Boat Rescue Stories

Episodes

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  She Sent "OK" and Vanished: How a Single Ping Misled a Rescue for Days 28.10.2026 19m

  She Sent "OK" and Vanished: How a Single Ping Misled a Rescue for DaysA single-word satellite ping - “OK” - sent at 23:17 after a 41-knot squall redirected search teams 60 miles offshore while its sender drifted stranded near shore; how could one button press hide a four-day survival story? What did that silent message conceal about Laura Harrison’s choices and the equipment that failed her?In this episode, you’ll hear the sequence of events from the moment a 32-foot sloop arrived at Portaverde Municipal Marina unattended to the hours after a night knockdown left sails in the water and a crucial radio flooded. We trace Laura Harrison’s routine, the last satellite ping, and the decisions that sent rescuers looking the wrong way - and ask whether protocols and small habits can cost lives.Person: Laura HarrisonDate: April 6-9, 2019Location: Gulf of Mexico / Portaverde Municipal MarinaEvent: Satellite messenger “OK” ping at 23:17 after knockdownInvestigator: Denise Wagner- 06:54 on April 9, 2019: Dean Carter found the 32-foot sloop Mara Jean in a slip with engine running, two fried eggs still warm in a pan, and a steaming coffee mug on the chart table.- April 6, ~22:40: A squall line produced sustained winds of 41 knots and caused a knockdown on the Mara Jean; the boom fitting (gooseneck) sheared off.- 23:17 on April 6: The satellite messenger sent a single “OK” status ping - the device logs coordinates and transmits “OK” without asking for details.- Harrison had 17 years of solo passages and had crossed the Gulf four times by 2019, carrying flares, a life raft, two handheld radios, a satellite messenger, and a Type One life jacket.- The misplaced search effort spent two days looking approximately 60 miles offshore while Harrison spent four days on a dredged sand spit near shore.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  The Laminate That Saved Two Lives: Drifted, Dried, and Discovered 27.10.2026 18m

  The Laminate That Saved Two Lives: Drifted, Dried, and DiscoveredA dry, laminated veterinary vaccination card washed ashore after drifting through six inches of moving saltwater and led to the rescue of two people adrift 2.5 miles offshore; how did a small card survive a failed dry bag and a storm that pushed a dinghy thirty-eight miles from shore? What chain of events started when Ruth Griffin found a bone-dry card at the 2.25-mile mark south of Pelican Flats?In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the March 2019 survey that went wrong, describe the people, gear failures, and weather that turned a routine seagrass survey into a search and rescue, and trace how a laminated card reconnected those adrift with shore - can one small object change a rescue's outcome?Person: Kathleen WatsonPerson: Marcus BealLocation: Pelican FlatsDate: March 3-4, 2019Event: Outboard engine failure during squall- The laminated veterinary vaccination card drifted through six inches of moving saltwater and was bone dry on both sides when found.- Ruth Griffin found the card at her two-point-two-five-mile mark where the shoreline curves south of Pelican Flats.- Kathleen Watson had been missing for eight days when the card was found.- The storm produced sustained winds of thirty-four knots with gusts to forty-one, and waves rose from two feet to eight in under forty minutes.- By nightfall after the outboard failed, Kathleen and Marcus were approximately thirty-eight miles from Pelican Flats with no propulsion and a failing dry bag.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  The Salt-Crusted Mirror: How One Woman Survived Eleven Days Adrift 26.10.2026 16m

