set for himself and his voyage, check off the accomplishments.

Reid's Child Support Obligation Paid

2009-01-03T08:09:00.000-08:00

It appears as though Reid Stowe has recently satisfied his child support obligation. A search of the State Child Support Enforcement Warrant Notice System database shows no outstanding warrants any more -- http://appsext8.dos.state.ny.us/csewarrants_public/cse_search.

Reid Falsely Claims Beating Jon Sanders' Record

2008-06-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, June 14th, 2008 - Day 421, Reid claims in his post at 1000 days at sea:

Jon Sanders, who I have often spoken about held the 1st and 2nd place records for the longest sea voyages in history. His 2nd place sea voyage of 419 days 22 hours and 10 minutes I have just surpassed.

According the the record as quoted in Wikipedia, the record Reid claims to have beaten is:

Longest period alone at sea during a continuous voyage: 419 days: 22 hours: 10 minutes

Wiki Article on Jon Sanders

On day 420, Reid had only been ALONE at sea for 113 days. He had Soanya aboard for the first 307.

Reid Likely Dumper Over 16 Tons of Human Waste Directly Into the Hudson River

2008-03-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

On November 14, 2005, an inspector with the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation responding to a complaint interviewed Reid Stowe, and inspected the schooner Anne while docked at Pier 63 in NYC. The inspection found two functional marine toilets that flushed directly into the Hudson River (images of documents below).

Assuming these heads were utilized, Reid Stowe dumped over 800 pounds of solid human waste and over 4,000 gallons (roughly 33,000 pounds) of liquid human waste directly into the Hudson.

The measures above are based on an actual study of daily averages of human waste from, coincidentally, the National Space Society (http://www.nss.org/settlement/moon/library/LB2-611-WasteProcessing.pdf).

The numbers are based on an assumption of 10 years and only include Reid. A number of additional people lived on board during those years and there were also many volunteers, supporters and friends who spent time on the boat and, if factored in, would make the actual pollution numbers substantially higher.

Click on images to enlarge --

No Records Set

2008-03-03T14:28:00.000-08:00

From a 1000 Days at Sea press release dated Feb. 22, 2008:

Reid Stowe has broken or plans to set the following records:

- Longest man and woman sea voyage
- Longest consecutive time at sea for a woman
- Longest time out of sight of land
- Longest non-stop American sea voyage.
- Longest space analogous experiment on the ocean

* Longest man and woman sea voyage &
* Longest consecutive time at sea for a woman -

Miles and Beryl Smeeton logged over 100,000 miles at sea
Steve and Linda Dashew over 200,000 miles
Robert and Nancy Griffeth over 170,000 miles
Noel & Litara Barrott 80,000 miles
Anthony and Coryn Gooch 115,000 miles

There are other examples where couples have been at sea for long durations including wives of whaling captains who accompanied their husbands on voyages that would last for years. A single example of this is Captain John Reynolds and his wife Hattie were at sea together for over 10 years. It is also important to note that contemporary women sailors have successfully completed solo circumnavigations.

* Longest time out of sight of land

Jon Sanders holds this record at 657days. When dropping off Soanya, they were about a half mile from shore. A spokesperson for their own shore team admits they were in sight of land.

* Longest non-stop American sea voyage.

Again, there have certainly been American whaling vessels that have been at sea longer, but that is irrelevant as the boat is registered in Anguilla. It appears as the home port on the stern of the Anne. This is confirmed in the Coast Guard Report from when Reid hit the freighter. The official incident report claims Anguilla as the port of registry. Reid himself reconfirmed Anguilla as the home port when he entered Australian waters to drop off Soanya. He flew the Anguillan courtesy ensign from his back stay.

* Longest space analogous experiment on the ocean -

Jon Sanders could call his 657 days at sea "space analogous". There is no difference between what Jon Sanders has done and what Reid is attempting and there is nothing about this cruise that is experimental. Simply calling something "space analogous" doesn't make it different. If anyone can point out the unique aspects of this cruise that make it "space analogous" or different from Jon Sanders voyage, please drop a comment and let us know.

Other records Reid has claimed in the past to promote himself and the 1000 Days voyage:

Reid said, in an interview with Harold Channing

"I sailed the smallest boat across the Atlantic Ocean"

.

There were at least 20 boats that made the Atlantic crossing before Reid did in 1973 that were smaller. One was half the size of Stowe's and another even crossed the Atlantic twice (link)

Regarding his Antarctica Expedition, in this same interview Mr. Stowe says of that trip

"It’s really dangerous, that’s why no one had done it."

. In fact, over 70 private boats had made the trip before the Anne did in 1986

Comments encouraged.

Reid Stowe is a Deadbeat Dad

2008-03-01T15:51:00.000-08:00

Update March 10, 2008 - The New York Daily News published an article today that claims Stowe's back child support debt to be nearly $10,000. That is a significant drop in the amount owed when this site first posted the warrants. It can be reasonably assumed, based on Reid's evident lack of personal wealth, and based on the ability of PayPal donations at 1000 Days at Sea, that this back child support obligation is being paid by donors to the voyage.

Link to article here - 1,000-day sailor a deadbeat dad who could lose ship, sez state

The information remains below for historical purposes only and does not reflect the current amount owed.

Warrants for Back-Child Support - Reid Stowe

Available online at Department of State - State Child Support Enforcement Warrant Notice System :

http://appsext8.dos.state.ny.us/csewarrants_public/cse_search

Type in “William Stowe” and “Reid Stowe” on the search screen.

We post these under the assumption that these are open warrants, based on the assumption that if they were not, they would not appear in the database. Any evidence provided to the contrary is greatly appreciated.

