SAN ANTONIO — A Navy veteran is sailing around Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America that's known as the sailor's graveyard.
His mission is to raise awareness about veteran suicide through the expedition. Taylor Grieger and his friend, Stephen O'Shea, are recording their journey to make a documentary through FreshFly Films called "Hell or High Seas." The idea all started when the two men reconnected in Guam after high school.
At the time, O'Shea was writing a book about veterans returning home from Afghanistan. They began talking about how they could show veterans' struggles through the eyes of Grieger and sailing. Grieger is a former naval rescue swimmer who was diagnosed with PTSD.
"We got to talking about the guys that we've lost. The guys that he's interviewed. We wanted to do something about it. So, we figured out how. And we've been fighting a little over 2 years to do that," Grieger said.
For the first part of their journey, the friends sailed from Pensacola, Florida and shot across the Gulf of Mexico.
"We worked our way down Central America in the middle of hurricane season to Panama. We crossed the Panama Canal, because you want to go from west to east when you're rounding Cape Horn," O'Shea said. "For us at that time, we were just starting off. They were survival storms for us and working our way down, from South America to the Equator. The seas just got bigger and bigger."
"We've sailed through two hurricanes. The first recorded cyclone to hit Chile and then two more tropical storms. So what we have sailed through, the waters that we've seen, the waves we've surfed down, the common sailor will not ever see in their entire lifetime," Grieger said.
In early November, the two set off to finish the last part of their journey to round Cape Horn and leave from Valdivia. The waters are notoriously known for dangerous currents and strong winds.
The pair said they don't know if they'll make it back home after this last leg. But the documentary's production team plans to honor their project and share it with the public. They want the piece to be a tool for change.
"This is kind of like a metaphor for the way veterans, the obstacles and hurdles they have to overcome when they return to civilian life. It's not easy. And sometimes the storm is the problem and sometimes it's the calm after the storm," said O'Shea.
"It's about every single veteran that's coming home after serving this country. They're going through a storm much bigger than ours. Inside. Every single day," said Grieger.
If you would like to see the trailer, click here.