  The Salt-Crusted Mirror: How One Woman Survived Eleven Days AdriftSalt crust on a mirror found in a dry-seal bag hinted at a mystery: everything else in the bag was bone dry while the mirror carried salt from the sea. How did Peggy Mason survive eleven days alone on a life raft with less than two liters of water and a wet mirror that should have been impossible?In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from Peggy Mason’s departure to the moment rescuers pieced together how she lasted eleven days, and we ask what single decisions and failures made survival possible. What combination of gear, training, and circumstance sustained her through nearly two weeks adrift?Person: Peggy MasonDate: February 9-20 (missing at sea for eleven days)Location: Gulf of Mexico, departed Ferris Marina toward the Dry TortugasVessel: 34-foot fiberglass sloop Clara Jean, built 1989, re-rigged 2011Equipment: IP67 dry-seal bag with delaminating seam; EPIRB activated but GPS had no satellite fix- Peggy cast off from Ferris Marina at 06:40 on February 9 and was alone by 07:00.- Last logbook entry on February 11 at 02:00 noted wind NNW 22 knots and seas 6-8; final words "ETA TBD."- Around 02:00 on February 12, a port-side chainplate failed under gusts up to 47 knots, bringing the mast down across the deck.- The fixed VHF antenna was destroyed by the fallen mast and the handheld VHF in the starboard locker had been compromised by a leaking bilge hose fitting.- The dry-seal bag containing flares and a mirror was IP67 rated but had a heat-welded seam that had been delaminating since purchase, explaining why the mirror was salt-crusted while other items remained dry.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  Nine Days Adrift: How Her Logbook Reached Land First 25.10.2026 18m

  Nine Days Adrift: How Her Logbook Reached Land FirstA soaked logbook washed ashore four days before the boat and a woman was found alive eighty miles away - a mismatch that defies expectation and points to habits that kept her breathing. What detail in a pencil-stained journal mapped a path through nine days at sea and why did the pages arrive on land long before the ketch?In this episode, we follow the chronology recorded in the logbook and the records from search-and-rescue and hospital interviews to trace Lisa Coleman's nine days alone at sea, and we ask how redundancy and small routines became the instruments of survival.Person: Lisa ColemanAge: 44Vessel: 42-foot ketch AldgateCrewman: Phil Navarro, 26Float plan contact: Debra Shull- The logbook was found half-submerged in Terrebonne marsh on January 19.- The logbook arrived on land four days before the boat did.- The Aldgate departed Morgan City on January 3 and was struck by a wave on January 6 at approximately 14:15.- Lisa had owned the Aldgate for six years and had been sailing since age 30.- Rations recorded included crackers, peanut butter, and two cases of bottled water.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  Lost Ink, Nine Days Adrift: The Notebook That Mapped Survival 24.10.2026 20m

  Lost Ink, Nine Days Adrift: The Notebook That Mapped SurvivalA composition notebook sat in six inches of brackish water, its marbled cover swollen with salt and pages filled with navigational bearings, drift estimates and water temperatures written in dark brown ink - and not a single pencil mark. Whoever had been writing ran out of ink and kept going; who were they, how far had the water carried them, and could that notebook be the map to finding them?In this episode, we tell what happened when Darlene West left shore on a borrowed twenty-three-foot center-console without a filed float plan and with an EPIRB whose battery had been dead for about eighteen months, and how a notebook, a lost pencil and a misdirected search shaped the first nine days. How did one detour and one missing pencil change everything?Person: Darlene WestDate: December 10-12 (search opened December 12)Location: Nine miles offshore, southeast of Hunting Island; initial search focused on St. Helena SoundVessel: Patrice, a borrowed 23-foot center-consoleItem recovered: Composition notebook with navigational data written in dark brown ink- The Patrice sank in approximately eleven seconds after a through-hull bronze fitting failed that had not been replaced in eleven years.- Darlene had roughly four minutes from stern riding heavy to hull slipping under to deploy the life raft and board it.- The EPIRB on the Patrice had been dead for about eighteen months.- Darlene had four one-liter water bottles, a half-eaten granola bar, a signal mirror the size of a playing card, a pen but not the pencil she lost overboard.- The search was opened December 12 by Colleton County Sheriff’s Department and initially concentrated on St. Helena Sound based on routine assumptions.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  Found Adrift: The List That Survived Eleven Days at Sea 23.10.2026 20m

