Shipwreck off Australia: Dragged Towards the Rocks

Summary

Real Survival Stories: Shipwreck off Australia – Dragged Towards the Rocks

Introduction to the Odyssey Real Survival Stories, hosted by John Hopkins, delves into the harrowing true tales of ordinary individuals facing extraordinary survival scenarios. In the episode titled "Shipwreck off Australia: Dragged Towards the Rocks", released on August 6, 2025, listeners are transported to October 1973, aboard the merchant vessel Blythe Star. This narrative chronicles the intense struggle for survival faced by Mick Dolman and his crewmates after a catastrophic shipwreck in the Southern Ocean.

The Voyage Begins The story sets sail on a calm spring afternoon in Tasmania's Hobart harbor. Mick Dolman, an 18-year-old seafarer from Melbourne, boards the Blythe Star alongside a ten-man crew, anticipating a straightforward two-day journey to King Island.

John Hopkins (00:33): "It's October 19, 1973, the dead of night in the Southern Ocean... Inside the luminous inflatable is 18-year-old Mick Dolman."

Despite initial apprehensions about the ship's condition—highlighted by a dock worker's joke about the plimsoll line—Mick remains optimistic, eager to prove himself in the seafaring life.

Catastrophe Strikes Shortly after departure, unforeseen circumstances lead to the sinking of the Blythe Star. The vessel lists ominously, and Mick, along with his fellow crew members, scramble to access the emergency life raft.

Mick Dolman (17:42): "I got basically thrown out of my bunk, water can pouring down the companion way, that's an alleyway in the accommodation and started pouring into my cabin."

Chief Engineer John Eagles heroically shuts down the engines to halt the sinking, sacrificing himself in the process. The crew eventually manages to deploy the life raft, but not without peril— the raft initially fails to inflate due to the ship's malfunctioning engine, putting the crew in immediate danger from the spinning propeller.

Stranded at Sea Once aboard the life raft, the dire reality sets in. Without a mayday signal or functioning radios, Mick and his nine companions are left adrift at least six miles from the nearest land, exposed to the merciless conditions of the Southern Ocean's "roaring 40s."

John Hopkins (25:20): "Nobody knew which way the ship was going, whether it was going west about to King island or east about. So instead of looking for a needle in a haystack, we've got two or three needles in haystacks all over the place."

The crew faces extreme hunger, dehydration, and physical exhaustion. The absence of Mohammed Sloane, second engineer John Sloane, due to his inability to access thyroid medication, marks the first tragic loss among the survivors.

Desperate Measures and Hope Fades After seven grueling days, the crew endures further losses, including the death of John Sloane. The psychological toll is immense, and morale plummets as their hopes for rescue dim. However, eight days into their ordeal, a shift in the weather pattern offers a glimmer of hope. The life raft is propelled northward, presenting the crew with an unexpected opportunity to see land.

Mick Dolman (34:32): "The riptide got through by the skin of our teeth and then we came out on the other side and could barely move."

As dawn breaks, towering rock formations emerge from the ocean, trapping the raft in a perilous vortex. With Herculean effort, Mick and Mick Power manage to paddle free, though both are utterly spent.

A Ray of Hope On the ninth day, exhaustion nearly overwhelms Mick as he glimpses a cliff face through the darkness. Summoning his waning strength, he steers the raft towards what appears to be a road. The crew, desperate for rescue, paddles with their last reserves of energy.

Mick Dolman (37:21): "We seen, or we thought we seen a road along the side of the cliff that we're heading towards."

However, the hopeful sight reveals itself to be a mere part of the cliff, and the raft drifts perilously close to sharp, semi-submerged boulders. Clinging to kelp as their lifeline, the crew braces for impact, narrowly avoiding disaster.

Final Rescue and Aftermath After eleven agonizing days at sea, the crew spots a forestry worker named Rod approaching in a bright red truck. Despite initial skepticism from Rod, Mick and two others manage to convince him of their plight. Rescuers are dispatched promptly, recovering the survivors and the bodies of Ken Jones and John Eagles.

John Hopkins (49:48): "The sinking of the MV Blythe Star and the tragic loss of three of its crew turns out to be a watershed moment in Australian maritime practices."

