We named the Schooner ANNE after my mother

Today is her birthday. We wish her well and many things more. She is probably getting a lot of well wishes, first from our dad, Harry, then from her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Mom is the matriarch of a great big family including a brother and sisters and all their children and grandchildren. Everybody gathers together at the family beach cottage, built by her father and mother, on the waterway in North Carolina. It was there that we learned our boating and boat building skills. I built both of my boats at the family beach cottage. Mom, being the oldest and loving her responsibilities, is in charge. We all love her and where would we be without her.
The schooner is so lucky to have a namesake like her. It could have been named Harry, but I always saw the boat as a she. Hey Dad do we still have those mitts and balls? I can’t wait to come home and play catch! Being isolated for so long in such a far away place brings out a lot of deep feelings. I feel pulled to the edge of human existence, but I still have longings to come back home and have it never change. Except we get a little older. Happy Birthday Mom! Yesterday, our first day in the Southern Ocean, the wind died down and by darkness the sea was glassy, but rolly all around us. I finally lost control of the schooner because of the lack of wind and she turned around and faced west. I was a little peeved at first and got a little cranky trying to get her turned around and going.
I gave up in a huff and heaved-to for the night. It didn’t really matter. We weren’t racing or in a hurry. I guess it came as a surprise because were expecting so much wind. By morning a light breeze picked up from the north and we got going again. Soanya says each time I say I think I’ve got the boat in good order, something happens that gives me more work. When I see things coming together, I can’t help myself. I want to re-confirm it. I think I’m ahead of the curve now. I’ve been saying it a lot. I think the schooner ANNE is a good boat. The Captain and Crew Born into a family of longtime boat builders and inspired by his father’s Air Force career, Reid has been challenging the seas with lengthy voyages since age 19, when he first sailed from Hawaii to New Zealand in 1971. It was during this time that he met and was influenced by France’s Bernard Moitessier1, the first man to sail nonstop around the world.
[Ed. 1. Robert Knox-Johnston is the record holder for the first nonstop single handed circumnavigation. Moitessier who also did a circumnavigation in the same race did not return to England but continued around again. Thanks, Richard.] A feature written about the Explorers Club of New York by Conde Nast Traveler describes Reid as being the “genuine article, with an old-fashioned spirit of adventure” and “a man with that rare combination of unbridled passion and impetuosity.” Nicholas Sullivan, president of the Explorer’s Club, adds that “By virtue of his Voyage of 1000 Days, Reid will be one of the greatest explorers ever.”
Returning from New Zealand, Reid built a 1400-pound catamaran and ventured for three years across the Atlantic Ocean and back, then up the Amazon River-all without benefit of radio, electronics, or motor. In 1976, brimming with knowledge and confidence, Reid began preparing for a challenging six-month voyage to the Antarctic. With the help of family and friends, he designed and built, in a year and a half, what he terms “the ultimate long distance, heavy weather sailboat,” a 70-foot and 60-ton gaff-rigged schooner that he named Anne, in honor of his mother.
For six months in 1986, Reid and a crew sailed her to Antarctica, “where few boats venture due to the extremely dangerous conditions.” Photo Journal of the Building the Anne Soanya Ahmad was born in Queens, New York. The eldest of three children, she was raised by parents who emigrated from Guyana. She attended The City College of New York as part of the first class of Cuny Honors College students. There she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in photography. After having photographed many black and white harborscapes of cities on the east coast, she became interested in learning more about the waterfront, prompting her to pursue a second degree in Maritime Technology at Kingsborough Community College.
Soanya came into contact with the 1000 Days Non-stop at Sea expedition at the beginning of her third year in college as she was photographing the piers of Manhattan. Having worked various office jobs through college, as she was graduating, she realized the well defined city grid and square cubicle was not for her.
She preferred instead to follow her own expansive spirit in a less limiting environment and the sea was the perfect place to start. Three years after her first encounter with the project, she decided to become a part of it and accompany the noble and charming captain of the expedition, Reid Stowe, on his greatest and most challenging voyage yet. After being onboard the Schooner Anne for a year now, Soanya has come to play an integral role with all facets of the expedition including, photographing, videotaping, organizing, and inventorying as well as operating all of the computers and communications equipment