Icelandic Disaster: Retirement Gone Awry…

A recently retired theatre teacher sets off on a later-life adventure. Morrie Piersol joins a stunning ocean voyage from the US to Iceland. But in the North Atlantic, his grand retirement plan becomes something far more sinister. Morrie will face freezing temperatures, the constant threat of drowning, and memory blackouts. And even if the crew can be located, it’ll take a monumental effort to extract them… A Noiser production, written by Emily Webb. For ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions If you have an amazing survival story of your own that you’d like to put forward for the show, let us know. Drop us an email at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:02John Hopkins?

  It's July the 26th, 2017, approaching 3 a.m. 285 nautical miles southwest of Iceland.

• 0:13John Hopkins?

  Despite the hour, the proximity to the Arctic Circle means that the sky is illuminated by persistent daylight, even in the depths of night.

• 0:23John Hopkins?

  Above the water, heavy clouds hang low, casting a dull, muted glow over the sea. Rain pelts down, merging with the cold spray of the restless sea.

• 0:37John Hopkins?

  A small sailing boat, the Valiant, sways and dips with the rhythm of the waves. Its long, low silhouette almost disappearing at times into the churning waters. The white hull blending into the seascape.

• 0:54John Hopkins?

  Inside the boat, 65-year-old Morri Pirsso perches in the companionway, the narrow passage between the deck and the sleeping area. Through oblong portholes, he observes the world outside, a palette of gray and white.

• 1:12John Hopkins?

  Morri is on watch. In conditions like these, with unpredictable weather, he and his crewmates operate in strict shifts. Every three hours, they rotate, ensuring the safety of the boat and each other.

• 1:26Speaker 01

  The routine was, for your three hours, check the radar, do a log entry of the conditions, the wind, the barometer, the charge of the battery state. You're buckled in, you're harnessed in, always harnessed in whenever you go out. And about every 20 minutes, whoever's on watch would go up on deck, survey the situation, get a feel for what's happening.

• 1:54John Hopkins?

  Maurice steps out onto the deck. The waves are substantial, twenty-one feet high, sending spray over the sides of the boat.

• 2:03John Hopkins?

  But it's nothing the valiant can't handle.

• 2:06John Hopkins?

  He heads back to the companionway. It's a cold, grim night. He sits down, tired, his elbow resting on the small chart table.

• 2:17John Hopkins?

  It's then that an otherworldly roar echoes around him. It fills the air, sinister and bellowing. Seconds later, an enormous wave smashes into the boat.

• 2:32John Hopkins?

  The valiant pivots around, and a chaotic flurry of possessions, charts, and equipment fill the air before the side of the boat hits the water.

• 2:43John Hopkins?

  The impact propels Maurice across the companionway, and the boat can't withstand the force of the ocean.

• 2:52Speaker 01

  Plexiglas burst open and cold, dark, green water came pouring in the boat, and I was thrown up on the low side of the boat with that water coming in all around me. It sounded like a really bad car accident. It was the sound of crashing, breaking glass. I mean, it was a cacophony of sounds that were pretty extraordinary.

• 3:21John Hopkins?

  The boat is fully capsized. Maurice struggles to his feet, trying to get his bearings. He's soaking wet, and as he looks at the porthole, icy water continues to pour in. It inches up the walls, threatening to drag the valiant into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.

• 3:41Speaker 01

  I can't believe this is really happening, but this actually is happening. I thought I was going to drown, and I thought that could be it. The last thing I remember seeing was the porthole's blown out, the water coming in, and the boat being over, and thinking, this is not good.

• 4:02John Hopkins?

  Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes? If your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice?

• 4:11John Hopkins?

  Welcome to Real Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. People suddenly forced to fight for their lives.

• 4:25John Hopkins?

  In this episode, we meet recently-retired teacher Maury Pearsall. While retirement may conjure images of leisurely walks and relaxed lunches for some, Maury wants to explore the world from the deck of a sailboat. Eager to chase his dream, he signs up for a voyage that promises to take him from the US to the Icelandic capital Reykjavik. He'll be part of a little crew of three, with a combined age of nearly 200. But when a freak wave strikes in the North Atlantic, Maury's grand adventure becomes something far more sinister. He'll face freezing temperatures, the threat of drowning, and memory blackouts, as he and his crewmates' decisions dictate whether they live or die.

• 5:11John Hopkins?

  And even if help can reach them, getting out of this situation will take a monumental effort.

• 5:17Speaker 01

  Oftentimes, you can survive the disaster and get killed and rescued.

• 5:24Speaker 01

  As I looked out on this situation and didn't know how it was going to end, it just became very difficult for me to accept that I wasn't going to see I wasn't going to see my family anymore.

• 5:35John Hopkins?

  I'm John Hopkins. From Noiser, this is Real Survival Stories.

• 6:05John Hopkins?