Legacy and Reflections The tragedy of the Blythe Star led to significant changes in Australian maritime regulations, including the mandatory installation of Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) and enhanced life raft protocols. Mick Dolman, now a vocal advocate for seafarers' rights, shares his story 42 years later to honor his fallen comrades and provide closure to their families.

Mick Dolman (51:06): "I never, ever considered that I was gonna die. I wouldn't allow it. I just met a woman and I'd only been going out with her for a few months and she was off having a 17th birthday party while I was fighting for my life on a life raft."

His unwavering determination to survive was fueled by his desire to build a life with his wife, a sentiment that ultimately held him through the darkest days at sea.

Conclusion This episode of Real Survival Stories not only highlights the raw resilience and courage of Mick Dolman and his crew but also underscores the profound impact such tragedies can have on safety protocols and regulations. Mick’s story serves as a testament to the human spirit's capacity to endure and overcome unimaginable adversity.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Mick Dolman (02:34): "When we got close enough, we realized it wasn't a road, it was just a part of the cliff face. And there's no way there's a car or anything going up and down that."

• Mick Dolman (03:40): "We spent the night hanging on to a kelp to anchor us as best we can, and we'd lose it and then have to go and pull up some more kelp."

• Mick Dolman (05:06): "This raft was really worked the ass off it. It was in terrible state. We were toast really. Not much longer left in any of us."

• Mick Dolman (21:36): "It's the most welcome sign that a seafarer could ever, ever see. It just goes boom. And then it just expands, expands, expands, and we all bailed in."

• Mick Dolman (25:20): "Nobody knew which way the ship was going, whether it was going west about to King island or east about. So instead of looking for a needle in a haystack, we've got two or three needles in haystacks all over the place."

• Mick Dolman (38:00): "When we got close enough, we realized it wasn't a road, it was just a part of the, the cliff face. And there's no way there's a car or anything going up and down that."

• Mick Dolman (43:14): "There was fresh water and we just all went up and devoured as much water as we could physically drink and we had a respite there for a period of time."

• Mick Dolman (45:28): "So Malcolm McCarroll and I made a decision that we were going to go and we're not coming back. We're going to walk and walk and walk, and we'll either find something, rescue or a resource, or we'll die. But we can't sit here, can't stay here."

• Mick Dolman (51:06): "I never, ever considered that I was gonna die. I wouldn't allow it... I was determined to make a life with that woman."

Looking Ahead In the upcoming episode, Real Survival Stories introduces Jules Mountain, a cancer survivor who battles against nature again while attempting to summit Mount Everest amidst a devastating earthquake. Tune in next Thursday to hear his gripping tale of survival and resilience.

Subscribe for More To listen to this episode and future stories without ads and with early access, consider subscribing to Noiser+ via noiser.com/subscriptions.

Transcript

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[John Hopkins]

It's October 19, 1973, the dead of night in the Southern Ocean. Several kilometers up the south coast of Tasmania, a circular shape rises and falls atop the churning waves. The small undulating object offers a solitary splash of color in an otherwise pitch black tableau of freezing cold water. It's a bright orange life raft being lifted and lowered, tossed and turned, tested by the ferocious winds that whip up around this southerly belt of the earth. Inside the luminous inflatable is 18 year old Mick Dolman. Bruised, starving, cold, Mick leans out of the life raft, frantically paddling against the wind and the waves. He is using what little strength he has left because after more than a week at sea, he has finally seen something that offers hope. Land. An enormous jagged, barren cliff face looms ahead. Squinting through the darkness, mixed spirits rise.

[Mick Dolman]

We seen, or we thought we seen a road along the side of the cliff that we're heading towards. So collective wisdom was, well, let's get over and have a look and then we can determine what our next action is.

[John Hopkins]

Behind him, eight other men in various states of exhaustion take cover under the inflatables battered canopy. One of them a another Mick. Able seaman Mick power joins his 18 year old crewmate in desperately trying to steer the raft towards terra firma. Lactic acid courses through the men's muscles, but still they paddle, battling against the open ocean spray. Lashed and panting, they crawl closer to the cliff. But as they do, a sickening reality hits.

[Mick Dolman]

When we got close enough, we realized it wasn't a road, it was just a part of the cliff face. And there's no way there's a car or anything going up and down that.

