They thought he was sending out an SOS. A modern-day adventurer had his social media followers quaking in their gumboots — thinking the sailor-influencer was stranded — after an innocent post touting his location more than thousand miles from land in every direction. The video, showing the intrepid explorer going for a swim in the South Pacific, scared up more than 32 million views on TikTok .
“So disorienting with nothing on the horizon,” wrote sailor Luke — who goes by @sailing_songbird on the popular app — in a caption to the clip. The content creator quit his job as a music teacher to sail around the Pacific Ocean solo in a 27-foot sailboat — an Odyssey he documents for his over 1.5 million followers on his social channels.
During his open sea saga, Luke has done everything from cross the Equator to spear Mahi Mahi for dinner. The voyager appeared to have run into a major hiccup a month into his circumnavigation after he seemingly became stuck out at sea. “I’m stuck here in the doldrums and there is no wind,” said Luke, who is seen on camera getting some “exercise” on his paddleboard, out on the open ocean.
“For reference, I’m about as far away from land as you can be on this planet,” he mused. He then shared a Google Maps image showing his location, which he estimated to be “well over 1,000 miles away from any piece of land.” At one point, the TikToker joked that he lost his sailboat, before panning to the vessel anchored out on the hori.