  It's June 2017 in Richmond, Virginia. One of the oldest cities in the US with a large river running through its downtown. It's home to Morrie Pearsall and his wife.

• 6:18John Hopkins?

  Morrie's at his computer going through emails. As he scrolls through his inbox deleting adverts and spam, there's a ping. A new message pops up. It's from his friend Charlie, a fellow sailing enthusiast. He opens it intrigued.

• 6:36John Hopkins?

  It looks like Charlie's forwarded him something.

• 6:39Speaker 01

  He got this as a member of his yacht club. And he said, "This ain't for me, but I think I know somebody that may be interested."

• 6:46John Hopkins?

  Morrie is interested. He reads on and his eyes begin to flicker with excitement.

• 6:53John Hopkins?

  He's just retired after years of teaching theater to school kids. And he's been telling friends and family that he wants to use this next chapter to get back into sailing.

• 7:04John Hopkins?

  Clearly Charlie has been listening. The email contains details of an upcoming voyage.

• 7:10Speaker 01

  The trip was from the Chesapeake to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Greenland, and Iceland. And the owner was looking for two other individuals to go with him on this trip.

• 7:25John Hopkins?

  Morrie fires off an email to the boat's owner.

• 7:32John Hopkins?

  The trip will be a month long and is due to begin soon, leaving from Chesapeake Bay, just over an hour away by car. Morrie is buzzing.

• 7:42Speaker 01

  And long story short, application, met him, went sailing with him and all those things. And it's a trip that looked like something that was good for me. Recently retired, June, this was going to happen July 1. Perfect for me to just say, "I can go, I got the time, I'm free of work and don't have a lot of other obligations." But wow, what an opportunity to do a trip like that. And learn and do the things that looked like were in store for us in that trip.

• 8:12John Hopkins?

  Sailing has long been Maury's passion, a love instilled by his parents. Although he grew up in the city of Philadelphia, weekends were spent by the sea. The family would pack the car with sailing gear and plenty of snacks and head to the coast.

• 8:27Speaker 01

  We would drive five hours from Philadelphia to the east end of Long Island, to a magical place called Shelter Island on the east end of Long Island. And it was just magical to me. It was magical to me to be on the boat, to wake up under sail in the morning when my father had cast off at 5:30, 6 o'clock in the morning to the sound of the water lapping in the wind. It's something about that oneness. It's something about being part of that, but certainly not being in control of that. There's a beauty, a majesty, and an awesomeness that conveys respect and awe.

• 9:07John Hopkins?

  Those rose-tinted days on Shelter Island shaped the rest of Maury's life. The smell of the old alcohol stoves they used for cooking on board, the clink of the icebox, the electric hurricane lamps that lit up the evenings.

• 9:22John Hopkins?

  After that, he leapt at any opportunity to be on a boat. And when he met his now-wife, their romance was forged on the water. They weren't just partners, they were crewmates.

• 9:33Speaker 01

  And with my soon-to-be-wife, we sailed up and down the northeast coast in a rudimentary little 26-foot sailboat, loving every bit of it.

• 9:44John Hopkins?

  But soon, reality took over. Children arrived, and the demands of family and work overshadowed everything else. Maury held various jobs: corporate sales, commercial real estate, and eventually, he became a theater teacher. The weekends once spent on the water were now filled with obligations. And while he sailed when he could, it was no longer a priority.

• 10:09John Hopkins?

  As retirement neared, however, Maury and his wife began talking about returning to the sea, maybe even getting their own boat and recapturing the magic of their early years together.

• 10:22John Hopkins?

  So when that email from Maury's friend Charlie arrives, it marks the first step back towards the ocean.

• 10:30John Hopkins?

  It's July the 1st at the Fishing Bay Yacht Club Chesapeake Bay.

• 10:35John Hopkins?

  Boats are packed closely together, moored along jetties that stretch across the horizon, swaying in the breeze. Maury arrives, supplies in tow, ready for the month ahead. The boat is docked and waiting.

• 10:51John Hopkins?

  There will be three crew members on the voyage, each bringing something unique to the mix. First up, Maury, recently retired and in his mid-60s.

• 11:02Speaker 01

  I fit the bill in terms of the seamanship, sailing experience side as a crew member.

• 11:09John Hopkins?

  Next, the captain and owner of the boat, 75-year-old Wes.

• 11:14Speaker 01

  He'd been to Europe and back. He'd done a ton of the stuff in the Northeast. He'd actually circumnavigated Newfoundland at one point. He'd done a transatlantic over and back. Accomplished fellow. And the third person was a commercial fisherman here in the Chesapeake Bay, extremely knowledgeable about engines, electronics, and various other things, but not a experienced sailor per se, as in sailboats. A seaman, but not a sailor.

• 11:42John Hopkins?