[John Hopkins]

And now there's an even bigger problem. Not only does the cliff face offer no signs of life and therefore no chance of rescue, but their efforts have dragged the raft too close to the rocks. They need to turn back. But as Mick and his crewmates attempt to paddle away, the waves fight against them. The current is too strong and they're heading straight into a minefield of deadly semi submerged boulders. Suddenly, one of the men spots something else sticking out of the ocean. Something briefly caught in the moonlight, shimmering on the surface, seaweed, slimy green tentacles dangle invitingly. The men scramble, leaning out of the raft, each trying to grab a handful. Mick summons a final reserve of energy and launches himself towards this lifeline. He manages to secure a palm full of kelp in his clenched fist.

[Mick Dolman]

We spent the night hanging on to a kelp to anchor us as best we can, and we'd lose it and then have to go and pull up some more kelp.

[John Hopkins]

Knuckles white, arms trembling, Mick and his pals grip the seaweed. It's all that's stopping a catastrophic collision with the nearby rocks. But as the night swallows them and the ocean roars, how long can they hold on? Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes? If your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice? Welcome to Real Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. People suddenly forced to fight for their lives. In this episode we meet Mick Dol, seafarer from Melbourne, Australia. In October 1973, Mick boards the Blythe Star, a merchant vessel docked in Tasmania. A ten man crew are due to sail from the port of Hobart to the northwest of the island. The journey is scheduled to take two days, but Mick will end up at sea for far longer than that as he and his crewmates find themselves stranded in a vulnerable life raft in the middle of the southern ocean.

[Mick Dolman]

This raft was really worked the ass off it. It was in terrible state. We were toast really. Not much longer left in any of us.

[John Hopkins]

The hellish experience will involve near starvation, brutal weather, physical turmoil and tragedy as it becomes apparent that survival won't be possible for everyone on board.

[Mick Dolman]

If we can stay alive and keep working on them, finding us, searching for us, we should be right. Little did we know that wasn't going to be the case at all.

[John Hopkins]

I'm John Hopkins from the Noiser Podcast Network. This is Real survival stories. It's October 11, 1973, a beautiful spring afternoon in Tasmania. Hobart harbor lies on the southeast coast of Australia's island state. The picturesque peak of Mount Wellington looms on the horizon overlooking the busy bustling port full of fishing vessels, cargo freighters and private boats floating in the calm waters of the bay. The merchant vessel Blythe Star waits in the dock ready to welcome her 10 man crew. 44 meters in length, the Blythe Star is small compared to some of the other ships here. A coastal trailer, she's been transporting freight around Australia's southern islands for more than a decade. She's used to these waters and at around 6:30 this evening, she will leave Hobart, bound for King Island, a small farming community to the northwest of Tasmania. One of the crew members, 18 year old Mick Dolman, stands on the dock getting his first glimpse of the boat that will be his home for the next few days. The Blithe Star is a scrawny jumble of ropes, rigging and cargo. In short, it isn't the most inviting of sights. Mick frowns and sighs. Hobart is a busy port. Those who work here wharfies mingle with sailors who are either preparing to ship out or returning from stretches at sea. Laughter, singing, shouting and swearing echo around the heaving harbor. It's a hubbub of swapped stories, jokey conversation and constant mickey taking. Mick has always enjoyed the banter, so he thinks nothing of it. When a passing dock worker sidles up to him and makes a snarky comment.

[Mick Dolman]

About his ship, he put a bit of a joke over. He said, hey mate, where's your plimsoll line?

[John Hopkins]

A ship's plimsoll line shows the level at which she can safely float on the water, marking a maximum submersion level for the hull. If a vessel's line is too low, it's a sure sign that she's been overloaded with cargo.

[Mick Dolman]

He said, it looks like it's on your funnel. Well, for the plimstel line to be on the funnel, the rest of the ship has got to be underwater. So it was a bit of a joke, but nobody paid much attention to it. And off we.

[John Hopkins]

Ignoring the signs that the boat may be carrying too much weight, Mick and his shipmates clamber onto the Blythe Star, only to find that the cabin is in complete darkness. Mick stumbles aboard, trying not to knock anything over or injure himself in the process. It's quickly becoming apparent that this is not going to be a luxurious trip.

[Mick Dolman]

I got on board and there was no meal, no nothing because there's no power. Somebody had pulled the shore power cord like a distension cord out of the ship and threw it into the water. So nobody had a feed, nobody had lights or anything.