  Found Adrift: The List That Survived Eleven Days at SeaFear tightens when ordinary routines are ripped away: a folded list with seven names kept its ink after eleven days on the Gulf of Mexico, five names marked "can swim" and two left unmarked - including a woman who could not swim. How did that paper outlast the ship, the wreckage, and most of the people it named, and what does the list reveal about the choices made in those first hours?In this episode, we follow the timeline from departure through collision, the lifeboat's drift, and the recovery of survivors and the soaked list, laying out the facts that led investigators to search in the wrong direction and to the discovery that changed everything: what did the list mean for those aboard?Date: November 9, 2011Event: Collision between MV Peralta and MV Calloway StarPerson: Wayne DavisLocation: Gulf of Mexico, eighty miles from the Louisiana coastCase: Lifeboat found eleven days after collision- The Calloway Star left Port Arthur, Texas on November 6, 2011 with a crew of fourteen and a partial load of industrial solvents.- At 23:37 on November 8, the MV Peralta struck the Calloway Star on the port side; the Peralta's AIS transponder was not transmitting.- In twenty-two minutes after the collision, two crew members were dead, five went into the water and were lost, and seven reached the only functioning lifeboat.- Second Officer Thomas Hewitt wrote a list on the morning of November 9 with seven names and the notation "can" beside five names to indicate swimmers; two names had no notation.- Fisherman Ralph Cook found the lifeboat eleven miles southwest of where search crews had been working for ten days on the morning of November 19; the folded paper survived under a dented water tin.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  Twelve Miles Off: The Notebook That Drifted from a Lost Sloop 22.10.2026 17m

  Twelve Miles Off: The Notebook That Drifted from a Lost SloopThe chill of calculated error: a notebook found forty feet above the tide, its red ink unfaded after thirteen days at sea and three days on rock, recorded a voyage that placed a university sloop exactly twelve nautical miles outside every search grid. What broke first - equipment, rigging, or the chain of choices that left four people adrift with shrinking water and failing radios - and how did one short deviation become fatal silence?In this episode, we follow the entries and the timeline found in that notebook to trace what happened aboard the Ardent Passage from departure to rescue, and we ask whether routine decisions can become the difference between being found and being lost at sea.Person: Patricia WrightVessel: Ardent PassageDate: October 3, 2019Location: 210 nautical miles offshore (planned); 12 nautical miles north of planned track (actual deviation)Event: Desalinator fracture on October 4; mast failure on October 5; VHF distress calls on October 5- The Ardent Passage departed Grover Point, Oregon on October 3, 2019 at just after 0700.- The boat diverted twelve nautical miles north of its filed route by 0615 the next morning without notifying anyone ashore.- The desalinator suffered an irreparable fracture on the afternoon of October 4, leaving four people with 22 liters of bottled water (0.5 L per person per day).- The mast failed on October 5 during 40-knot winds, fell overboard after a six-hour effort to cut it free, and destroyed the single-sideband radio mounted below near the impact.- Patricia logged repeated VHF Mayday calls on channel 16 for four hours from a position of roughly 203 nautical miles offshore before recording the silence.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  Chart Case: The Waterproof Log Found in a Septic Tank 21.10.2026 18m

