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Pixel 8 Pro is a free-to-play video. August 14th, 1979. It's

0:36

early morning, somewhere out in the Celtic Sea

0:38

off the south coast of Ireland. Twenty-four-year-old

0:42

Nick Ward stands aboard the

0:44

30-foot racing yacht Grimulcan. One

0:47

of a crew of six, he's been battling

0:49

gale-force winds for hours. He

0:52

is soaked and frozen to the bone. Monstrous

0:56

waves rear up on all sides,

0:59

vertical slabs of water. They

1:01

smash down, drenching the crew and

1:03

tossing the yacht about like a children's toy.

1:08

Nick has never seen anything like it. The

1:12

conditions which were becoming

1:15

intolerable I'd not experienced

1:17

ever before. And

1:19

so for me, it was unknown territory. And

1:22

I was scared. Instead

1:24

of what was happening, it was so difficult

1:26

to control the boat. So

1:28

difficult. The

1:31

exhausted sailors huddled together. They

1:34

desperately need a plan. But there

1:36

is a difference of opinion. Some

1:38

want to deploy the life raft to set

1:40

themselves adrift and trust help will come. But

1:43

Nick is dead against the idea. The

1:46

advice of his father keeps coming back to him. One

1:50

of his first rules

1:52

was do not leave the boat,

1:55

even if she capsizes. So that

1:57

was just in my head all the time. The

2:01

life raft is the last resort. The

2:04

best life raft you have is what's beneath you,

2:06

and that's the boat. Tempers

2:09

begin to flare as the yacht sways this way

2:11

and that. But then,

2:14

something silences the discussion. A

2:17

terrible, trembling roar. Nick

2:23

turns to see a sheer wall

2:25

of water towering maybe seventy feet

2:28

directly above him. Ever

2:39

wondered what you would do when disaster

2:41

strikes? If your life

2:43

depended on your next decision, could you make

2:45

the right choice? Welcome

2:47

to Real Survival Stories. These

2:50

are the astonishing tales of ordinary

2:52

people thrown into extraordinary situations. People

2:55

suddenly forced to fight for their lives.

3:00

In this episode, we meet Nick Ward. The

3:03

young English sailor is chasing a lifetime ambition

3:06

as he competes in one of the world's elite yacht

3:08

races. At Outlet

3:10

Sea, he and his crewmates

3:13

find themselves caught in a once-in-a-generation

3:15

storm. For

3:17

hours, they'll fight together side by side.

3:20

But after one wave too many, Nick

3:22

will be left to face this life-or-death

3:25

struggle alone. It

3:28

had turned from a race into a

3:31

race for survival, and I've

3:33

never been so petrified in my life. I'm

3:37

John Hopkins from Noiser. This is

3:39

Real Survival Stories. It's

4:08

the morning of Saturday, August 11, 1979, in the English Channel,

4:10

just off cows on the Isle

4:13

of Wight. It's a

4:16

beautiful day, clear sky, light breeze.

4:19

All week the weather has been good. There

4:22

are over 300 boats bobbing in the

4:24

calm waters close to the clubhouse of

4:26

the Royal Yacht Squadron. This

4:29

is the starting point of the legendary

4:32

Fastnet Race, held every other

4:34

year since It's

4:37

a six-day, 600-mile sprint along the

4:39

south coast of England, past the

4:41

Silly Isles, out into the Celtic

4:43

Sea, then round the Fastnet Rock

4:45

off the southern tip of Ireland and

4:47

back again.

4:50

Twenty-four-year-old Nick Ward is buzzing with

4:52

excitement. He's long

4:54

dreamt of tackling the Fastnet. Sailing

4:57

is in his blood. He

4:59

was born in the seaside village of Hamble, a

5:02

boating paradise on the Hampshire coast. My

5:06

father built a dinghy, an

5:08

eight-foot-long prandinghy in which he

5:10

taught me to sail. And as I got older,

5:13

we progressed into different classes of boats.

5:16

I was out and about

5:18

all over the country sailing

5:20

with some wonderful people. You're

5:23

there with the sea, the

5:25

sky. That sounds too corny,

5:28

I know. But it's just you

5:30

and the elements. I

5:33

was willing to do anything and everything as

5:35

far as sailing was concerned. Not

5:38

so long ago, Nick thought his sailing cram would

5:41

be over before it really began. Aged

5:44

fifteen, he suffered a brain hemorrhage,

5:46

leaving him with epilepsy and partial paralysis

5:49

on his left-hand side. He

5:52

worked hard to regain his physical abilities.

