I Was Shipwrecked After Killer Whale Attack & Ate Turtles To Survive | Minutes With | @LADbible

The surviving dinghy is on display at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth UK.... Such an incredible thing to see up close once you are intimate with the story - well worth a visit

This man is a good story teller. I'm visualising the whole thing as he is telling the story!

Those 36 minutes went by so fast. Incredible, breathtaking story

It’s so wonderful to hear you speak Douglas. I’m now 71, and I don’t any true story in my lifetime has been more riveting. I’ve thought about your family’s ordeal many times and I have kept my copy of the book on my boat. As you of all people know, there have been killer whale ramming reported over the past few years, and the news people inevitably describe it as an “unprecedented” event. They clearly haven’t read “Survive the Savage Sea!” The Lucette was such a beautiful boat. Thank you Douglas…absolutely riveting to hear this story first hand from you. Your emotion…still…is so palpable, and deeply appreciated.

A 36minute story I will never forget. The intellect, bravery and sheer bloody mindedness of that whole family is awe inspiring.

I read his father's book several times when I was 14 and found it utterly inspiring in so many ways. At the time I was living under the rule of violence from a vicious stepfather, and the book, like so many others, transported me away with this family in peril, and their struggle for survival breathed life into my own, although our circumstances were quite different. The potrait of the 18 year old son in the pages of the story is a loving one, the father describing his son's dogged devotion to keeping watch, his deep anger and sadness at the first ship not spotting them, his strength and relaibility being a huge support throughout the ordeal. The fact that they all lived was due to two things: Dougal Robertson's invaluable skill and experience as a seaman, and the single kitchen knife he grabbed in the few minutes it took for their yacht to go down. That knife enabled them to kill and cut up raw food, cut material for sun hats, cut string and strips of rubber from the inflatable raft to fashion makeshift rain-catchers. By the time they were rescued, the knife blade was all but worn down to a sliver. So moving to get some first-hand accounts from Douglas Robertson, the steadfast son. I still own the secondhand copy of the book and I'll never part with it.

I survived ONE night capsized off OC, NJ and it changed my life at the time. I forget how lucky I was at times until I tell the story to someone and get emotional. This story is INCREDIBLE!!!!!! What an amazing story of survival and perseverance.

I was 41 years old when I learned that the doldrums is an actual place. What an amazing story! So glad that this brave family survived to tell the tale.

As a parent, the part about his mother giving up her turn to let them sleep in the only dry part of the raft hits hard. Love is what matters, no more, no less.

I sailed with my family on what was supposed to be a voyage around the world. I remember a day when I saw whales flipping and twirling in the air, up ahead of us. At the time I thought it was beautiful and I pointed it out to my family. My dad's reaction was totally unexpected because he ran to the tiller and turned the boat as quickly as he could without plotting a new course nor checking compass readings. He went in another direction for miles because he knew what whales who were playing could do to our yacht that was only 39 foot long.

No comments, just floored. Simply revelational.

I'm 67 and sailed as a teenager, all I can say about this story is " Wow "

Quoted from Dougals Wikipedia page. “Dougal later wrote Sea Survival: A Manual, and continued to sail until his death from cancer in 1991. The manual was used to help save the life of Steven Callahan, who was stranded for 76 days in the Atlantic Ocean in 1981.”

Dougal's first wife and son were killed during an attack on their ship by the Imperial Japanese Navy, after which he quit sailing for some time, remarried and had his other children. It must have been quite strange to then be rescued by Japanese fishermen all those years later.

A great Englishman - honest and unassuming - a cracking story

“…and we sang with joy!” Is the moment I wept. God bless all of you

His mum sounds like an incredible person.

As a mariner of 38 years and having retired 8 years ago, I am really grateful for the advances in technology that have been made over the last 50 years. The family survived through a combination of knowledge, luck and sheer determination. Now we have all the electronic gizmos and much better equipment. A fantastic story.

I have stumbled across this story at a very low point in my life. This has helped me.

That’s a guy you really want to meet in a pub. What a story!