  Chart Case: The Waterproof Log Found in a Septic TankA sealed, dry chart case stamped MERIDIAN CROSS surfaced three-quarters of a mile from navigable water inside a septic tank - the same case that should have been on a ship that burned and sank 210 nautical miles offshore nine days earlier. The passage log inside ends with a handwritten abandon-ship entry at 00:22 on September 14th; how did that waterproof case travel from a burning catamaran in the Atlantic to a Beaufort septic tank, and what does the final log reveal about who made it home?In this episode, we follow the published entries in the recovered passage log and the documented timeline of the Meridian Cross voyage to reconstruct the key moments from departure to disaster and the immediate aftermath. What sequence of mechanical failures and emergency decisions is shown in the log, and what unanswered detail keeps this recovery baffling?Date: September 9 (departure) and September 14 (last log entry)Location: Beaufort County, South Carolina (septic tank recovery); 210 nautical miles offshore (sinking)Vessel: Meridian Cross, 42-foot Leopard catamaranPeople: Jennifer Bennett, Patrick Voss, Marcus WebbLast log time: 00:22 on September 14- The chart case was found sealed, dry, and stamped with the vessel name three-quarters of a mile from navigable water.- The Meridian Cross had burned and sunk nine days before the chart case was recovered, 210 nautical miles out in the Atlantic.- Jennifer Bennett made an abandon-ship entry at 00:22 on September 14 and noted barometer 30.1 inches and falling.- The starboard 40-gallon aluminum fuel bladder detonated after a fire originating from a chafing fuel line against a bilge pump bracket.- Jennifer, Patrick Voss, and Marcus Webb were all in the water within seconds; Jennifer found and climbed the anchor chain and Voss reached it within two minutes.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  The Note in the Life Ring: How Bruce Hughes Outsmarted the Gulf 20.10.2026 20m

  The Note in the Life Ring: How Bruce Hughes Outsmarted the GulfA pristine life ring washed ashore with a folded note that read "I am not." The ring showed no sun bleaching, no salt stains, and an inked position dated seven days earlier - a single clue that would redirect a Coast Guard search by more than 180 miles. How did one man's systems and a scrap of paper turn a failing search into survival?In this episode, we follow the sequence of events from a dismasted sailboat to a beach discovery and trace the decisions Bruce Hughes made while adrift in the Gulf; can a checklist and a single message outwit the ocean and the failures of safety gear?Person: Bruce HughesDate: August 4, 2019Location: Calder Flats, eleven miles southwest of Kessler, Texas (life ring found)Event: EPIRB transmitted one position on August 5 at 02:47 and then sankStatus: Patricia G. dismasted, EPIRB lost, life ring placed with a dated note- Bruce departed Kessler Marina on August 4, 2019 at 19:15 for Flower Garden Banks, 115 miles southeast.- The EPIRB transmitted one position at 27.41° N, 95.09° W for less than 90 seconds before sinking 60 meters.- The life ring was found pristine, with a folded spiral-note dated seven days earlier and signed "B. Hughes."- Bruce had provisions of 12 bottles of water, two quarts of orange juice, a box of protein bars, and four 5-gallon jerry cans of fuel.- The mast failed at 02:00 on August 5 when a swage fitting let go, leading to dismasting about 40 miles southeast of Kessler Marina.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  Treading Stars: How a Drowned Sailor Drew His Way Home 19.10.2026 17m

  Treading Stars: How a Drowned Sailor Drew His Way HomeThe silence between the stars and the sea swallowed a man who thought he was being heard: a handheld radio transmitting at roughly 3% power, a life-ring wedged under a cooler, and a laminated star chart marked with seven dots drawn while treading water washed ashore dry on top. Someone held that chart recently enough to keep the laminate dry-so who drew those dots in the Gulf and where did the man end up?In this episode, you’ll hear the timeline from the late-night departure through the collision, the failed radio calls, and the discovery of the marked star chart at Dellacroix Landing-raising the question of how a small, wet drawing became the only trace returned home.Person: Carl DonnellyDate: July 17-19, 2011Location: Dellacroix Landing and roughly 32 miles S-SE of the Chandeleur IslandsEvent: Overboard collision at 1:40 AM; star chart found July 19 at 4:00 AMStatus: Radio transmitting at approximately 3% output- Carl Donnelly fell overboard from the Mireille Chance at about 1:40 AM on July 18 after the vessel struck something submerged.- The vessel was running at approximately 22 knots (about 32 miles south-southeast of the Chandeleur Islands) at the time of the impact.- Carl’s handheld VHF radio antenna cracked on impact, reducing transmission power to around 3% and likely limiting range to roughly 100 yards.- A laminated spiral-bound star chart with seven black permanent-marker dots connected by hand was found dry on top against the dock at Dellacroix Landing at 4:00 AM on July 19.- The chart reached Regional Search and Rescue Coordinator Denise Cooper’s desk at 9:00 AM; she had been awake 31 hours and was already running a search 60 miles offshore that had found nothing.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  The Shoe That Saved Her: Eleven Days Adrift and the Raft Nobody Expected 18.10.2026 18m

