Soanya Ahmad

Soanya Ahmad in January 2010

Soanya Ahmad (born October 5, 1983) is a photographer and sailor, holding the current women's world record for the longest time spent non-stop at sea. She left New York Harbor on April 21, 2007, as a shipmate of Reid Stowe, who was aiming for the longest time ever spent at sea. She spent 306 days on board the schooner Anne, until having to disembark due to morning sickness. Ahmad and Stowe are now the parents of a son, Darshen, and the whole family lives aboard the Anne. Ahmad played an integral part in helping Stowe prepare for the voyage (2007–2010) which he initially dubbed the "Mars Ocean Odyssey." She was also instrumental in providing physical and moral support for the first 10 months of the journey, which would continue with Stowe sailing solo for another 846 days.

Early life

The eldest of three children, Ahmad was born October 5, 1983, in Queens, New York. Her parents had emigrated from Guyana. She later attended the City College of New York where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in photography. After having photographed many black and white harbor landscapes of cities on the Eastern Seaboard, she became interested in learning more about the waterfront, prompting her to pursue a second degree in Maritime Technology at Kingsborough Community College.

1000 Days at Sea

Ahmad came into contact with Stowe's 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, she realized the office cubicle was not for her. Instead, she decided to pursue a life of adventure. The sea offered the perfect opportunity. Three years after her first encounter with Stowe's project, although having never been on the ocean, she decided to accompany Stowe on his most challenging voyage to date. Living aboard the schooner for a year before the onset of the voyage, Ahmad learned basic seamanship skills, and prepared to be isolated from the trappings of civilization for three years. While at sea, Ahmad was involved in all aspects of the voyage, particularly photographing, videotaping, organizing, and inventorying—along with maintenance of the computer and communications equipment, as well as the electrical charging systems.

The schooner Anne

Soanya spent a total of 306 days on board the schooner Anne with Reid Stowe. She was brought ashore by members of the Royal Perth Yacht Club off Rottnest Island, near Perth, Western Australia. The entire route of the schooner Anne was verified daily by GPS tracking, and the manufacturer of the equipment has made the database available online.

Furthermore, as a two-member male-and-female crew, Stowe and Ahmad could also lay claim to the longest non-stop voyage on the ocean by a man and a woman since Bernard Moitessier and his wife Françoise completed a 126-day voyage in 1966, from Tahiti to Spain.

Kay Cottee is the first woman to have circumnavigated the globe solo and non-stop, taking 189 days to complete the circumnavigation, which is still the longest time at sea for a single-handed woman sailor.

External links

• Home page of 1000 Days at Sea
• Coverage of the 1000-day voyage of the Schooner Anne, with a musical twist [from Oct. 11, 2008] and the follow-up report on Weekend America (America Public Media) [from Oct. 25, 2008].
• Peter Roth from "Energy Stew" talks with Soanya Ahmad on January 2, 2010 -- Celebration of over 970 consecutive days at sea without stopping.
• Interview with Reid Stowe and Soanya Ahmad, recorded on June 23, 2010, for NPR's On Point.
• Conversation with Stowe and Ahmad on the weekly radio program "Energy Stew," hosted by Peter Roth.
• The Huffington Post online journal has been hosting Reid Stowe and Soanya Ahmad since Oct., 2010.