  That's Bobby. He's in his early 50s, the youngster of the group.

• 11:47Speaker 01

  So the three of us had skill sets that actually kind of really were a good combination of skill sets.

• 11:56John Hopkins?

  They'll be journeying on the Valiant. It's a 40-foot-long sailing boat, white with a red stripe running down its side. It's compact and in many ways quite basic. A hatch leads to the companionway, taking you from the deck to the cabin below. Much like Maury's days back on Shelter Island with his family, they'll be cooking on a small portable stove and living simply.

• 12:19Speaker 01

  Not a creature comfort boat. It was literally like camping. I mean, you had no headroom below. It was very rudimentary, very fast, very capable and very responsive, but very light. And not a lot of room, but that was okay. That's what I was signing up for. That wasn't a problem for me.

• 12:36John Hopkins?

  The crewmates climb on board. The boat will be their home for the next month, and they won't be back on land again for 780 nautical miles when they hit their first stop in Nova Scotia.

• 12:49John Hopkins?

  They cast off on their adventure.

• 12:52John Hopkins?

  The sun beams down on them as the wind fills their sails.

• 12:58John Hopkins?

  The valiant skims along the water, and things get off to a great start.

• 13:04Speaker 01

  We were just getting in our groove and enjoying the trip. We were very compatible, had a good time. Didn't know each other, but got to know each other very quickly and got along great.

• 13:17John Hopkins?

  But it isn't long before the wind dies down, and on a sailing boat, that's a problem. Their destination is the Nova Scotian city of Halifax, at the southeastern tip of Canada. Without wind, they risk running out of supplies before they arrive.

• 13:35John Hopkins?

  When the boat comes to a near standstill, the crew reluctantly turns to the engine as a backup. But there isn't enough fuel to rely on it for the entire journey, so they can only use it sparingly to keep moving.

• 13:48John Hopkins?

  As the wind remains elusive and fuel reserves dwindle, it becomes clear they won't make it to Halifax. Their only option is to reroute to the closer town of Shelbourne. It's smaller, but within reach.

• 14:06John Hopkins?

  Six days later, on July the 7th, they pass the town's 18th-century buildings as they glide into harbor.

• 14:14Speaker 01

  It certainly has to be something that's par for the course because things never, rarely work out the way you plan them in advance. And you just have to be in the moment, deal with what you have, and make adjustments along the way.

• 14:25John Hopkins?

  In Shelbourne, they stock up on fuel, supplies, and head to a restaurant for a hot meal.

• 14:32John Hopkins?

  When they return to sea, they navigate north. Their destination is Newfoundland's largest city, St. John's.

• 14:41John Hopkins?

  The weather shifts as they move through the water. It's cooler, foggy, and the sea around them teems with nature. Blue whales, fin whales, minke, and humpbacks.

• 14:53Speaker 01

  Whales so close that, literally, if you were on a whaleboat-watching trip that you were paying dearly for, you wouldn't get anywhere near as close. They wouldn't even let you. But when they come up next to you, what are you gonna do?

• 15:08Speaker 01

  So we had several different kinds of whales. We had great bird life, and the sailing was fantastic.

• 15:20Speaker 02

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• 15:35John Hopkins?

  This November, on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor Utzi the Iceman, Europe's oldest-known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' Short Stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Four.

• 16:18John Hopkins?

  Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus.

• 16:27John Hopkins?

  It's July the 13th, and after four days on the water, the Valiant is moored in St. John's. Once again, Maury, Wes and Bobby are enjoying the creature comforts of the city, but it's also a chance to evaluate their next steps.

• 16:45John Hopkins?

  The plan had been to cross a stretch of the Northern Atlantic from Newfoundland to Narsamiut, Greenland's southernmost settlement. But as they check the latest weather reports, there is a problem. In order to get to Narsamiut, they need clear waters, and the water surrounding the settlement is anything but clear.

• 17:05Speaker 01

  We did a recheck-in of the sea ice, and as is often the case, was not favorable conditions for trying to go there, which we knew was a possibility, but you never know to get there. By the time we actually were leaving, we had to say, "Okay, Plan B."

• 17:20John Hopkins?

  Instead, they decide to travel straight to Iceland. It'll be their longest leg so far, a 1,400 nautical mile route that will take them into a vast stretch of the North Atlantic.

• 17:33John Hopkins?

  It's much more time than they expected to spend in the open water, and conditions will be challenging: icebergs, unpredictable weather, and low visibility.

• 17:42Speaker 01

  Remember, this is not designed to be a particularly ocean-going sailboat. It's designed to be a fast, racing boat, not particularly designed for these kind of conditions.

• 17:54John Hopkins?

  But the crew plan accordingly: rest up and prepare themselves for the immense, daunting journey ahead.

• 18:02John Hopkins?

  Never before has the boat's name "Valiant" felt so appropriate.