--------------- Click image for full size. --------------------

Reid is a Convicted Drug Smuggler - 30,000 Pounds of Marijuana

2008-03-01T14:49:00.000-08:00

In the early 90's, Reid Stowe was arrested, convicted and served time in a Federal Penitentiary for his involvement in the smuggling of 30,000 pounds of marijuana into the US.

Below you will find the following court documents:

- Image 1 - Arrest Warrant
- Image 2-4 Charges/counts against Reid,
- Image 5 - The Judgment against Reid

These are all public documents and can be found at:

National Archives & Record Administration
Federal Records Center (Waltham, MA)

CR - 91-82-B-W
File Location - D232525
012-98-0070 Box 7

We have copies of many other documents in the file that we will make available to the press upon request. Full transcript of sentencing hearing is also available upon request as MSWord file.

----------Click on images to enlarge. -------

Arrest Warrant

Charges

Judgement

Stated Goals of Mission vs. Reality

2008-03-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

1000 Days at Sea has outlined specific goals for the voyage. These goals appear in 1000 Days literature that was used prior to the voyage to solicit donations and secure sponsors. These appear to be official goals at the time of this posting. The brochure containing these goals can be found at the official website 1000 Days at Sea under the Press heading.

Is the voyage delivering on its promises to its sponsors and donors? Below are the stated goals of the voyage with analysis of how the goals have/have not been met and/or whether they can be met. Contradictory comments are welcome and, if based on common sense, changes will be made to the main post.

Goals

1. To obtain valuable information on the physical and mental stress which must be overcome during such an extended voyage. The solitude that will be a major part of this journey will give insight into man's tolerance during an extended isolation from land.

Do they have a baseline physical and mental examination before they left. Are they collecting data. Do they even have a scale? Isolation? What Isolation? They are in constant contact with their "mission control" and have regularly asked for intellectual support regarding challenges they encounter. Finally, with Soanya’s rescue – they had outside assistance and were ½ mile from land.

2. To evaluate the effectiveness of various psychological support techniques when applied under actual field conditions and examine ways to resolve interpersonal conflicts.

Following scientific methods and principles? Is there an outside evaluation on how they resolved interpersonal conflicts? Whatever is reported here is completely biased and useless to science.

3. Critical information will be developed not just for survival but for sustainable human existence. This would include food, clothing, boating equipment, communication and a host of other items that while seeming insignificant during normal life on land, may assume critical importance under the stress experienced by isolation.

These are considerations necessary for any trip at sea. There is no correlation whatever between survival of the Anne at sea and survival in space. The items that Reid itemizes are critical for weekend sailors as well as long term sea voyages. The Anne may have required a larger volume of supplies, but there is no difference between the voyage of the Anne and any other well planned trip.

4. We can increase our knowledge of the southern oceans through daily recordings of water, air temperatures, wind speeds, water and atmospheric pollution and ozone depletion. Through these records we will gain insight into our ultimate dependence on our environment.

They haven’t got the equipment or even the basic knowledge to study anything scientific. Soanya, on day 199 blog entry - "I'm surprised at how cool the water temperature is despite the fact that the sun warms the air right up. We don't have a way to measure water temperature, but our clock has a temperature reading on it for the air.” Reid, on day 279 asks in his blog post for some information on the ozone he’s supposed to be studying - "I wonder if the hole in the ozone layer is down here and you have to avoid the lovely sun. I have been carrying on with the sun chastising it for not coming out and shining enough, but once I got burned, I wondered if we had to hide from it? Who knows about the ozone hole?" Without the proper equipment, and without even a basic knowledge of what their goals state they will be studying, this goal was unattainable the moment they left the dock.

5. Education components are planned to instruct those who follow the voyage. Subjects to be studied are: marine and atmospheric sciences, satellite communication, celestial navigation, computer technology, sail boat repair and maintenance, nutrition, gardening, health, physical education, geography, oceanography, math, world history, languages, psychology as well as a host of other topics.

Interactive education components are nonexistent, and it is debatable whether any of the information they've sent back could be considered educational.
Marine and Atmospheric Sciences - Nothing.
Satellite Communication - They are using the technology, but that is not equal to educating others.
Celestial Navigation - No reports of celestial navigation even occurring.
Computer Technology - Simply using a computer has no educational value.
Nutrition - Points here for providing information about their diet and the importance of balance as well as how they maintain that balance.
Gardening - Points here for describing how they grow sprouts.
Health - They appear to be healthy, but where's the educational component?
Physical Education - No reports regarding physical regimens, etc that might be considered educational.
Geography - Points here if you follow the voyage on Google Earth and take the time to do additional research on where they are/have been.
Oceanography - Non existent They couldn't even identify an albatross or species of whales.
Math - Nothing.
World History - Only if you count the few references to ancient mariners' use of carvings on boats.
Languages - Does Reid speak anything other than English?
Psychology - Self analysis is worthless.

6. To inspire others to voyage beyond human expectations.

It is hoped that they inspire no one to voyage out in such a haphazard, unprepared manner endangering not only their own lives but those of rescuers who may be called on as well. Soanya left the boat because of a sea sickness that she’d never had before because she had only day sailed in NY harbor. For Reid to take her on a planned 1000 day voyage through the most dangerous waters on the planet was completely irresponsible. If he encourages others to partake in dangerous and foolhardy ventures he has attained this goal.

7. To promote a global message of hope, peace, perseverance, achievement and excellence.

Hope? For what? Peace? How? Perseverance? Look at Soanya. Achievement? His attempts at records are feeble. As Jon Sanders, current holder of the record for time spent at sea said in an interview after he picked Soanya up in Australia – he “won’t break any records”. Excellence? There is nothing in this journey that is reflective of excellence. The only thing he’s promoting is Reid Stowe

Contrary opinions based on logic and reason are strongly encouraged!