Survival at Sea

Survival at Sea The Baileys

In 1971, Maurice and Maralyn Bailey made the decision to emigrate to New Zealand. In those days leaving the UK for a new life in Australia or New Zealand was not that unusual, but the way in which the Baileys intended to reach their destination certainly was. They chose to make their journey an adventure by travelling over 14,000 nautical miles in a yacht by themselves even though they had little sailing experience. Two years after making their momentous decision, Maurice and Maralyn bought a 31-foot (9.4 m) yacht and named her Auralyn. During those two years the couple read up on survival at sea strategies and bought all the necessary equipment and supplies for their voyage. By the time they left Southampton for Spain on the first leg of their journey, they felt confident they could rise to the challenge they had set themselves. Their confidence was justified when they managed to cope with the expected storms they encountered after departing the Canary Islands. After reaching the Caribbean Sea, they forged on to the Panama Canal and spent a couple of days resting in Panama City. Refreshed, they headed for the Galapagos Islands. Again their journey continued to be uneventful until a sperm whale appeared out of nowhere and struck their small yacht. The collision resulted in severe damage to the yacht in the form of a large hole in the hull just below the water line. Immediately, Maralyn started using the water pump while Maurice attempted to plug the hole with cushions and clothes. Soon after the strike, the couple realized that they would have to abandon Auralyn. They released the lifeboat and inflated the dinghy before grabbing as much food, water and equipment as they could. Maralyn, a non-swimmer, had to wade through the rising water to reach the cupboards. Eventually, when they could salvage no more, they got onto the lifecraft and watched their boat disappear below the waves. Although the yacht sank relatively quickly, they managed to transfer supplies and equipment to the lifecraft. Among the items they managed to save were cans of food, mainly beans, water for twenty days, maps, a sextant and compass, safety pins, two buckets to collect rainwater, scissors, binoculars, six flares, a box of matches and a bag of clothes. They hoped that what they had saved would be enough to see them through until they reached the Galapagos Islands. Unfortunately for the Baileys, the Galapagos Islands turned out not to be their destination as their lifeboat had drifted north away from them. During their first few weeks adrift, they lived off the food and water they had saved. They also spotted several merchant vessels, but as they were so low in the water, they were not spotted by these ships. They did try to gain the attention of those seamen on board by lighting the flares they had retrieved from the emergency kit but none of them worked. After their provisions had run out, their situation became even worse as currents took them away from established maritime routes. Despite their best efforts to row against the currents, they found themselves drifting towards a less hospitable region of the Pacific Ocean, where conditions forced them to bail out water continuously. They also had to catch turtles and birds

The course taken after the Bailey’s boat sank. that landed on the lifecraft for their Source: www.paradise.docastaway.com blood and meat in order to survive. In addition, they used safety pins to catch fish. They hated killing these sea creatures, but circumstances dictated that they had to. Their next problem appeared when their lifecraft, which was not designed for long-term use, began to exhibit signs of deterioration, including a systematic loss of pressure. This meant that pumping air into their inflatable as well as bailing out water were non-stop activities, especially on stormy days. As The Bailey’s, their liferaft and their rescuers a result, rest periods became fewer and lasted for less time. This predicament Source: www.paradise.docastaway.com hit Maurice particularly hard, and he began to lose hope. Fortunately, Maralyn remained positive and her reassurance helped Maurice come round to her way of thinking. Whenever they saw a ship, which was not very often, they tried to get noticed by whatever means possible. On one occasion, they burnt clothes in a turtle shell but the wind dispersed the smoke so their efforts were in vain. Then, on the 117th day after the whale strike, they caught sight of a vessel and started signaling. At first, there was no indication they had been spotted, so they sat down in despair. However, their mood soon changed when the vessel, a South Korean fishing boat, changed course towards them. This happened on the 30th June 1973, the day when their ordeal ended. As they boarded the rescue vessel, they were overwhelmed and sobbed uncontrollably. They had lost around 40 lb. (18.1 kg) each, could not walk properly, had ulcers and anemia as well as sunburn. Apart from that they were in reasonable shape. After their basic health check aboard the tuna fishing vessel, they were fed and taken to Honolulu for treatment. Maurice and Maralyn Bailey, recovered quite quickly, and as soon as they felt well enough they took a trip to South Korea, where they thanked their rescuers in person. When they returned to the UK, they were no longer in the media spotlight. They lived quite a solitary existence, and reflected on their interaction with the sea creatures that accompanied them. Their intense dislike of having to kill some of them led them to become vegetarians. They revealed that they regarded these animals as their friends to the Spanish explorer, Alvaro Cezero, who was the only person to have any real contact with the couple. Maralyn died in 2002 at the age of 61. After that, Maurice lived as a recluse until his death in 2018 aged 85. Sources: www.youtube.com, www.nzherald.com.nz, www.paradise.docastaway.com