• 18:18John Hopkins?

  It's July the 24th, a chilly afternoon in the Northern Atlantic. Icy winds are propelling Maury, Wes and Bobby towards Reykjavik.

• 18:29Speaker 01

  Just a really enjoyable, fast sailing. Cold, foggy, fast sailing. And you're saying, okay, wow, we're moving quickly and we're putting in a hundred and plus miles a day, so it isn't going to be that long.

• 18:42John Hopkins?

  Maury looks out at the ocean. It stretches as far as the eye can see on all sides. It's a lonely spot.

• 18:50Speaker 01

  We never saw a single vessel of any kind, whether it be a commercial fishing vessel, cruise ship, pleasure boat, sailing yacht, or any other vessel of any kind. But we couldn't see much anyway because it's so foggy, but we never picked anything up on radar, you know, that's what I'm saying. There was really nothing ever around. It was quite desolate and it was a very, very powerful experience. The longer we were in that and the farther we went. And yes, you are aware that there's really nothing around you, nobody, nothing.

• 19:26John Hopkins?

  Despite the isolation, it should only be a few days until they make it to the Icelandic capital. Reykjavik promises a hearty meal and a hot shower. But in sailing, nothing is predictable. Just when it seems that the coast will appear on the horizon, the wind turns and the boat slows.

• 19:47Speaker 01

  So the biggest disappointment was, oh, man, another couple of days of going nowhere.

• 19:57John Hopkins?

  It's approaching 2:00 AM on July the 26th, 285 miles off the coast of Iceland, and the valiant progress a storm. On top of that, miserable weather has moved in. Driving rain, heavy fog, and the 24-hour summer light, which means the crewmates are surrounded by a persistent shade of gray.

• 20:18Speaker 01

  We've been in those conditions before, all of us. So it wasn't something at the time that said, oh, gosh, this is conditions that are life-threatening. Yeah, it's going to be really uncomfortable and yeah, we're not going to go anywhere for a couple of days while we, you know, deal with it. But you deal with it.

• 20:35John Hopkins?

  The crewmates take turns on watch, rotating shifts to ensure the boat is always under supervision. At night, one person remains on duty for three hours while the other two sleep.

• 20:47John Hopkins?

  The crewmate on watch is responsible for monitoring the radar, logging weather conditions, and assessing the battery charge. After completing these tasks, they must head to the deck to see what's happening. They're always secured by a harness, so they can't disappear overboard in the middle of the night.

• 21:04John Hopkins?

  Currently, it's Maury's turn. Wes and Bobby are curled up in their bunks. Having completed his checks, he stares out into the gloom.

• 21:16Speaker 01

  You're very vulnerable, very vulnerable. And this boat's a small boat, it doesn't have a lot of freeboard, which means it's not allowed to height above the water. For a boat forty feet long, you would normally have a lot more freeboard. It would be higher off the water. It would be more room, more weight. This boat, when you're standing on that boat in the cockpit, or sitting in the cockpit, you're only a few feet above the water.

• 21:38John Hopkins?

  Low in the water, the waves appear even more monstrous. Surging to twenty-one feet, crashing against the hull, and drenching the deck with spray.

• 21:51John Hopkins?

  For now, the situation seems manageable. The rhythm of the swell has been fairly predictable. But at around 2 AM, the once-steady wave pattern becomes erratic.

• 22:03Speaker 01

  At one point, the boat literally got dropped off of what must have been a little bit of a cresting wave. So we fell off a little bit, and it was not a lot, but it was enough to say, boom, oh, okay, whoa. We just kind of dropped off a little something there.

• 22:20John Hopkins?

  The boat bumps back onto the water's surface, shaking Maury into action. He goes to the controls and makes some adjustments. Maybe it's to do with the boat's angle in the water. He does what he can and then sits down on the companionway.

• 22:36John Hopkins?

  It's now 3 AM. He'll head back up on deck in twenty minutes to check the weather again.

• 22:43John Hopkins?

  But just then, everything changes.

• 22:47Speaker 01

  And the next thing I knew, I heard this tremendous roar, I really did. And the boat got picked up and tossed, smashing onto the water on the low side of the wave.

• 23:00John Hopkins?

  The companionway rocks and spins as the side of the boat makes contact with the water. It's impossible to know which way is up. The boat suddenly seems to disintegrate around Morrie.

• 23:13Speaker 01

  Plexiglass burst open and cold, dark green water came pouring in the boat. And I was thrown up on the low side of the boat with that water coming in all around me. It sounded like a really bad car accident. It was the sound of crashing, ripping, breaking glass. I mean, it was a cacophony of sounds that were pretty, pretty extraordinary.

• 23:42John Hopkins?

  The boat has fully capsized. Water continues to gush in through the portholes, filling the companionway, threatening to submerge Morrie. But even if he tried to get above deck, he'd now be swimming into the freezing Atlantic.