[John Hopkins]

Mick isn't one to complain. However, he's used to the hardships of life at sea. He may be just a teenager and the youngest member of the Blithe Star, but he's from a family of seafarers and already has two years experience as a professional mariner. Born in the 1950s, Mick grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Doveton. It was a tough working class community where he learned to handle himself from an early Age.

[Mick Dolman]

I was always in fights. I was a bit of a hothead, but I hated bullies. I'm not a big bloke, I'm only 5 foot 7, but I didn't care how big they were, if they were bullies, I was happy to intervene on someone else's part.

[John Hopkins]

As the son of a merchant seaman, it seemed only a matter of time before the ocean came calling. But Mick's dad wasn't sure his boy was cut out for the rigors of seafaring and concocted a plan to show him the realities of life aboard a ship taking a short boat trip from Melbourne to Portland, Mick's father stowed his son away on board, and the weather for this journey was truly shocking.

[Mick Dolman]

And my father really thought, that's gonna kill him. He won't never want to go to sea after that. But I was the only one that actually got up for breakfast in the morning. Everybody else was too crooked.

[John Hopkins]

Sea legs firmly established, Mick left school and almost immediately joined his first ship, a shell tanker called the Solon. This large industrial vessel was more like a vast floating town, home to hundreds of workers. The hours were long and the work hard, but the facilities were generous. Cinema rooms, swimming pools and spacious sleeping quarters. For Mick, not having to share everything with his five siblings was the height of luxury.

[Mick Dolman]

The boatswain, who was like a foreman at sea, said, well, look, son, I'll take and show you where your cabin is. There's your cabin, there's your bathroom. And I said, who else sleeps in here? He said, no, that's your cabin. I said, I get to sleep in here on my own? Yeah, yeah, it's your cabin. I said, that's fantastic.

[John Hopkins]

Many aboard the Solon knew Mick's dad from way back. So the older seafarers quickly took the young man under their wing, showing him to the pantry and introducing him to the ship's cook. Turned out the food wasn't bad either.

[Mick Dolman]

They said, well, what would you like, son? I said, I'd like a steak. He said, okay, yeah, how would you like it? What do you mean? How would you like it on the plate? I said, I assume they said, no. Do you want medium rare, well done? I said, mate, I haven't had a steak in my life, so I haven't got a clue. I'll leave it up to you. So he gave me a steak. I don't know what it was, but it got devoured in about three minutes.

[John Hopkins]

Three T bone steaks later, it was clear he had made the right decision in becoming A merchant seaman. Despite his father's skepticism, it's a seafarer's life. For Mick, he doesn't look back.

[Mick Dolman]

I thought, I'm in heaven. Can't get any better than this.

[John Hopkins]

A couple of years later, on a Balmy evening in October 1973, the 18 year old Mick is on the MV Blythe Star as it leaves Hobart. At a mere 371 tons, this coastal freighter is a far cry from the spacious luxury of the Solon. This time the food is basic and Mick will be sharing a cabin. But it's only a two day voyage, which suits him great. He's keen to get back home to Melbourne as quickly as possible.

[Mick Dolman]

I just met a woman or a young girl. I was only 18, fallen in love with her and it was her 17th birthday that I couldn't go to because I had to go to Hobart and join the ship.

[John Hopkins]

The water is calm as the Blithe Star navigates her way through the archipelago of small islands leading away from the Tasmanian coast. The bustle of the docks is soon replaced by the serene expanse of the Southern Ocean. The ship passes between the awe inspiring Tasman Peninsula to the east, a collection of rock faces that shoot straight up from the water's surface, reaching heights of up to 300 meters. To the west, there's Bunny Island, a remote collection of grass covered beaches, a haven for wildlife. Once past these natural jetties, the captain of the Blythe Star, a Scotsman named George Cruikshank, has a decision to make. Which way to go? Hobart is in the southeast corner of Tasmania. The star's destination, King island, lies to the northwest, essentially on the opposite side of a circular route. So it's pretty much equidistant to travel up the east coast or the west. The captain's decision would usually be dictated by the weather, but today conditions are perfect. The water is as flat as a pancake. When it comes to choosing a route, it's a coin toss. Captain Cruikshank heads west despite a somewhat chaotic introduction. Now, as the sun sets and they move into the open ocean, Nick starts to enjoy himself. This really is the life for him. That night between 2 and 4am he even takes a shift at the helm.

