I bought this by accident after seeing a preview for the new movie Adrift that’s coming out in summer 2018. Turns out that’s a different tale of disaster at sea.

Anyway, this one is about a young guy in the 80s who is sailing solo from the Canary Islands to Antigua when something (likely an accidental whale strike) causes his sailboat to sink. He throw what supplies he can into the lifeboat and spends the next 76 days adrift.

It’s terrifying just to consider it for a single day!

Callahan writes beautifully about his time on “rubber ducky iii” and describes well his physical issues but more importantly his mental state and how he feels about what’s happening to him and his relationship to the ocean and the fish he observes alongside his raft. There’s plenty of technical detail too - including diagrams - that I admit I skimmed over in large part.

Not a book for everyone, certainly, but time well spent for me. ( )

Great true story of surviving in a tiny life raft in the Atlantic. He's almost like McGiver for using things at hand to improve his chances. Makes you appreciate life more. I was relieved when he finally made his goal. ( )

Callahan's description of his time at sea is filled with vivid details and beautifully written. I found the beginning eerie since things are going smoothly and appear calm but you know something is going to happen to his ship.

Adrift is as much a story of man's persistent nature as it is about the sea. ( )

I read this book in one layed out afternoon after reading some of the reviews herein.
A fascinating read, and then bought the book on 'Sea Survival' Steven mentions, which probably saved Stevens' life from the knowledge gleaned from it.
The middle of the book somehow wanders (like chunks had been cut out and the continuity was not looked after afterwards), and yet the storyline builds dramatically in the last 1/3 to an almost mystical ending, (and I felt the mystical aspects could be written more fully if this book was ever revised).
This continuity in the middle part (of missing details of what was actually happening to Steven on the physical/ emotional/ mental levels) could have added to the story considerably.
An amazing story, that it is... and in some parts the writing could be better, yet the experience shared, moved me greatly . . . ( )

Nathaniel Philbrick, in writing the lost-at-sea saga of "In the Heart of the Sea", had a much easier task than the author of this book. In Philbrick's book, there were multiple characters who interacted, which led to dialogue, conflict, arguments, and ultimately cannibalism in order to survive. In "Adrift", it's a solo journey, and that type of action isn't possible, and isn't what this book is about. In order for the reader to associate with the tedium of being alone, lost at sea for two and one-half months, those days adrift need to be described in that way. So there were parts of the book which seemed slow and repetitive, but that's because each day adrift certainly was that way. Ultimately, rescue was affected, and you have to admire the toughness of the author in facing the hardships of this survival challenge. ( )