5:56

Now, Wally must carefully manage his

5:58

condition with medication. he's able

6:00

to sail with the best of them. When

6:03

he's not out on the water, Nick works

6:05

for a company supplying boat parts. That's

6:07

how he came to meet an accountant in his 40s,

6:10

David Sheehan. David

6:13

is the owner of the yacht, Armalkon, and

6:16

in June he invited Nick to join his

6:18

crew. David

6:24

was my customer and a very

6:26

good one too. And he stopped

6:28

at nothing to make his boat secure and

6:31

safe, which is why I liked sailing

6:33

with him. David's son Matthew,

6:35

who was then 17 years of age, was

6:39

the main staunch crew member. He

6:41

was a strong and muscular young

6:43

man who I was acquainted

6:45

with, but didn't know well. But

6:48

we became friends, particularly during

6:50

the run-up races. There

6:52

was a chap called Mike Doyle,

6:54

another one, David Wheeler, who

6:57

I didn't know, but David had known from his

7:00

sailing club and they

7:02

became part of the crew also.

7:05

There was one change of crew

7:07

member in that Jerry Winx came

7:09

aboard and replaced another guy whose

7:11

name I cannot recall. But

7:14

we all got on very well, particularly Matthew

7:16

and myself. The

7:19

Gramalkon crew has a great blend of youth

7:21

and experience. After

7:23

the Captain David, Jerry is the oldest

7:25

in his mid-30s. Mike

7:28

and Nick are in their 20s, while

7:30

the younger Dave and Matthew, the Skipper's son,

7:32

are both still teenagers. All

7:35

of them are talented yachtsmen. Since

7:38

coming together, they recently placed well in

7:40

a race from Cows to San Marla

7:42

in France. And

7:45

so on Saturday, August 11th,

7:48

Nick finds himself on the fastnet scout

7:50

line. As

7:52

they make a few final checks, spirits on board

7:54

are high. So we

7:58

made sure that everything was tickety-boo

8:00

for the start of the race. David

8:04

was meticulous. For instance, back

8:07

in those days in

8:09

1979, the regulations were

8:11

not quite so tight as they are now,

8:14

nor was the technology so high-tech. But

8:17

David managed to make sure that he

8:19

had three radios on board,

8:21

who weren't required by

8:24

the regulations to take one. We

8:26

had a VHF, we had an

8:28

FMAM radio, we also had an

8:31

emergency beacon called a call-boy, which

8:34

floats under his waterproof. The

8:37

crew starts maneuvering on the sun-dappled

8:39

water, checking the tides and

8:41

jockeying with their rivals for best position.

8:47

And the good coughony was amazing, the

8:49

noise of winches being ratcheted, the

8:52

sound of sails being changed, of

8:55

practicing everything. Even the

8:57

smell of gourgois, we came

8:59

upon some boats, French boats, which we'd met

9:01

in, I think it was St. Marlowe,

9:04

and they came so close that I

9:06

could smell the guy's gourgois. But it

9:09

was that sort of closeness to

9:11

your competition. Wonderful sight.

9:14

Magic is the word. The

9:18

wild monochrome sails stretch as far as

9:20

the eye can see, above a rainbow

9:22

of freshly painted hulls, each

9:24

dorbed with a name. Moonduster,

9:27

Rugermuffin, Crazy Horse, and

9:30

each with its own story. With

9:33

her light blue decks and elegant white

9:36

hull, Grumelkin is named after a witch's

9:38

cat in Shakespeare's Macbeth. The

9:41

tragic omen were just a bit of fun. Time

9:44

will tell. By

9:52

1.20pm the race is at last underway.

9:56

Grumelkin is one of the smallest jots, and

9:58

she cuts a fine figure gliding. over the water.

10:02

The crew check the shipping forecast. Every

10:04

six hours it gives the latest on sailing

10:06

conditions. The wind in each

10:08

zone is given a numerical value. A

10:12

force zero is barely detectable. A

10:14

force one is the lightest of breezes and so

10:16

on. And it's

10:18

not until you get to force eight that

10:21

it becomes a girl. But beyond

10:23

full state it becomes exponential.

10:26

So in other words it's not just one

10:28

jump in miles per hour

10:31

or knots per hour.

10:33

It becomes ludicrously

10:35

strong. Force 10, that's

10:38

a full-blown gale. The

10:41

wind blows the seas flat

10:44

and can create extraordinary conditions.

10:46

Beyond force 10 becomes a hurricane. But

10:49

the prediction was no more than force eight

10:52

in the fast net region when we left

10:55

Cows. On

10:57

Grimalkin the helm sits in an exposed

10:59

open-air cockpit at the rear of the

11:01

vessel. The captain operates

11:03

a rotation system with each crew

11:06

member on watch for four hours and then off

11:08

for the next four. At

11:10

any time of day or night there will

11:13

be at least two men on deck working

11:15

the sails and checking the lines. While one

11:17

crewman navigates one works below

11:20

deck and two are resting. Down

11:23

below things are cramped. The Caribbean

11:26

houses a tiny galley, a chart table

11:28

and a sleeping area fitted with

11:30

two bunks and a basic toilet. Safe

11:33

to say no one's here for comfort. They

11:36

get off to a steady start and sail without

11:38

issue through the first night. If

11:41

there's any concern it's that the wind

11:43

is too weak. The

11:47

first evening was just windless but

11:50

it was manageable and comfortable. On

11:53

one of my watch periods we

11:56

made that was a during a four-hour

11:58

period we've made a program of

12:00

19 miles. On

12:02

another watch period we've made progress of 26 miles.