• 23:58Speaker 01

  I can't believe this is really happening, but this actually is happening. We're totally screwed. That moment, I thought I was highly likely that I probably won't survive this because I thought I was going to drown.

• 24:09John Hopkins?

  The boat is buffeted again, and Morrie's flung through a freezing torrent of frothing water, careening this way and that.

• 24:18John Hopkins?

  It's all too much, and he blacks out.

• 24:30Speaker 01

  Next thing I recall was being on the floor of the cabin, sort of on my knees. And my life vest is a life vest that activates if you fall in the water, it will, it will deploy. It had deployed because I was in the water.

• 24:50John Hopkins?

  He looks around, trying to orientate himself. The portholes, which had turned into inlets for icy green water, are now showing the gray sky again.

• 25:03John Hopkins?

  During his blackout, the boat has somehow miraculously righted itself. Wes and Bobby are scrambling from their beds.

• 25:14Speaker 01

  They're trying to figure out what happened and get out of their bunks and everything they were laying on is now on top of them and soaking wet and mattresses and, and sleeping bag. And they don't know what the hell happened because they were asleep. So they come up and then the first thing was, okay, whoa, we just got rolled. Is everybody okay?

• 25:34John Hopkins?

  Amazingly, they are. No broken bones or injuries. The Valiant, on the other hand, isn't in a good way. Murky water half fills the cabins, and the electrics have blown. The air temperature is four degrees centigrade, the water, nine degrees.

• 25:53John Hopkins?

  The boat is impossible to sail. They cannot get out of this themselves.

• 25:59John Hopkins?

  They pull out the emergency position indicating radio beacon, or EPUB, and send out a request for help.

• 26:07Speaker 01

  But you don't know if anybody's hearing it. And you don't know what they're doing about it, because you've got to remember, we're 285 miles off the coast of Iceland in pretty, pretty adverse conditions.

• 26:20John Hopkins?

  Not knowing when they'll be found, if at all, every decision now is crucial.

• 26:28John Hopkins?

  The most obvious problem is they are still in immediate danger of sinking.

• 26:33Speaker 01

  Now we've got to get the water out of the boat. If the water isn't out of the boat, you risk being lower in the water and having other waves break on you, and the next one could sink you completely.

• 26:44John Hopkins?

  The water is near freezing. To get it out of the boat, Captain Wes has developed a pumping system for this exact scenario. He shows Maury and Bobby, who get to work.

• 26:57Speaker 01

  The air's now whipping through the boat because all the portholes and all the hatches are gone. And you're in water up to your waist. So the drill was pump, pump, pump, pump. Now, the problem was all the crap that was in the boat, every single thing that was floating around, whether it be paper or this or that, was getting clogged in the intake. The only way to deal with that was one of us got on our hands and knees in the water and put our hand over the intake to keep the crap from getting clogged in the intake, make our hand a strainer.

• 27:29John Hopkins?

  The two shivering men rotate every fifteen minutes. But slowly, over the next few hours, the water levels lower, giving the vessel a slightly improved stability.

• 27:42John Hopkins?

  When all the seawater is finally cleared, the men's soaking possessions remain.

• 27:47Speaker 01

  So then the next is get everything out of the boat that we don't need. Everything was soaking wet, forty-eight degree water, freezing cold. Everything out of the boat. So we jettisoned everything and that took another couple of hours. And the purpose is you don't want to be in there with all this wet, cold stuff.

• 28:04John Hopkins?

  They also hope that their discarded items might act like a sort of breadcrumb trail, if a rescue vessel is looking for them.

• 28:13John Hopkins?

  With each task, a different crewmate takes the lead. It's as though their individual qualities and backgrounds have all been building up to this moment.

• 28:22Speaker 01

  All these decisions were decisions made by one or more or all of us, either individually or together. And they were all the right things to go and do next. And they came from the group. And it might be one person saying, "We need to do this," and then say, "Yeah, you're right, we needed to..." Or somebody else or as a group. But it was really quite interesting as to how we came up with all the things we needed to do next. And who came up with those ideas and in what order. And it was a group effort and very effective.

• 28:54John Hopkins?

  Now the main challenge is how to avoid hypothermia. With no indication that anyone is coming to get them, they'll have to survive in these conditions for hours, days even.

• 29:06John Hopkins?

  That's when Bobby, the fisherman, makes a suggestion. He points out that synthetic clothing and material dries quickly, whereas cotton holds on to moisture.

• 29:18Speaker 01

  We were retrieving synthetics with the idea being we were going to have to take everything off that we had, take all the synthetics we could get, wring them out as hard as we possibly could. And it was really good survival stuff. Wringing out everything possible and putting those synthetics on in layers.