[Mick Dolman]

It's a hand steering ship, so it's not easy work with hydraulics or whatever. Got to put a bit more effort into it. So I done my time and then I think I did have dinner that night. That's the only meal I had and then I went to bed.

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[John Hopkins]

Help you save it's daybreak and the Blithe Star is heading west about 10 km off the south coast of Tasmania. The seas remain still as she starts to make a starboard turn to continue her journey north. On the distant horizon, the sun rises above the waterline and a spectacular orange glow ignites the lone freighter. If anyone were watching, the Blithe Star's silhouette would look magical, a solitary shadow in a vast canvas of dawn blue. But there is nobody watching. No other ships as far as the eye can see. Which means that nobody notices the Blithe Star turn and tilt. Her starboard side goes closer and closer to the surface of the water. Where minutes ago she was carving through gentle waves, now she meets with increasing resistance. The weather hasn't changed, but something about the Blithe Star has that plimsoll line the Warfy was teasing Mick about. Now it really is underwater. Any second the ship should right itself. It should regain buoyancy and continue its journey. Only it doesn't. It continues to list.

[Mick Dolman]

I got basically thrown out of my bunk, water can pouring down the companion way, that's an alleyway in the accommodation and started pouring into my cabin.

[John Hopkins]

Fuzzy and perplexed, Mick picks himself up off the floor and stumbles towards deck. He doesn't waste time getting dressed. As he rushes along the narrow corridors, the ship continues to list nauseatingly to one side. Mick is soon splashing through icy cold ocean water. It's already knee deep by the time he finds fellow Seaman Malcolm McCarroll in the laundry room. What Mick sees next makes his blood run as cold as the water.

[Mick Dolman]

Where was water pouring in? Pouring it and we Just looked at each other and we both just sort of said, let's get out of here.

[John Hopkins]

Malcolm's desperate attempts to batten down an open porthole are futile as he's completely soaked by gallon upon gallon of gushing seawater. As the boat continues to tilt, what was once the floor is now a wall, their starboard side now the ceiling. Mick battles through rapidly flooding passageways trying to reach the deck. Waves cascade down stairwells as he struggles to stay on his feet in the torrent. Eventually, somehow, Mick makes it to the deck, where other crew members are already gathered on the surface. At least sea conditions remain perfectly calm. But the Blythe Star is foundering and lying at a near 90 degree angle in the water.

[Mick Dolman]

We knew the ship was finished, and I thought, imagine dying standing on a bloody deck of a ship in freezing cold waters. I sort of resolved in my head, that's it. There's no option. There's nobody else out there. There's nothing.

[John Hopkins]

With the port side of the Blythe Star now almost entirely submerged, the ship's lifeboats are inaccessible. Their only hope is the emergency backup. An inflatable life raft, ready to be used in dire situations like this. Although ready is perhaps a misleading description. Designed for emergency evacuation, the life raft is housed in a solid white container that looks like a large square suitcase. The crew grab the white casing and toss it over the side. It floats exactly as it should, bobbing on the mellow ocean surface. A rope attached to the white case should, in theory, trigger the gas canisters inside to inflate the life raft directly onto the water. But when a crewmate gives the rope a Yankee, nothing happens. The raft is not inflating. The men look down in horror. And there's something else. The boat's engine is still running, and the propeller sits directly below where the life raft is attempting to launch. Even if they can get it inflated, it'll surely get sucked into the arc of this spinning metal, leaving any escape plan literally in tatters. One sailor, John Eagles, springs into action.

[Mick Dolman]

The chief engineer. When the ship was sinking, he went back down in the engine room and turned the engines off, shut the engines down and got burnt badly on the leg. That endeavor, I believe, saved our lives.

[John Hopkins]

The propeller has stopped. That's one problem down, but the other remains. The life raft still hasn't inflated. As the white case dances up and down in the water next to the sinking vessel, the ship's bosun, Stan Leary, pulls and pulls at the release cord with all his might until eventually.

[Mick Dolman]

It'S the most welcome sign that a seafarer could ever, ever see. It just goes boom. And then it just expands, expands, expands, and we all bailed in.

[John Hopkins]

Amid a flurry of splashes and shouts, the crewmates manage to scramble into the little raft off the ship they may be, but they're not clear of immediate danger. For starters, the raft is still attached to the sinking Blythe Star.