12:05

Now that's not good. You want to do

12:07

twice that at least. So we

12:09

were slow. So we knew that

12:11

we were in for a long race if the wind persisted. It's

12:15

the same story on Sunday. They make

12:17

slow progress, plodding through the coastal haze.

12:21

The crew keep an eye out for friends

12:23

and competitors as other vessels occasionally loom

12:25

out of the mist before vanishing again.

12:31

By Monday morning, Gremelkin has finally made

12:34

it past Land's End, the most westerly

12:36

point of mainland England that is

12:38

heading into the Celtic Sea. There's

12:40

now a fair wind, but

12:42

they hope it'll pick up further. It

12:46

was still relatively light. The

12:48

BBC shipping forecast, which David relayed

12:51

to us, and we

12:53

heard from the speaker, again

12:55

gave nothing untoward, nothing

12:58

we couldn't deal with at that time. Afternoon

13:01

brings what's called a fresh breeze, 21

13:05

knots or a wind speed of about 30 miles

13:07

per hour. To the

13:09

crew's relief, the forecast now predicts winds

13:11

of up to force seven in the

13:13

fastenet area. There

13:15

are a few larger yachts half a mile

13:17

ahead, but Gremelkin sits in

13:19

an armada of smaller, similar class

13:21

vessels. Nick

13:24

spends the afternoon helping to trim or

13:26

adjust the spinnaker, a three-cornered

13:28

sail that sits forward of the mainsail.

13:31

When it fills with wind, it can draw the

13:34

boat along at twice its regular speed. By

13:37

4pm, as his watch comes to an end,

13:40

conditions are about as good as can

13:42

be. The yachts streaks along like a

13:45

racehorse. Off

13:47

duty, Nick retires to his bunk

13:49

for some sleep. 90

13:53

minutes later, he re-emerges, woken

13:56

by the heavy rocking of the boat. choppy

14:00

now, waves rising to 20

14:02

feet. The crow are changing the sails

14:05

and the yacht is gaining speed. Before

14:08

heading back down, Nick glances at

14:10

the early evening sky. He's

14:13

like nothing he's seen before. There

14:16

was a peculiar sunset on

14:19

the Monday, something of the like of which

14:21

I've never seen or

14:23

seen since. Really

14:25

peculiar. Like a

14:28

painting, like a painting of slabs

14:31

of colour. Extraordinary. And

14:34

none of us has seen anything like it before. And

14:37

all these sayings that my father used to tell me

14:39

like, you know, Red

14:42

Sky at Night, Shepherd's Delight, Red

14:44

Sky in the Morning, Shepherd's War, whatever, they

14:46

came to mind. And I described

14:48

it, I think, as a sheaf and wolf's clothing.

14:51

It didn't all go well. This

14:58

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16:36

It's approaching 8 p.m. where Nick wakes

16:38

again. This

16:41

time he hears Matt, Jerry and Dave

16:43

on duty up above, shouting

16:45

instructions to prepare for bad weather. I

16:48

heard people say it's getting

16:50

pretty rough out here, Nick. Full oil

16:53

skin, so I put on another oil skin

16:55

top. I put on a jacket this time to

16:57

go over my normal oil skins. When

17:01

he steps back out on deck, Nick sees

17:03

for himself how conditions have changed. And

17:06

the sea, although it had rolling waves, it

17:10

looked as if there was a press on it, as

17:12

if something, a pressure

17:14

was on it and something was

17:16

gonna happen. I

17:18

have tinnitus, my tinnitus got worse for instance. And

17:21

I guess that's an oncoming sign of

17:24

whether to come. The

17:27

next shipping forecast isn't due until after midnight.

17:30

David, the captain, wants an up deck

17:32

before then. He sits at

17:34

the radio set, tuning in and out of frequencies.

17:38

At last, he hits on a broadcast from

17:40

a French station. In

17:43

the French weather forecast, in

17:46

those days relied more upon weather boys

17:49

than shore stations, so they were

17:51

predicting force 10. And

17:54

we all knew the difference between a force eight and

17:56

a force 10 is exponential. And

17:58

so we knew that. But if the French

18:01

were right, then we were

18:03

in for a hell of a night. A

18:08

force ten means winds of 60 miles

18:11

per hour and waves 40 feet

18:13

high. The absolute limit of

18:15

what Grimelkin can handle. David

18:18

scans the airwaves again. Who

18:20

to believe? The consoling words

18:22

of the British forecast for this

18:24

latest bulletin. After

18:28

a few minutes, he hooks onto the frequency of a

18:30

nearby French yacht. Its captain

18:32

has managed to make contact with one of the

18:34

British lighthouses. Is

18:37

the UK forecast correct? The

18:39

French skipper asks anxiously. After

18:42

a pause, the lighthouse confirms that it is.

18:46

On Grimelkin, there is a collective sigh of relief.

18:50

We were just happy to get on with our race and

18:53

trust in David and the weather

18:55

forecast to get it right. Because

18:58

we were soon going beyond the point of no return.

