Dark Shadows

Adrift

The episode recounts the harrowing journey of the Robertson family, who abandoned their struggling English farm to sail around the/world in

Key takeaways

• Dougal Robertson was a former sea captain who transitioned from a life at sea to dairy farming in Staffordshire.
• The family decided to sell their farm and buy the Lucette, a 50-year-old boat, to fulfill a dream of global travel.

Main topics

• The Robertson family history
• The decision to sail around the world

Notable quotes

Abandon ship! Abandon ship!

Conclusion

A gripping account of how a family's pursuit of adventure turned into

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:00) We were on our own. I mean, you have to make a choice. Are we going to die? Speaker 1 (0:22) The Pacific Ocean, the early 70s. Speaker 3 (0:26) Douglas, take the wheel. Two Speaker 1 (0:32) white sails billowing in the wind. Speaker 3 (0:35) On board, Speaker 1 (0:38) a family. Speaker 3 (0:39) On Speaker 1 (0:40) the adventure of a lifetime. Sailing round the world. Speaker 1 (0:49) Just sea, sky, for hundreds of miles. The Speaker 5 (0:57) spray was coming across the deck, but it was a normal morning and there was no cause for alarm. We could smell the coffee and we were all looking forward to having a cup. Speaker 1 (1:12) But then... I Speaker 5 (1:14) did notice that the fishing line was dancing in the water. Speaker 1 (1:18) Sandy looks over. Speaker 5 (1:20) I thought, oh, I caught a fish. And he pulled it in. I said, oh, look, Sandy, it's a squid. Speaker 1 (1:27) And where there are squid... Speaker 5 (1:29) Bigger fish I found. It was then that I saw something. A black mark in the distance. A distinct black shape. And it drew my attention. Speaker 1 (1:50) But then it disappears. I Speaker 5 (1:53) thought it might be a piece of flotsam. Maybe a dinghy or something. But it came and went. Speaker 5 (2:01) And I said to Sandy, did you see that? Speaker 6 (2:04) That dark black thing, Speaker 5 (2:06) did Speaker 6 (2:07) you Speaker 5 (2:07) see it? Speaker 6 (2:09) I said, yeah, yeah. I said, top of your beard. But seabirds don't really have Speaker 5 (2:15) that shape. They're soft. This was solid. Speaker 4 (2:21) Bang! Bang, bang! This Speaker 1 (2:41) is Adrift, an Apple original podcast produced by Blanchard House. I'm Becky Milligan. Episode 1, Dark Shadows. Speaker 1 (3:32) Four years earlier Staffordshire, rural England January 1968 Farming Speaker 5 (3:44) is a tough existence Fetching the cows in, milking the cows Speaker 1 (3:56) Money is tight. Dougal and Lynn are struggling to put food on the table and buy clothes and shoes for their four kids, Douglas, Anne and twins, Sandy and Neil. Speaker 3 (4:09) 15 years dairy farming in the middle of the countryside. It had diminished to extinction my enthusiasm for an agricultural way of life. Speaker 1 (4:23) And in those 15 years, just two weeks off, it's up at the crack of dawn, day after day. Speaker 4 (4:37) He wasn't a farmer. My dad wasn't. He wasn't born to farming. You know, it took a lot out of him doing that farm. He found it very hard work. Speaker 1 (4:49) Originally from Edinburgh, Dougal was one of nine. Speaker 5 (4:53) The youngest. He was the youngest. Speaker 1 (4:56) 11 of them in one tiny apartment. Speaker 5 (5:00) His dad was a music teacher. They had no money. They were a very poor family. There were so many kids, in fact, that Dougal and his brother had to sleep underneath the piano. Speaker 1 (5:16) His eldest brother joined the Merchant Navy. Speaker 5 (5:19) And I think my dad was a bit taken with tales of foreign travel. and followed in his brother's footsteps. Speaker 1 (5:30) Dougal was at sea for 20 years, travelling the world, and he was a good sailor, rising up the ranks to sea captain before he gave it all up to be a farmer and start a family. Speaker 5 (5:45) He was like a square peg in a round hole, you know. Speaker 1 (5:49) Now he's married, with four kids. Life is a struggle. Speaker 5 (5:58) We didn't have electricity. We had paraffin lamps and candles. Speaker 2 (6:05) And no running water. Speaker 5 (6:07) We had open fires. Set fire to the house twice. Dougal had to stop milking the cows and come put the fire out. So, yeah, it was a tough life. Speaker 1 (6:22) The kids don't know just how hard things are for their parents. Speaker 6 (6:26) We didn't know we lived in poverty. Speaker 1 (6:30) But they do have freedom, acres and acres of countryside to play in. We Speaker 6 (6:36) would go out and enjoy our life from sunup to sundown. Speaker 6 (6:43) If Mum and Dad wanted us, Dad would whistle. Speaker 1 (6:46) Like that? Speaker 6 (6:47) No, four fingers. Speaker 1 (6:49) Oh, I can do that too, yeah. Speaker 6 (6:50) Yeah, yeah, go. No, you can't. I can, Speaker 1 (6:54) I used to. Speaker 6 (6:55) Well, it was twice as loud as that. Speaker 1 (6:58) Really? Speaker 6 (6:59) Yeah, and you could hear this for half a mile away, this whistle. Speaker 1 (7:03) Anne and Douglas are the oldest kids. We used to get up to all sorts of mischief. Speaker 5 (7:09) Climbing trees and making dens. Speaker 2 (7:12) We used to play together all the time. We only had each other. Speaker 5 (7:17) We got on well together. Speaker 2 (7:18) That's why I told him all my secrets. Speaker 5 (7:20) We'd have fights. Speaker 2 (7:22) Fistfights. We'd chip two of my teeth. So we weren't afraid of Speaker 1 (7:27) physicality. Speaker 1 (7:30) Dougal and Nin are working all hours, so the kids are left to get on with it. When Speaker 2 (7:37) we got hungry, we'd find mushrooms, wild raspberries, wild strawberries, crab apples, green gauges. We knew all the places to find lunch. On a windy day, I'd go and find myself a patch of long grass and I'd lie down just listening to those sounds. Speaker 2 (8:02) this circle of grass around me. Speaker 1 (8:14) Four years later. Speaker 5 (8:19) Dad. Dad. Speaker 1 (8:22) Douglas is on deck, looking down through the hatch at Dougal. Speaker 5 (8:26) He was looking back up at me. Terrified. Confused. His eyes full of fear. Speaker 1 (8:37) And it's only now that Douglas realises why his dad looks so scared. Speaker 5 (8:42) He was up to his ankles in water. There was water around his feet. And he said, Speaker 4 (8:49) where's this water coming from? Speaker 5 (8:51) And I didn't know. I mean, I was asking him that. Speaker 1 (8:55) And now Douglas sees the damage below deck. Speaker 5 (8:59) These were gaping holes. Just at that moment, I heard a big surging splash behind me. I turned my head. Speaker 5 (9:13) I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Speaker 3 (9:17) Three Speaker 5 (9:17) killer whales. Speaker 1 (9:19) Sandy sees them too. I looked at them and thought, they're killer whales.