[Mick Dolman]

I had the job at getting the Painter, which is the line that connects the ship with the life raft. The last thing you want to do is be connected to the ship that's on its way down in the life raft. So I was, everybody was telling me, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up.

[John Hopkins]

As Mick struggles with the knot of the Painter line, he scans this way and that, instinctively doing a quick headcount aboard the raft. The 10 man crew, he counts only nine. Chief Officer Ken Jones is nowhere to be seen.

[Mick Dolman]

We can't leave without him. So I was still working on getting the knot, which was freezing and he was in his cabin.

[John Hopkins]

Below deck, Ken Jones is trapped. Freezing cold water is pouring into his cabin, making it impossible to open the door wide enough for him to get out. Amazingly, given the circumstances, Ken has the presence of mind to do nothing. He simply waits until his room is fully submerged.

[Mick Dolman]

He had to wait for the water to equalize so he could get his door open. I mean, that's a smart, smart move. It was the only move he had, and if he didn't do it, he would have been dead.

[John Hopkins]

Still wrestling with the painter, Mick looks down to see Ken Jones swimming underwater towards them, popping up to break the surface of the ocean. In between the raft and their stricken vessel, Ken is quickly hauled up into the inflatable. Almost at the exact moment that Mickey finally frees the raft from the ship. Not a moment too soon.

[Mick Dolman]

It's the most amazing sight I've ever seen in my life. The bow of the ship just lifted straight up out of the water and the ship just disappeared. Wearing a pair of jackettes and nothing else in the middle of winter. If I hadn't got in the raft, if we hadn't got the raft away, I would have had 10, 15, 20 minutes at best before I was gone.

[John Hopkins]

Barely an hour has passed since Mick was first thrown from his cabin bed. Now he, along with the nine other members of the ship's crew, sits exhausted, soaking wet and freezing cold within a small 2 1/2 meter wide dinghy. The deep blue ocean shimmers in the morning sunshine, giving no clue of the mayhem that has just occurred. The blithe Star has left no trace. Despite everything, its crew members allow themselves a moment to celebrate their miraculous escape.

[Mick Dolman]

All 10 of us have survived. We're all just chatting away like a bunch of school kids, you know, excited about we'd survived.

[John Hopkins]

The euphoria, however, is short lived. The captain's coin toss decision on which route to take east or west, now has an unforeseen consequence. Nobody outside of this inflatable knows the direction the Blythe Star chose, which majorly complicates any potential search and rescue mission. It, in effect, doubles the area the rescuers will have to scour to find them.

[Mick Dolman]

I asked the captain, I said, did you get a mayday off? He said, no. I said, did you get a chance to get the portable VHS radio? No. So he got nothing.

[John Hopkins]

No mayday sent, no radios aboard. The 10 men inside the life raft have no way of communicating with the outside world. They're at least six miles from the nearest land. They are, in short, completely alone. And now the weather starts to turn. The tiny speck of orange is bounced and thrown across a heaving blanket of blue. It causes seasickness and even the most hardy of sailors. The winds pick up, pushing the inflatable south, further out to sea. And for one of the crew, second engineer John Sloane, there is an even more pressing danger.

[Mick Dolman]

He had medications on board the ship that he couldn't get. He didn't get. It's like I didn't get a jump or a long pants or anything like that. He didn't get his medication. He just rushed out. He deteriorated very, very quickly.

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[John Hopkins]

It's two days later, 10km off the coast of Tasmania. On board a flimsy craft in the bobbing swell, the crew of the lost ship Blithe Star Try to maintain focus. Try to remain optimistic. It's been around 48 hours since their vessel sank. It should be around now that someone notices her failure to arrive at King Island. Surely a rescue will be launched soon enough. In the meantime, the crew keep busy.

[Mick Dolman]

Everybody got allocated with some responsibilities. It wasn't much. The chief cook, or the cook was in charge of the rations, and they were pretty ordinary rations, a bit of glucose powder and tin water.

[John Hopkins]

The crew might be getting organized, but the life raft itself is completely at the mercy of a weather system known as the roaring 40s. Ferociously strong winds, common in the southern hemisphere. Right now, these gales are forcing them further away from the coast, away from any search and rescue mission being launched. If the craft continues on its current trajectory, the crew could easily freeze to death. One crew member, Ken Jones, tries to rally the troops because he can spot some blurry shapes in the distance.