19:01

By which I mean it would be very

19:03

difficult for us to turn round in bad

19:05

weather and come back to port. The

19:10

last sunlight disappears and clouds block

19:12

out the moon and stars. David

19:16

orders the crew to clip on to

19:18

secure their safety harnesses to the guardrails. Should

19:21

a wave knock them overboard, they won't

19:23

be swept away. Earlier

19:26

Grimelkin surged over the wave.

19:30

But now her bow plunges head

19:32

first into the increasing swell. Staring

19:37

into the darkness, Nick blinks through

19:39

the explosions of spray. As

19:42

his eyes adjust, they widen as

19:44

he makes out the size of the oncoming waves. He

19:48

glances at the anemometer, the device for

19:50

measuring wind speed. Its

19:53

needle dances between 30 and 35 knots,

19:56

equivalent to a top end of 4.6, approaching

20:02

If this keeps up, they'll be around fasten it and

20:04

heading for home much sooner than they thought.

20:07

But the wind increases further and

20:10

further. The

20:12

captain orders a change of sail to the

20:14

smallest they possess, the storm jib.

20:18

Nick can only just make out the navigation lights

20:20

of other boats nearby. Now

20:23

the anemometer shows force nine, touching

20:26

ten. The

20:28

order is given to inflate life jackets. Clearly

20:31

the French forecast was correct after

20:33

all. The

20:40

decision is made to heave too. To

20:43

slow the vessel's forward progress, the sail

20:45

positions and tiller are fixed, so

20:47

that the Gremelken doesn't have to be manually steered.

20:50

Something which is already proven

20:53

near impossible. The

20:56

seas were just so massive by that time, she

20:58

wouldn't stay where she was put. The

21:02

traditional method of heaving too is to

21:04

lash the tiller, go below

21:07

and wait till the storm subsides. But

21:09

this was a different kind of storm. It

21:12

was bigger than any one has ever seen. It's

21:19

approaching midnight now, on Monday, August

21:21

the 13th, somewhere in the Celtic Sea. The

21:25

storm shows no signs of subsiding. With

21:28

waves now coming from all sides, to

21:30

continue heaving too would be madness. Instead,

21:34

the crew must give up their planned course

21:37

and run with the wind. Jerry

21:39

is at the helm, straining every sinew

21:41

to keep them upright. I've

21:45

described it as being like on a water ski,

21:47

because when we did turn with the waves, rather

21:50

than heaving too, it was

21:52

a phenomenal experience, one I shall never forget.

21:56

Because the waves were then behind us, they

21:59

were more noisy. and we

22:01

could see them behind us over

22:03

the stern, hissing like

22:05

trains coming out towards the moon station.

22:10

I took a trick at the helm after

22:12

Jerry had become too tired and

22:15

it was so difficult to control the boat. So

22:18

difficult. I

22:20

was petrified because I

22:23

began to see what the previous helmsmen

22:25

had seen, waves which

22:27

were indescribable in front of us

22:30

and indescribable behind us. They

22:37

ride up the oncoming waves before racing down

22:39

the other side. Anything

22:42

that isn't tied down becomes a potential missile.

22:46

In the cabin, tins and pans fly around

22:48

at head height with

22:50

such force that they embed themselves in the

22:53

wooden beam. With

22:56

tall hands on deck, the crew take shelter in

22:59

the cockpit at the aft of the yacht. It's

23:02

a tiny space and they're exposed to the helms,

23:04

but at least there are no projectiles to dodge. At

23:08

the helm, Nick fights to keep promoting

23:11

the check. Suddenly,

23:14

he feels his grip on the tiller ripped

23:16

away. With

23:19

an almighty jolt, the six crewmen are flung

23:21

across the cockpit. A

23:25

mass of bodies collides with wood, metal

23:27

and fiberglass. There

23:33

are no serious injuries this

23:35

time. But how

23:37

on earth did conditions deteriorate so

23:39

quickly? And

23:41

how much worse is this going to get? What

23:48

none of them realize is that they are

23:50

caught directly in the path of what meteorologists

23:52

call a weather bomb or

23:55

an explosive cyclogenesis. It's

23:58

a freak phenomenon where a low- pressure

24:00

system suddenly intensifies. It

24:04

was a low pressure which had

24:06

already killed one person over the weak

24:08

hills of America and was travelling

24:10

at 35 miles an hour across the

24:14

Atlantic to join the low pressure

24:16

that we were now in. As

24:18

it approached Ireland, the weather system grew

24:21

into a tempest set on

24:23

a collision course with a fast net yacht

24:25

in the Celtic sea. The

24:28

system has since broken up into a series

24:30

of individual storms, each with the

24:32

strength of a hurricane, each with

24:35

their own wind speeds and directions. It

24:38

just so happens that Cremalkyn sits at

24:40

the very point where opposing storm

24:42

fronts are colliding. 70

24:46

foot waves form and break, coming from

24:48

all directions. Winds blast them

24:50

at nearly 90 miles per hour.