  The Shoe That Saved Her: Eleven Days Adrift and the Raft Nobody ExpectedFear and stubborn will met on the open Pacific: a single child-sized shoe washed ashore dry on the inside after eleven days adrift, and that shoe was the only reason Lauren Kowalski survived. How did an EPIRB that worked point rescuers forty-one miles away, while a notebook and a shoe became the real trail to a woman still conscious and writing when found?In this episode, we follow the timeline from Meridian's June 3 departure through the days Deborah waited in Cincinnati, the search operations coordinated by George Quinn, and the daily entries Lauren kept in her spiral notebook - and we ask how pieces meant to save her failed while the smallest object succeeded.Person: Lauren KowalskiDate: June 3-June 13, 2019 (eleven days adrift)Vessel: 32-foot cutter MeridianCoordinator: George Quinn, Northpoint Station (eleven years in position)Location: Causeway found by road grader operator, 41 miles from EPIRB fix- Meridian cleared Kessler Bay at 07:40 on June 3, 2019 with a 12-knot northwest wind.- Lauren turned forty-eight in February 2019 and had sailed single-handed for six years.- She rationed water to four ounces every four hours and recorded position, wind, cloud cover and water color in a spiral notebook.- An EPIRB transmitted a position fix that placed the wreck site 41 miles southeast of the raft's actual location.- On the afternoon of June 6 she saw a low wooded island three miles west, fired a flare that drew no response, and later saw Friar Middle on June 7.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  The Yellow Boot on the Pole: How a Four-Year-Old Vanished from a Sinking Ferry 17.10.2026 20m

  The Yellow Boot on the Pole: How a Four-Year-Old Vanished from a Sinking FerryA clean, dry yellow child's boot was found eleven feet up on a power pole, four hundred yards from the river, three days after the Marisol Crossing capsized - and the nearest flood marker said water never reached that height. How did a four-year-old in a yellow slicker end up clinging to a piling for sixty-eight minutes while a rescue ran in the wrong direction?In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the morning the ferry left the dock to the moment the river carried a child and a stranger together against a piling, following the decisions, calls, and timing that shaped the rescue. What went wrong in those crucial minutes and why did the boot show up where it did?Date: May 14, 2019Event: Capsize of the Marisol CrossingLocation: Pelerin River, Moorgate, LouisianaVessel: Marisol Crossing (licensed for 22 passengers, 2 crew)Current speed: 6-7 knots- Captain Ted Arnaud called operations at 6:40 a.m. to ask about suspending service and left a voicemail.- The ferry departed at 7:19 a.m, with 13 passengers and 2 crew onboard.- At 7:23:40 a.m., the captain transmitted a mayday after striking a submerged shed frame roughly 8 by 12 feet.- Connie Price reached a creosote piling about 40 feet downstream and held on at approximately 7:24 a.m.- Lily Cho, age 4, remained afloat in a yellow slicker and was clutched to the piling for 68 minutes.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  The Logbook That Answered How a Sailor Survived 18 Days at Sea 16.10.2026 18m