• 29:37Speaker 01

  Anything we found, socks, anything. We would wring it out, put it on in layers so that there's less water involved and your body can help warm you up and eliminate the moisture. All the cotton went, all the synthetic stayed, and Bobby was the one who was insistent upon that, and he was very right, and it was a great move.

• 30:03John Hopkins?

  Layered up in synthetic clothing, they clear the final sodden items out of the boat. They're about to throw their rubber mattresses over the side when one of them makes another suggestion: why not keep them?

• 30:18Speaker 01

  We could cut them up and stick them in the shattered shards of windows and catches to keep the cold air out, which we did. So we stuffed these foam rubber pieces in these ragged holes, which effectively stopped the whistling of this wind from whipping through this boat, and that was effective. The other stuff we did with them was we run them out and cut them in strips that we could wrap around our mid-drift section as further insulation and an attempt to keep our core warm.

• 30:53John Hopkins?

  And with that, a waiting game begins.

• 30:58John Hopkins?

  They've spent five exhausting hours securing the boat and getting as warm as they can. It's now morning. The gray sky lightens a little to acknowledge a new day. Moray is back in the companionway, sitting on the stairs. The other two are in different parts of the boat. Each man is alone with his morbid thoughts.

• 31:21Speaker 01

  The other stuff kept us busy, I mean, for many hours, you know, five hours or whatever. We were busy and working, and that helps generate heat as well as keep your mind off stuff and give you a purpose and helps you in your functioning. The rest of it is harder because, first of all, you get cold required because you're not doing anything, and second of all, there's nothing to do but sit there and think. I thought about the poor guy who's a good friend of mine, who referred me, sent me the email about this trip, then I followed up on, and he was a good personal friend, family friend, and I thought, poor Charlie, man, he's gonna, he's gonna feel awful and never forgive himself if we don't come back from this trip and he thinks, oh my God, if I hadn't sent him that email, he wouldn't have gone. I don't know why that popped into my head.

• 32:06Speaker 01

  And then, of course, more seriously and importantly, the one thing that really did keep crossing my mind as I looked out on this situation and didn't know how it was going to end, positively, negatively, or whatever, that if it ended negatively, it just became very difficult for me to accept that I wasn't going to see, I wasn't going to see my family anymore.

• 32:34John Hopkins?

  This November on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor Utzi the Iceman, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' Short Stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Four.

• 33:17John Hopkins?

  Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus.

• 33:26John Hopkins?

  This November on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor Utzi the Iceman, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' Short Stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Four.

• 34:09John Hopkins?

  Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus. And for our American listeners, a special offer on Noises debut book, A Short History of Ancient Rome. Head to bookshop.org and use the code NONFIC26 for 15% off. Valid for US customers November 1st to 30th. That's bookshop.org and use the code N O N F I C 26.

• 34:43John Hopkins?

  It's 10 a.m. on July 26th, seven hours since the wave hit. The Valiant rocks impotently in the ocean. Its sail is gone. The deck is bare and damp. Maury sits alone, wrapped in layers of synthetic clothing, bits of rubber mattress around his belly. No rescue boat has appeared.

• 35:08Speaker 01

  Everybody else was in their respective places, thinking about whatever it was they're thinking about. Not a lot of chit-chat because there wasn't much to talk about or to do.

• 35:19Speaker 01

  And then I saw a plane.

• 35:23Speaker 01

  And it was like, holy [bleep], there's a plane, guys. And so that changes everything.

• 35:30John Hopkins?

  Maury calls to Wes and Barry. The crewmates fumble for the ditch bag. It's what you use if you have to deploy your life raft. It contains basic emergency supplies, including a handheld radio. It doesn't transmit far, but hopefully it can reach the plane circling above them. The pilot needs to see them, to hear them, to know they're down here. Eventually, they hear a voice crackling through the radio.

• 36:01Speaker 01

  And the plane kept asking us our location. Well, first of all, we don't know our location. We have no navigational equipment. And second of all, don't you see us? The boat was white. The ocean's white. The sail and rig are gone, so there's nothing really to see except the very little bit of white boat in the midst of white ocean from however many feet, 500 feet above or whatever. He never saw us. So we kept saying, we're right below you, right below you. He didn't see us.

• 36:34John Hopkins?

  The crewmates set off a flare.

• 36:39John Hopkins?

  This time, mercifully, the pilot spots them. But it turns out this aircraft isn't about to scoop them off the deck. It's a reconnaissance plane. After the emergency signal went out, the pilot was sent to confirm the location of the boat, not rescue them.

• 36:55Speaker 01

  And they also, at the same time, apparently, contacted what appeared to be the only ship in the area. We hadn't seen anything in 1,100 miles. It turns out, there was a large, commercial fishing vessel that was part of the Greenland marine science arm of the government that was on an expedition. They do this routine one. It's a 220-foot commercial fishing vessel. And they were out on a three-week expedition.