24:53

There's no safe way through. At

25:03

1.30 on Tuesday morning, Nick glances

25:05

at the anemometer. They

25:07

are now in a force 12. Suddenly,

25:12

he loses his grip on the tiller again. The

25:16

strips of his harness tighten as the yacht

25:18

leans over at a 45 degree angle. Nick

25:21

reaches to grab hold of something, anything,

25:23

but there's nothing there. Then

25:26

he crashes into a stanchion, a

25:29

post in the deck's railings. The

25:36

boat capsizes so that the mast is

25:39

almost touching the water and

25:41

all the crew are thrown into the

25:43

water over the stanchions, through the stanchions,

25:46

which was horrendous. We didn't know

25:48

what to do, but we were so

25:50

glad that we had our life jackets inflated and

25:53

that we had our lifelines attached. Otherwise,

25:55

we would have been swept away. breath,

26:00

but instead swallows mouthfuls of icy

26:02

seawater. Spluttering, he

26:04

grips onto the stanchion for dear life. He

26:07

hears the voices of his crewmates. They're all hanging on.

26:11

A few minutes later, mercifully,

26:14

Grimelkin writes herself, and

26:16

they can clamber back aboard. This

26:23

is what sailors call a knockdown, and

26:26

it's just the first of many. Through

26:28

the night, they are thrown overboard

26:30

repeatedly, and the

26:32

worst is still to come. Absolutely

26:39

freezing. I mean, after two or three of

26:41

these things, we were all exhausted. Good

26:45

thinking about survival, and David did his very

26:47

best as a skipper to hold us all

26:49

together and to say, you

26:51

know, in a very British way, we'll get

26:53

through this. But the

26:55

storm just was overwhelming. At

26:58

6am on Tuesday, David, as captain, has no

27:00

other option but to put out a Mayday

27:03

call. Maydays

27:05

are a last resort reserved for

27:07

genuine life and death situations. Until

27:10

now, they have managed as best they can,

27:14

but no longer. Jerry

27:17

is slumped in the cockpit. Hypothermia has

27:19

set in. For all of

27:21

them, the cold makes it difficult to think straight. Simple

27:23

jobs like adjusting a zip or

27:26

tightening a line now feel impossibly

27:28

hard. But

27:30

making a Mayday call means venturing

27:32

down into the cabin, dodging the

27:34

loose items and flying equipment. It's

27:39

David and his son Matthew that go below. They

27:42

manage to transmit the call, but

27:44

the response they get is chilling. Nothing

27:47

we can do for you at the moment. Good

27:49

luck. It

27:52

seems flippant. At least it's

27:54

clear. The blunt answer

27:57

is simply testament to the sheer carnage

27:59

of confusion. at sea. What's

28:03

worse, their foray below deck comes at

28:05

a cost. Before they can

28:07

climb back up, David receives a blow

28:09

to the head. It

28:12

was a can of food which flew across the boat at

28:15

horrendous speed, and

28:17

his son Matthew was down below with him,

28:20

propped him up against the companion way, and

28:23

the crew and Matthew and

28:26

myself helped put on some

28:28

protective lint across the gash on his head,

28:31

pulled up his banner clover in his hood, and

28:33

then we helped him back up into the cockpit. They

28:40

managed to staunch the bleeding, but their captain is

28:43

badly injured and slipping in and out of consciousness.

28:46

Things are looking desperate, but

28:49

just then they hear something over the

28:51

raging elements, high above them, the

28:54

roar of an engine. Squinting

28:57

up, they see a burst of bright

28:59

green light, like

29:02

a falling star, then another,

29:05

flares from a rescue

29:07

plane. They

29:11

must fight their fatigue and break

29:13

out their own distress signals. After

29:17

David's Mayday call, we'd

29:19

heard the noise of jet engines above us, and

29:22

that was one of the RAF's

29:24

Nimrod planes, which was

29:27

circling generally, but not specifically looking for

29:29

us. Apparently,

29:32

Kramalkin isn't the only vessel that is called

29:34

for help. Nick

29:37

loads up their signal gun with an

29:39

emergency flare, pointed upwards, and

29:41

fires. But

29:44

with the violent lurching of the boat, the

29:46

terrible visibility, and the size of the waves,

29:49

it's impossible to shoot straight. Nick

29:52

watches as the flare fizzes

29:54

directly into the gray wall of

29:56

water looming over them. It

30:03

was impossible to get them vertical. So

30:07

everything had been done as far as

30:09

the pyrotechnics were concerned. It

30:12

had turned from a race into a

30:14

race for survival and I've

30:16

never been so petrified in my life. The

30:20

plane disappears into the rain and the clouds. Are

30:24

they spotted? How long might a rescue

30:26

take? The captain

30:28

lies semi-conscious and the next most experienced

30:30

mariner, Jerry, is out of action too.