  The Logbook That Answered How a Sailor Survived 18 Days at SeaCold Gulf surf hid a ship's log that answered the question everyone had been asking: how did Marilyn Burns survive eighteen days alone after her mast fell and her hull was breached? A waterlogged logbook from Compass Wren washed ashore with precise entries about jury-rigged repairs, manual pumping, and an EPIRB mount already compromised - but what single decision kept her alive until rescue?In this episode, we follow the entries and events recorded in that logbook and the sequence of failures and improvisations that defined Marilyn's passage, leading to the one choice that made survival possible. How did an engineer's methodical record-keeping and a series of improvised fixes translate into eighteen days afloat?Person: Marilyn BurnsDate (departure): March 24, 2019Location (found logbook): Pelican Flat beachBoat: Compass Wren, 31-foot cutterDuration adrift: 18 days- The logbook was found at 5:52 a.m. on April 11, 2019 wrapped in a clear plastic bag at the waterline.- Marilyn had sailed Compass Wren for six years and had completed the Isla Mujeres crossing twice before in 5.5 and 6 days.- On March 26 she logged "Front came hard from the northwest" while 280 nautical miles from the Louisiana coast.- The forestay tore free on March 29, the mast fell to port, and the impact opened a breach below the waterline.- She repaired the breach with underwater epoxy putty and fiberglass mesh, achieved about 1.5 knots with a jury-rigged shortened boom and salvaged sail, and pumped with a manual bilge pump and a plastic jug.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  Two Words, One Raft: The Signal That Stopped the Sea 15.10.2026 18m

  Two Words, One Raft: The Signal That Stopped the SeaAn orange life raft was spotted at 9:44 AM in the Gulf of Mexico after four days and seventeen hours with no voice from the Delia Rose - and a single two-word transmission, "We're rolling," came through a marine radio at 11:47 on March fourth before static swallowed it. How did a faint EPIRB pulse, a nineteen-mile gear drift, and those two words combine to put four people into nine-foot seas - and why did searchers fly past the raft for days?In this episode, we follow the sequence of decisions, equipment quirks, and navigation shifts that framed the Delia Rose disappearance and the search that found an orange raft and a figure signaling with a mirror. What do the radio log, the float plan, and a stapled note saying "We're rolling" tell us about what happened and what was missed?Person: Erin DaltonAge: 44Vessel: Delia Rose (48-foot steel-hulled shrimper)Event: Radio transmission "We're rolling" logged at 11:47 on March 4Distance: Gear had moved vessel 19 miles east-northeast of filed float plan- A search aircraft spotted an orange six-person life raft at 9:44 AM on a Tuesday.- The last recorded voice was two words, "We're rolling," logged at 11:47 on March 4 before static.- The Delia Rose cleared Sabine Pass at 6:18 AM on March 2 and by March 3 had drifted 19 miles E-NE of its filed position.- An EPIRB activated four minutes after the radio call, giving coordinates 6.3 miles E-NE of the float plan position, but the signal was weak and brief.- Seas had built to nine feet with a confused cross-swell when Dennis Hoag reported intermittent bilge pump issues and a slow seam leak on March 3.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  The Watch on the Upside-Down Hull: 94 Hours, One Text, No GPS 14.10.2026 17m

  The Watch on the Upside-Down Hull: 94 Hours, One Text, No GPSA running Seiko zip-tied to a cleat kept perfect time on an upside-down hull after forty-knot gusts and four days at sea - and the only sign anyone had was a single, ordinary text sent 94 hours earlier. How did a 28-year-old marine mechanic end up under a capsized 32-foot boat with eleven gallons of fuel, two granola bars left, and no one tracking his altered route?In this episode, you will hear the sequence of decisions, the equipment on board, and the timeline from departure to discovery, and follow the unanswered question that drove the search: could a single text change everything when a float plan drifts off course?Person: Ryan O'BrienAge: 28Vessel: Maren D., 32-foot hullFuel: 11 gallons of dieselLast confirmed time on hull watch: 8:21 AM (photographed by Deputy Dennis Vail)- Ryan departed Wickfield Marina predawn on Thursday, February 9, with a float plan to Beaufort and expected arrival Friday.- At 11:47 AM the same day, Ryan texted Scott Bauer that he had reached Harker's Island Cut and might stay for the night.- The dry bag on Ryan contained a foil blanket, a handheld VHF radio, 0.5 liters of water, and four granola bars; he ate two.- The hull inverted in gusts above 40 knots and breaking seas somewhere northeast of the cape during Thursday night.- Deputy Dennis Vail photographed the running Seiko on the forward cleat reading 8:21 AM when the boat was found in the cattails four days after departure.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  Miles Out: How a Hairline Crack Turned Into Twelve Days Lost at Sea 13.10.2026 20m

