Last Voyage of the Lucette

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Day 36 – The seas were rough and squally. Clothes were tattered and threadbare, but Lyn washed and mended them. The twins were very thin, Neil was emaciated, and Sandy had a cough, possibly pneumonia. If he did not improve, they would have to start rowing with or without reserves of water. Dad always felt guilty,' concludes Douglas. 'He always said, 'I don't know why I did it. I could have taken you to the Mediterranean – that would have done. I didn't have to take you around the world.' But we would say, 'Dad, we survived! You helped us! We did it!'

Day 23 – Still torrential rain requiring constant bailing. They were in a desperate situation and had to bail for their lives. Douglas told everyone to sing to keep warm. A miracle happened, the wind fell silent, and rain stopped. The wind changed direction. Somehow, they had survived the worst night yet. Life on the raft was grim. "It got holed when we launched it and that hole got worse. We were sitting with the water up to our chest. We had salt-water sores all over us and the heat would be taken out of your body – it was horrible. We used to take it in turns to sit on the thwart [seat] because it was dry, and my mum, God bless her, would say, 'Doug, you take my turn.' And she'd sit in the water for another hour." Sleep was impossible, because as soon as they nodded off, their heads would hit the water and they'd jump awake. Lyn was terrified that the twins would drown in their sleep. During their transit of the Panama Canal, the family members took aboard an inexperienced crew member named Robin Williams, who accompanied them on the next stage of their voyage to the Galápagos Islands and beyond to the islands of the South Pacific.

The Attack – Day 1

Perfection & Pain on a Phénoménale day Just when we thought we'd seen it all in Gran Canaria, the SSL Gold Cup took it to a whole new level on the Golden Day of the 1/8 Finals. Double points meant it all came down to today's performance on the water. The Robertson Family onboard Lucette in Falmouth before departure. Photograph from ‘The Last Voyage of the Lucette’ by Douglas Robertson. The Robertson family at the start of their unforgettable voyage in Falmouth (Image: Photograph from ‘The Last Voyage of the Lucette’ by Douglas Robertson)

Hunger and thirst were the greatest problems to be overcome. The group had several cans of water and the few rations they had managed to salvage, which lasted them about six days. They ate flying fish that landed in the raft and the dinghy, and caught dorado but Turtle became the mainstay of their diet. They ate the meat and eggs and drank the blood. The raft was leaking, and they were all sat in water up to their chests, giving them saltwater boils. They used the wind and current to their advantage, heading to the northeast towards Central America. The first turtle was caught later that day and was killed taking great care not to spill any blood into the sea that would attract sharks. Using the dinghy as a towboat powered by a jury-rigged sail, the group made its way towards the doldrums. They got water from their boat before heading away from their old boat. But running out of water, hoping to find rain there so they could collect drinking water, they sailed their way on. When they ran out of water they started drinking turtle blood. They did so successfully, while catching turtles, dorado, and flying fish to eat. They also ate fruit, bread, and biscuits that they grabbed from the boat. The inflatable raft became unusable after 16 days, so the six people crowded into the three-metre (10') long dinghy with their supplies. They then continued to use the wind and current to their advantage, moving to the northeast towards Central America.On Day 15 Dougal dived in and swam to retrieve the dinghy which had broken free from the raft. Exhausted, he somehow found the strength and escaped the sharks. It was at this stage that Lyn suggested using the water from the bottom of the dinghy in the form of enemas. It was too foul to drink, but would allow their bodies to keep hydrated. Douglas crafted the makeshift equipment and everyone except Robin accepted the enemas.

Herman, Robin (9 September 1973). "Six Survive 37 Days on Ocean in 9-foot Dinghy". The New York Times. ProQuest 119831348 . Retrieved 20 October 2021. Ednamair towing the raft stern first. Illustration from ‘Survive the Savage Sea’ by Dougal Robertson. On 15 June 1972, Lucette was holed by a pod of orcas and sank approximately 200 miles west of the Galapagos Islands. The group of six people on board escaped to an inflatable life raft and a solid-hull dinghy with little in the way of tools or provisions. [3] Douglas believes his parents never stopped loving each other. Dougal died from cancer, aged 67, and for the last three years of his life, Lyn nursed him at their daughter's house. She died aged 75, also from cancer. Douglas went on to join the navy, and then became an accountant. He has five children from two relationships. The youngest of eight children, Dougal Robertson had been a master mariner in east Asia, but gave it up after meeting his wife, Lyn, in Hong Kong in 1952 to become a farmer. To understand how the Robertsons survived their ordeal, you only need look at their previous life at Meadows Farm, in Staffordshire. It was a lesson in deprivation. No running water or electricity until Douglas was 10. No TV, set, only paraffin lamps and candles. No money for children's shoes. "Dad's life was terrifically hard," says Douglas. "He was very frustrated – he saw his brothers and sisters sending their children off to university and private school, the sorts of things he was no longer able to provide." Douglas is still critical of this decision. "He was a professional man and he became a farmer. I wish he'd stayed a professional man."Yet, amazingly, they did survive, and their remarkable story is legendary, inspiring a bestselling book – Survive the Savage Sea by Dougal Robertson – an exhibition and a feature film starring Robert Urich and Ali MacGraw (1992). Turtle became the mainstay of their diet. They ate the meat and eggs and drank the blood. The raft was leaking and they were all sitting in water up to their chests, giving them saltwater boils. They set up a makeshift fishing line but wily sharks stole any fish which were caught. APA style: The Last Voyage of the Lucette.. (n.d.) >The Free Library. (2014). Retrieved Nov 25 2023 from https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Last+Voyage+of+the+Lucette.-a0144438111 He says he tried to tell his father, but "he didn't want to listen. Neither did my mother. I started to tell my mother about it many years later and she said, 'Douglas, don't give me a burden to take to my grave.' So how can you tell parents like that what is happening?"