30:34

How will they cope with yet

30:36

more knockdowns? This

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Reese's today wherever candy is sold. Mike

31:43

is the first to suggest that they should

31:45

launch the life raft and abandon ship. But

31:49

Nick immediately recalls his father's advice. the

32:00

launching of the life raft because

32:02

David was incapacitated and couldn't make a

32:04

decision himself. But

32:06

in those conditions where

32:09

we were it was very difficult to be

32:11

rational, very difficult, because

32:13

your mind is numb, it's cold, your

32:16

extremities are cold, and cold right the

32:18

way through. You've got boots full of

32:20

water, it's ridiculous.

32:23

And so the decision was made to

32:26

launch the life raft. But

32:28

before anyone can react, nature

32:30

intervenes. As

32:32

they're lifted high on the swell, a

32:35

monumental wave smacks into them from behind. All

32:45

I saw was a huge wave

32:47

over the pulpit, the stern of

32:49

the boat coming towards us, and

32:53

the next time you I

32:56

must have lost consciousness because

33:00

I just faded, my vision faded

33:02

to black and that was it.

33:07

When Nick comes to, he's in

33:09

the sea. He's being dragged

33:11

alongside Gramoutkin by his safety harness. His

33:14

head is spinning. He has no idea how long he's

33:16

been overboard. My

33:18

eyes shut and things

33:21

were going on around me and I

33:24

vaguely recall things bumping into

33:26

me. Otherwise I was

33:28

semi-conscious or unconscious. The

33:31

next thing I was aware of was bobbing alongside

33:33

the boat being banged into the side of the

33:35

boat. The

33:39

yacht seems to be upright, but

33:42

debris and collapsed rigging cover the deck

33:44

and she's lost her mast. She

33:47

must have rolled over and thrown him out. Nick's

33:53

legs are tangled in something, but

33:55

his inflated lifejacket has kept him from

33:57

going under. such

36:00

things like removing the whistle from my

36:02

life jacket, blowing the whistle,

36:05

calling their names down below. Where

36:07

are you? Where are you? Have you left me?

36:10

I was swearing a bit. I was angry

36:12

to say the least. But I knew

36:15

that I had to concentrate on my

36:17

survival. I could only

36:19

assume that they had either

36:21

been swept away or

36:24

had gone in their life raft. And

36:27

I just prayed that they had gone in the raft and

36:30

had survived. Just then, he

36:33

spots something in the water. A

36:36

mop of red hair. It's

36:38

Jerry. I

36:41

saw someone bobbing in the

36:43

water alongside the boat, and

36:45

a lifeline was actually still

36:47

attached to the boat. And that was Jerry. And

36:51

God knows how I did it, but

36:53

I was able to wrap that

36:55

lifeline around the starboard primary

36:58

winch and pull him aboard. He

37:01

came in over the broken stanchions and then

37:03

fell into the cockpit. What happened to me?

37:07

I was in total shock. I didn't know what was going on

37:09

at that point. Jerry's in a bad

37:11

way. He has a gash on

37:13

his head and he's motionless. He's not breathing.

37:17

Nick immediately tries to resuscitate him. I

37:22

was able to start CPR

37:26

and the Kiss of Life, which

37:28

I started to do and continued to

37:30

do until I could do no longer.

37:34

And his mouth was moving

37:36

eventually. And

37:38

when I got him into a little

37:40

bit more shelter, and when I

37:42

say shelter, it was relatively little. I

37:46

could hear his last breath and

37:48

he passed away in my arms. Tough.

37:55

Very tough. But what Jerry had

37:57

been able to do is get him out of

37:59

the boat. me the last words to say to

38:01

his wife, if ever you

38:03

see Margaret again, tell her another. And

38:06

then he died in my arms. It's

38:10

like it happened yesterday, you know, it's

38:13

so visceral. The

38:15

smells, the tastes, everything.

38:21

To bring any rationale to the

38:23

situation was extremely difficult. Because

38:26

I was so cold, because

38:28

I was hurting, my leg was hurting, I just

38:31

had a friend die in my arms.

38:33

But eventually I knew

38:36

that I had to try and keep the boat afloat. And

38:40

she was the best form of lifeboat that

38:42

I had to stick with the

38:44

boat. She was still moving

38:47

at incredible angles. And

38:49

I had to tie Jerry off around

38:51

a cleat to keep him in position.

38:54

Otherwise he could have fallen overboard again.

38:57

And I then tried to see

39:00

what it was like below the boat. Nick

39:05

looks through the hatch into the interior. The

39:08

yacht is half flooded. Three

39:10

feet of water sloshes back and forth,

39:12

littered with detritus. I

39:15

managed to get into the interior

39:17

of the boat. I

39:20

was swearing, I was shouting and I was blaspheming.

39:24

I was just hoping my

39:26

mother couldn't hear me. And I

39:28

was angry, because there was nobody

39:30

there apart from Jerry. And

39:34

I had no idea where they were. Returning

39:37

to the deck, Nick tries to make a

39:39

Mayday call with the Callboy emergency radio. But

39:42

it's water locked, as are the other radio sets

39:44

down in the cabin. Besides,

39:47

the antenna on top of the mast

39:49

collapsed when the boat last rolled over.