  Miles Out: How a Hairline Crack Turned Into Twelve Days Lost at SeaShe was 106 miles from land at 2:00 a.m. when a hairline crack nobody could see let a 38-foot mast fall in under four seconds - leaving one sailor adrift with no radio and a six-inch hull breach. How did a single invisible failure and a routine habit about a notebook set twelve days of searches, missed signals, and cascading breakdowns into motion?In this episode, we tell the chronological account of what happened on Patricia Barnes’s voyage from Kemah toward Key West, the immediate mechanical failures she faced, and the communication plan that went silent - what went wrong, and why the question of where she was remained unanswered.Person: Patricia BarnesVessel: 1987 cutter-rigged fiberglass sloop, 38 feet on deckDate: December 30, 2018 at 2:00 a.m.Location: approximately 106 miles from land, south of Galveston / 62 nautical miles SSW of Galveston (last known transmission)Event: mast fell after upper swage crack; satellite communicator lost overboard- Patricia spent four years refitting the boat and paid $60,000 for it at a marina in Kemah, Texas.- She was 54 years old and kept a weekly routine of writing for forty minutes at Bev’s Table diner and leaving a $6 tip.- On December 29 she texted her position as 62 nautical miles south-southwest of Galveston; that was her final transmission.- The mast fell to port in less than four seconds after the upper swage on the forestay cracked through.- After forty-five minutes cutting rigging free, she found the propeller shaft fouled and the engine turned over but would not drive the boat.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  Alone Against the Current: How Marcia Survived the Nora Jeanwreck 12.10.2026 19m

  Alone Against the Current: How Marcia Survived the Nora JeanwreckCold, uncharted danger lurked where charts said nothing - a near-surface rock and an invisible current turned a routine December cargo run into a fight for survival. A forty-horsepower outboard was found standing upright in four inches of water with a painted orange chevron; what did one 22-year-old woman do alone, with a broken wrist and a half-empty thermos, that saved her life?In this episode, you will hear the sequence of events from departure to rescue, the precise observations in Marcia Simpson’s waterproof log, and the physical evidence recovered by beachcombers and the Coast Guard that shaped the investigation. How did training, quick observation, and one unmarked current decide who lived?Date: December 19, 2009Person: Marcia SimpsonPerson: Don TessierPerson: Phil HornerLocation: southwest of Cape Bendel- At 9:47 AM on December 19, 2009, Kent Andrews found a 40-horsepower outboard motor standing upright in four inches of water on a sandbar 11 miles from the nearest dock.- The engine cowling bore an orange stenciled chevron and an intact serial number when recovered and placed in a Coast Guard evidence depot in Petersburg the same afternoon.- Marcia Simpson last recorded departure aboard the Nora Jeanwreck at 7:30 AM on December 16 and logged environmental conditions and engine behavior throughout the morning.- The Nora Jeanwreck struck an uncharted, near-surface rock at approximately 9:45 AM, producing a sudden stop and breaching the bow below the waterline.- Phil Horner entered the water at 10:55 AM after the vessel was compromised and Marcia noted in her 9:50 AM entry: "Tessier cannot correct," referencing the vessel’s inability to steer against a southwest-setting current.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  Two Feet from Rescue: 11 Days Adrift After a Ship's Tiny Failures 11.10.2026 16m