• 37:27John Hopkins?

  The pilot's voice crackles through the radio again. He informs the crewmates that he has confirmed their location, and that he will pass the information on.

• 37:37Speaker 01

  And I'll never forget, he said something at one point in his Icelandic accent. He said, "A rescue vessel will be along within the hour." And we're like, "Whoa, what do you mean? We're on the bus line, or what? I mean, what, you know, we're at a bus stop and the bus is coming? What does that mean?" Well, it turns out, they'd been steaming towards us for hours. We just didn't know it, and they weren't that far away.

• 38:10John Hopkins?

  The three men shiver as they await the rescue boat. As the minutes pass, the frosty air claws deeper into their bones. What if they floated off course and can't be spotted?

• 38:24John Hopkins?

  But finally, a nebulous gray shape appears in the distance, moving closer through the waves.

• 38:32Speaker 01

  Remember, it's still not a nice balmy day. You know, remnants of the storm. The seas are a mess, still windy and it's not very good conditions at all. But on the horizon appears this vessel, rather large, coming towards us.

• 38:48John Hopkins?

  They get out their handheld radio again, and this time they contact the ship's captain. The imposing vessel bounces over the vicious swell.

• 38:58Speaker 01

  So they were probably average 20-foot waves, and he would have crushed us. So he wasn't going to come close to us. So he asked us to deploy the life raft and get in it.

• 39:09John Hopkins?

  It's clear in these dreadful conditions that this rescue is going to be far from easy. In fact, it could be their most dangerous trial yet. The crewmates follow the instructions from the ship's captain. They clamber inside the small, yellow, inflatable life raft. Then they try to move away from their abandoned ship, but the waves and currents push them back. They can't escape the wreck. The Valiant threatens to crash into them with every wave. But they can use a tiny oar to propel themselves painstakingly through the water. Slowly, but surely, they approach the towering rescue boat.

• 39:52Speaker 01

  Waves are tossing the thing all over the place. We eventually got close enough to the ship, and by that point, of course, it's gotten bigger and bigger and bigger, and now it's looming overhead and it's gigantic and terrifying to the point where we actually proposed earlier while we were talking to the captain, "Do you think we maybe should wait until tomorrow?" I don't know what I was thinking, but I proposed it because I was, I've read enough and anyone who has been in this world has read enough to know, oftentimes you can survive the disaster and get killed in the rescue. It's just dangerous.

• 40:30John Hopkins?

  The captain refuses. They're going to do this right now.

• 40:36John Hopkins?

  Maury's rain-slicked face tilts up, and he takes in the vast hull of the ship.

• 40:43Speaker 01

  My fantasy was that down the side of this ship was gonna come one of those elaborate rope things that cover a whole section of the boat that the soldiers climb up on and, you know what I mean, that image. Eh, wasn't what happened. From thirty-five feet up at the deck, over the side, comes down a rope ladder, two feet wide, made out of rope, with wooden slats, just dropped down the side of the boat. That's it.

• 41:17John Hopkins?

  Tossing waves fill the gap between the life raft and the ship. The ladder looks like it had barely held the weight of a child. Maury reaches across the gap and grabs onto a run. But just then, a wave hits the life raft, threatening to pull him into the water. He lets go of the ladder.

• 41:37John Hopkins?

  He pauses, takes a deep breath, then reaches out again.

• 41:43Speaker 01

  I'm on the ladder, and I'm looking, you know, up thirty-five feet, you don't wanna really look down because it's not a pretty picture, and I started to climb. I could not move my arms. I literally was... I don't know what happened. I was on that ladder, and I guess I was just totally spent. And then I heard this sound in the distance coming from above, and the sound was sort of like, sounded like

• 42:14Speaker 01

  and remember the wind's whistling and all this kind of stuff. And I didn't know what it was, and I look up, and all of the crew is leaning over the railing and saying, "One more." They were literally willing me up.

• 42:34John Hopkins?

  It's painful, it's slow, but rung by rung, Mori crawls towards safety.

• 42:41John Hopkins?

  The winds and the waves sway the ladder, and as he clings on, his knuckles look like they'll burst through his skin.

• 42:49John Hopkins?

  At last, Mori reaches the top. Hands appear, pulling him onto the deck. He's made it.

• 42:58John Hopkins?

  He crumples, exhausted, dazed, but alive.

• 43:10John Hopkins?

  When it comes to the other two crewmates, a harness is hastily crafted to help them move up the precarious rope ladder more easily.

• 43:18Speaker 01

  And of course, later, I never let them forget that. I kept telling the crew and the captain, I said, "What the hell's that about? What was it? I didn't get a harness. What was that at?" You know, messing with them and all that.

• 43:32John Hopkins?

  This November, on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor utsi the Iceman, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' short stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Four.

• 44:15John Hopkins?

  Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus. And for our American listeners, a special offer on Noiser's debut book, A Short History of Ancient Rome. Head to bookshop.org and use the code NONFIC26 for 15% off. Valid for US customers November 1st to 30th. That's bookshop.org and use the code N O N F I C two six.

• 44:46John Hopkins?

  This November on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor Utzi the Iceman, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' Short Stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Fall.

• 45:29John Hopkins?

  Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus.

• 45:39John Hopkins?

  The Valiant's three crewmates have all survived.

• 45:43John Hopkins?

  But instead of heading straight to land, they're now on a government-sponsored trip.

• 45:49John Hopkins?

  Their rescuers are scientists and researchers. And so Mori, Wes and Barry find themselves entering a very different world.

• 45:59Speaker 01

  They had work to do and they had places to go and they still had their mission to accomplish. So the plan became, they were going to continue on with their course of zigzagging and doing their research until they got to the point of their route that would be the closest to Iceland. And then they would arrange for us to be picked up and taken off. But they weren't making a beeline for Reykjavik and nor did we expect them to. So we had a couple of days of being their guests on their ship, which was the most extraordinary experience. They couldn't have been more gracious, they were helpful, they fed us, they got clothes from people, they gave us their bunks and berths and staterooms and showers and phones. And, I mean, it was amazing.

• 46:44John Hopkins?

  The three men are then taken to meet the captain, who led the rescue operation.

• 46:48Speaker 01

  It was pretty significant to go up and see this man and thank this man for what he had done and the skill that he exhibited. So it was pretty significant. I asked him, I said, "Had you ever done this before?" And he said, "No." And I said, "Well, how did you know how to do this? Because you just executed an incredibly delicate, difficult, and we have you to thank for us being here. How did you even..." He said, "I just figured it out as we went along."

• 47:26John Hopkins?

  Two days later, the research vessel reaches the Icelandic fishing town of Grindavik. The three survivors are handed over to the Icelandic police, while the boatload of scientists stand on the deck and wave goodbye. Also waiting for Maury, Wes, and Bobby are the press. It turns out the country has been gripped by the drama of the three men lost at sea. There will be time to tell their entire story later. For now, they just need to get home.

• 47:59Speaker 01

  So we got arranged to be housed in Reykjavik and figured the rest out on our own. And I flew home and that was the sum total of the story.

• 48:15John Hopkins?

  It's September 2017 in Richmond, Virginia, around two months since the rescue. Maury is safely at home and enjoying a somewhat calmer retirement, though the memories of his ordeal remain fresh. He, Wes, and Barry haven't seen each other since the incident, but today, they have a reunion planned.

• 48:38Speaker 01

  Wes reached out and wanted to have lunch. And the three of us had lunch, hadn't seen each other since. And really spoken to each other since. Not because of animosity, just no particular reason to. And we had lunch together and he gave us each a gift, which was very thoughtful. And we kind of hashed it over and talked about it and stuff like that. That was the only time we ever met. And I've never spoken to or met either of them since. Not again, not because we're, no animosity, just, just the way it is. I don't think it's something that Wes would want to spend a whole lot of time talking about. We were safe, we were sound, all's well that ends well. And it was all good.

• 49:19John Hopkins?

  Today, Maurice still loves the sea. He and his wife have managed to buy their own boat, even if the trips are a little more subdued these days, around the mellower waters of Chesapeake Bay.

• 49:34John Hopkins?

  Reflecting on what happened, Maurice says he mainly feels lucky and thankful to his crewmates and his rescuers.

• 49:42John Hopkins?

  His near-death experience has made later life all the sweeter.

• 49:47Speaker 01

  It's an experience that was pretty extraordinary on a lot of fronts. And we were very, very fortunate. So luck and good fortune in conjunction with the preparation and the diligence that Wes exhibited in having everything that we needed. Having been the recipient of that kind of good fortune and effort and help is pretty significant. A lot of people that thank, and that's kind of humbling.

• 50:32John Hopkins?

  In the next episode, we meet Zamon Kingi. In March 1986, the 17-year-old is whitewater rafting through the jungle of Papua New Guinea. He's having a blast, until the fun abruptly stops.

• 50:48John Hopkins?

  When they hit a waterfall, Zamon's friend Andrew will be separated from the group. With no idea if he's dead or alive, Zamon will join the rescue effort, setting off back down the river on a mission to find his friend before the crocodiles do. That's next time on Real Survival Stories.

• 51:10John Hopkins?

  Listen today without waiting a week by subscribing to Noiser Plus. This November on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor Utsi the Iceman, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' Short Stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues

• 51:55John Hopkins?

  in The Sign of Four. Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus.

• 52:09John Hopkins?

  Hi listeners. If you have an amazing survival story of your own that you'd like to put forward for the show, let us know. Drop us an email at [email protected]. That's [email protected].