39:53

He grabs a bucket and starts to

39:55

bail out the cockpit. That's

39:57

all he can do at this point. Half

39:59

delicious. delirious and despairing. He

40:02

talks to Jerry throughout. Not

40:06

that I've ever used it, but I guess it's like

40:08

being on LSD and having a trip. And

40:11

you almost become existential and look down upon

40:13

yourself, you know? I don't

40:15

know how I survived, but I survived. By

40:18

using Jerry as a sounding board. Tis

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and family this holiday season. Nick

41:23

has no idea what time it is. Back

41:26

on deck now. He scanned the

41:28

horizon for any sign of rescue.

41:30

Nothing. Eventually

41:33

the seas started to

41:35

abate and although they're

41:38

horrendously big and still large,

41:40

I could see the crests

41:42

of them, but they weren't curling

41:44

crests. And

41:46

I just waited, using Jerry

41:49

as a sounding board, for my

41:51

madness. What am I going to do? How

41:54

am I going to get out of this? As

41:57

he stands there, he hears a voice in his head. Just

42:01

saying, pull yourself together, pull

42:04

yourself together. And I knew

42:06

that it was the voice of my father because he

42:08

was the only one that called me by the name

42:10

Nicholas rather than Nick. Pull yourself

42:12

together Nicholas, pull yourself together.

42:16

And so that drove me on, gave

42:19

me another spur. Crazy

42:22

things going on in my head. I just

42:24

wanted to survive. I just wanted

42:26

to get back, to handle, back

42:29

to my family. So I

42:31

had to wait and be patient. Wait

42:34

for the seas to abate further. Soon

42:37

the last of his energy is spent. He

42:41

collapses on the deck next to Jerry. Morning

42:44

turns to afternoon, afternoon

42:46

into evening. At

42:48

one point Nick thinks he spots two other vessels in the

42:51

distance, but he can't be sure. And

42:54

if there is someone out there, there's no way

42:56

to communicate with him. Severely

42:59

hypothermic now, he

43:01

lapses in and out of consciousness. I

43:04

was hearing rock music in my head, Pink Floyd, particularly

43:07

money, you know, where there's a, that

43:11

particular noise of cash

43:13

in a drawer going in and out. So

43:18

I was hearing that metronomic beep

43:22

and it turned into the beat of a

43:24

seeking helicopter. Nick

43:27

struggles to focus, but

43:29

he is aware of the whir of rotor blades.

43:32

Getting closer and closer. He

43:39

looks skywards, hovering above

43:41

him is a green Royal Navy

43:43

Sea King helicopter. Its

43:46

thrum is now a deafening roar. He

43:48

can see the pilot's face and another man in

43:50

overalls waving down to him. He

43:53

begins to descend, swinging wildly

43:55

in the crosswinds. Before

44:00

I knew it, a guy

44:02

in a one-piece overall bump

44:05

on the deck and

44:07

he took Jerry off first and

44:09

then came back down for me, realizing

44:11

that I was totally

44:13

comatose. Apparently, the

44:16

first thing I asked him for was my passport and

44:19

so I was totally out of it. I

44:21

must get my passport. I must get my

44:23

passport. The rescuer squeezes his

44:26

arm gently and explains there's no

44:28

time. He secures

44:30

Nick's harness and carries him

44:32

up and away. I

44:38

found out later on that this chap's

44:40

name was Peter Harrison,

44:43

Midshipman Harrison and

44:46

they had flown down from Scotland and this

44:48

was the first rescue he'd ever done.

44:51

So he came back down for me and pulled

44:54

me up, winched me to him. His

44:58

helmet, face was in mind

45:00

and before I knew it, I was sitting in the belly

45:02

of a sea king. From

45:06

up here, the sea looks

45:08

almost inviting, bathed in the last

45:10

of the sun's rays. Nick

45:13

watches Grimelkin, ravaged and strewn with

45:16

wreckage as she recedes into the

45:18

distance. Soon

45:21

he'll be back on the ground in the care of

45:23

medical staff at a Royal

45:25

Naval Air Service in space. I

45:31

remember being put on the trolley, taken

45:33

into the hospital bay and

45:37

all of my clothes were torn off me, well

45:39

not ripped off me, but they're taken quite violently

45:41

from me and I was immersed

45:43

in what I thought was a

45:45

boiling hot bath full of boiling

45:47

hot water but I later found

45:49

out that it was at normal temperature. It's

45:52

just that I was so cold but

45:54

I was just glad to be there and

45:58

that's my survival. that they

46:00

dried me off, put me in a

46:02

dressing gown and I sat off in bed

46:04

and had a place of scrambled egg. And

46:08

that's never been so well from my life. Nick

46:12

is reunited with his family and

46:15

he is able to pass on Jerry's

46:17

final words to his wife.