  Two Feet from Rescue: 11 Days Adrift After a Ship's Tiny FailuresAt two nineteen on November 6, 2017, a sixty-two-foot motorsailer slipped beneath the Gulf and three people spent eleven days adrift with a fourteen-dollar watch still ticking and flares locked fourteen feet away. Precision failures - a two-inch unrepaired weld, VHF batteries twenty-two months old, and two feet of missing mooring line - turned small oversights into a life-or-death drift; how did three professionals survive so long and still go unseen?In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from departure to rescue, describe the equipment and maintenance gaps aboard the Cora Bess, and follow Sharon Novak’s daily log that kept them oriented; what choices and oversights stretched those crucial two feet into an eleven-day ordeal?Person: Sharon NovakPerson: Owen PrietoPerson: James TullyDate: November 6, 2017Vessel: Cora Bess- The Cora Bess sank at 2:19 AM, leaving three people in the water with roughly four minutes to abandon ship.- The flare cabinet was stored fourteen feet from the lifeboat and not in the position required by the vessel's safety plan.- VHF radio batteries had gone twenty-two months without replacement, three months past the maintenance window.- A corrosion-flagged two-inch weld on the starboard engine mount was documented eighteen months earlier and never repaired.- Sharon rationed half a liter of water per person per day and kept a waterproof log every morning for eleven days.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  The EPIRB Lied: How a Yellow Case Vanished From a Sunken Boat 10.10.2026 18m

  The EPIRB Lied: How a Yellow Case Vanished From a Sunken BoatFear that something meant to save you can betray you: a registered EPIRB activated and drifted forty miles away while April Cook floated alive in her life raft for ten days, and a bright yellow waterproof case that should have been lost at sea turns up dry on a dock pillar forty-one days later-how did the beacon lead rescuers away from the person it was meant to find?In this episode, you will hear the sequence of events from the moments before April unclipped her life raft through the ten days she spent drifting, the gear she saved and lost, and the way the EPIRB's true signal created an impossible gap between device and survivor-what broke the link between distress and rescue?Person: April CookDate: October 4, 2019Location: Gulf (south of the Dry Tortugas; Celia Rae sank)Item: yellow waterproof case containing a digital voice recorderEvent: EPIRB activated and drifted contrary to life raft- April clipped a yellow waterproof case containing a digital voice recorder to the life raft canopy at 5:40 AM on October 4, 2019.- The Celia Rae sank at 6:10 AM on October 4, 2019, after April had deployed the life raft.- The EPIRB activated on contact with water sometime before the boat sank and by 9:50 AM reported a position where April was already 11 nautical miles away.- April recorded her position every six hours on the raft GPS and spent ten days adrift, speaking into the recorder to stave off silence.- Forty-one days later, Ruth Bowers found the bright yellow waterproof case upright and dry on a dock pillar at Pelican Reach Marina around 7:30 AM on November 14, 2019.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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  The Egg on the Raft: Why One Dry Suit Killed Three Sailors 09.10.2026 17m

  The Egg on the Raft: Why One Dry Suit Killed Three SailorsA single dry, uncracked hard‑boiled egg found on a drifting life raft became the quiet witness to a chain of failures that left three sailors fighting forty‑nine‑degree water and impossible choices. An eleven‑year‑old EPIRB with outdated firmware sent rescuers thirty‑one miles off course, one extra‑large dry suit belonged to an absent owner, and three lives hinged on who could - or would - wear it; how did routine checks and a single missing update become fatal? Which decision - human, technical, or procedural - ultimately decided who lived?In this episode, we follow the timeline of the Patience Gray from departure to sinking, moving through the weather changes, equipment failures, and the crew’s decisions that followed; what the record shows about that wrong EPIRB position and the moments on deck that led to a lone suit deciding three fates?Person: Connie EdwardsPerson: Marcus BrillPerson: Frank OdumPerson: Terry WohlsEvent: Boat went down forty‑seven miles east of Gloucester- The raft had been drifting for four days before being sighted by Crystal Vickers through a telescope.- The EPIRB was eleven years old and produced a coordinate offset that sent rescuers thirty‑one miles in the wrong direction.- The Patience Gray left Millhaven at 07:40 on September 15 and encountered severe conditions by the afternoon of September 16.- Water temperature along the route on September 16 was 51°F, where muscular control is typically lost in roughly 30 minutes and unconsciousness within an hour.- There was one extra‑large Kokatat dry suit on board, belonging to Frank Odum, and it did not fit the three crew members properly.To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.