When his self-built sloop Napoleon Solo was holed at night in early 1982, naval architect and inventor Steven Callahan found himself adrift in a six-foot inflatable raft in the vast Atlantic. This episode is not just a survival story but a biographical study of how a highly engineering-focused mind engineered its own physical and psychological survival across 76 days.

We trace how his structural understanding of his vessel and his relentless daily discipline kept him alive, and how the ordeal later led him to revolutionize maritime safety technology.

• His background as a trained naval architect, his voyage from Rhode Island, and his decision to drop out of the Mini Transat 6.50 race after storm damage.
• The nighttime collision, suspected to be a whale, and how his watertight compartments bought him minutes to dive back for  ...