46:22

As he recovers, Nick learns of the

46:24

true extent of the fast-knit race disaster,

46:27

a tragedy unparalleled in UK

46:30

sailing. With

46:32

the 303 yachts that started, only

46:34

85 finished, 24 either

46:37

sank or were abandoned. Nick

46:41

was one of 136 sailors plucked

46:43

from the sea that day, but

46:45

the last to be found alive. In

46:49

total, there were 15 fatalities among the

46:51

competitors with another six perishing elsewhere

46:53

in the storm. It

46:56

was the largest peacetime air-sea rescue

46:59

operation in British history. Nick

47:06

also begins to understand just what

47:08

happened on Gramalkyn. The

47:11

yacht was caught between two gigantic

47:13

waves coming from different directions. This

47:16

caused the vessel to somersault end over

47:18

end. It was

47:20

de-masted and all hands went

47:23

overboard. Only

47:26

what happened next is harder to piece together,

47:29

with confused, hypothalamic minds

47:32

having to make split-second decisions. It

47:36

seems that after escaping the

47:38

overturned Gramalkyn, Dave, Mike and

47:40

Matthew managed to deploy the

47:43

life raft. But

47:45

their captain, David Sheehan, did not make

47:47

it. It got

47:49

entrapped underneath the capsized yacht. The

47:52

crew tried to free him, but it

47:54

was too late. touch

50:00

with his rescuer, Peter Harrison, who

50:02

went on to become a commander in the Royal Navy. Nick

50:06

also discovers that it's not just Peter to whom

50:08

he owes a debt of thanks. It

50:11

turns out he did see two boats while

50:13

he was alone on deck. One

50:16

of these mystery vessels was his guardian

50:18

angel. And

50:20

I saw two boats and

50:22

I subsequently discovered one

50:25

was Tyfat, whose

50:27

watchkeeper, Christian Schömlafel,

50:30

who's an American, German American guy,

50:32

lives out in Virginia Beach.

50:35

They'd gone through similar situations, but were

50:37

a bigger boat and he

50:39

was the guy that made the VHF Corps

50:42

that brought the sea king to my

50:44

rescue. So

50:47

I owe my life to Christian in many ways. So

50:51

the first time I heard his voice, it was

50:53

very emotional. And we

50:55

still talk now and I'm

50:58

very happy. In

51:02

the years to come, Nick returns to the boat

51:04

supply business. He vows

51:06

to provide his customers with only the

51:08

very safest equipment available. The

51:12

fast-knit disaster changes yachting forever.

51:15

Regulations are tightened and boat and

51:17

equipment design improved. Advances

51:19

in technology also make forecasting more

51:21

accurate. The hope is

51:24

that another 1979 can

51:26

never happen again. But

51:29

for those who survived, the scars

51:31

never entirely fade. I've

51:34

just got on with my knife. I

51:36

don't think I've even digested it now.

51:38

It's still going on. I

51:40

wake up with it and I've spoken

51:43

to other survivors who have

51:45

the same, not nightmare, but they

51:47

wake up or they, if they hear a

51:50

certain noise, they wake up

51:52

or they have a smell. Or

51:54

they have a taste. And so that

51:57

Happens to me on a regular basis. In

52:02

early two thousand and nine. Nick

52:04

decides he has unfinished business

52:06

with fastest. It

52:08

feels like the time is right to finish

52:11

the race. Was.

52:13

Time he chooses a big a boat. With.

52:15

A Logical. I

52:18

would do the rice and to

52:20

says no noise. The thirstiest memorialize.

52:22

And so in a bleak separate

52:25

in two thousand and nine I

52:27

started training some with the crew

52:30

is twelve. To

52:33

go on to says annoyed person price

52:35

which I did. So

52:37

that was a very emotional trip

52:40

for me, but everybody was so

52:42

supportive. It

52:44

was serve an ambition and

52:46

also cathartic. A very emotional

52:48

and I think the crew

52:50

began to realize why I

52:52

was so emotional. So

52:55

yeah, so I'm so flat out on the race.

53:10

And the next episode we

53:12

meet Scott's Tots Carpenter musician

53:14

and to listing image. He

53:18

and his wife Mary Beth has

53:20

been a deluxe. Nice and room

53:22

on earth surrounded by ancient woodland.

53:24

Forest fires are common occurrence, something

53:27

you learn to exist with. When

53:31

the couple go to bed when September night. They

53:34

have no idea what licensed. To

53:37

be trumped in the hearts of the

53:39

most ferocious wildfires seen in these parts.

53:42

the study is. Options.

53:47

Together they must lead into the unknown.

53:50

What's next on real survival

53:52

stores? isn't

53:59

discuss and Marybeth's story right now

54:01

as a Noiser Plus subscriber. See

54:04

the episode description for more information. Introducing

54:10

Royal Caribbean's newest chef, Icon

54:12

of the Seas, the ultimate

54:14

family vacation. The ultimate

54:16

six slides eight neighborhood zero

54:18

compromise vacation. The ultimate

54:20

never done that can't wait to do a vacation.

54:23

The ultimate chilling by a different pool

54:25

every day of the week vacation. This

54:27

is the Icon of Vacations. Icon

54:30

of the Seas, arriving in 2024.

54:32

Cook today and

54:34

seek the Royal Caribbean. Ship Secretary Bahamas.