[Mick Dolman]

Ken Jones, who was the chief mate, was an inspiration, A very, very smart guy, a great guy, brave, tough, tough guy. And he said, there's lights out here, and he was referring to fishing boats. He says, there's fishermen out here and we should be able to get them. They're not that far away.

[John Hopkins]

In terrible conditions, the image of a fishing vessel on the horizon looks like a ghost ship, its nets silhouetted by the fading light of the day. Ken Jones waves a flare over his head in huge, sweeping arcs. The fire burns blood red in the dusk air. Surely they've been spotted. The 10 men are convinced this is it. They're saved. Ken holds on as long as he can, the flare singeing his skin until he stops. His shoulders sag. The flare fizzles out. You can see quite clearly that the fishing boat is changing direction, but not.

[Mick Dolman]

Towards them, he said. I'm sorry to say that they've taken off. They've switched off the lights, the deck lights, and they're gone.

[John Hopkins]

The sense of abandonment in the raft is palpable. Mick is convinced that these fishermen were interlopers fishing in Australian waters illegally. Fearing being caught in the act, they ignored the blithe star's flare and fled.

[Mick Dolman]

The international law and practice is that you never leave a seafarer in such a circumstance. Seafarers leaving seafarers is unforgivable, or for any survivor, quite frankly.

[John Hopkins]

As morale on board drops, the intensity of the weather increases. Screaming gales hammer the tiny inflatable on all sides. The men cling desperately to the craft's slick, rubbery surface. They huddle together, terrified beneath the canopy. As they tumble over A series of stomach churning crests and troughs. The sheer power of the southern ocean is testing the life raft to breaking point.

[Mick Dolman]

There's no restraints in the raft, nothing to hang on to. We were just bounced around like toys. We're smashing into each other, headbutting each other and bailing water out as best we can to stay afloat. Like I had 10 rounds with Muhammad Ali at the end of it all.

[John Hopkins]

For days, the torment continues. They're constantly shifting direction, closer to the coast, further from the coast. Almost entirely powerless against the savagery of the open ocean, the crew try their best to steer nearer to the land, putting out the life raft's sea anchor and paddling with what's left of their strength. But they make little to no progress. And then after seven days at sea, things go from desperate to tragic. Second engineer John Sloane has been without his thyroid medication for a week. Manfully, he has attempted to do his part to be a useful member of the crew, but he's grown weaker and weaker.

[Mick Dolman]

He took his turn in paddling, he took his turn in whatever could be done. In fact, we had to argue with him not to sit back and rest. Very soon he passed away and that really, that was a kicker. That knocked the stuffing out of us. You know, we half suspected that there would be casualties, but we beat the worst opportunity for that to happen by getting off the ship. If we can stay alive and keep working on them, finding us, search, searching for us, we should be right. Little did we know that wasn't going to be the case at all. That was a body blow and that cranked it up to a much more serious circumstance than where it was. I'd never seen a dead person in my life and he was right next to me.

[John Hopkins]

The remaining crew members cover John's body and decide to keep him on board. If help arrives in time, they can at least deliver him to his family. But after another 12 agonizing hours of floating and hoping there is still nothing, they resolve that they cannot keep John on the raft any longer.

[Mick Dolman]

That was one of the deepest parts of the whole exercise was to bury him at sea, give him a seafarer's funeral. Me, along with others, helped slip him over the side. And we hardly spoke to each other for a few days except when we had to, because we had to stay alive and do our best.

[John Hopkins]

Dread and desperation grip the men. Their meager food and water supplies are all but gone, and there is a creeping feeling that they are now just waiting for the inevitable. They paddle when they can, but people are increasingly unable or unwilling to keep the effort up.

[Mick Dolman]

I was so angry because that pause in paddling took us way back out to sea again. You could sense that our stamina and our ability to continue to keep the fight up was waning.

[John Hopkins]

Then, eight days after the sinking, the weather finally starts to turn. The wind that seemed determined to drag them all the way to Antarctica finally relents and the inflatable is pushed northward. For an extended period of time, Mick is under the life raft's canopy, lying listlessly on his back. He hears the relentless, never ending slosh and slap of the water on the dinghy. And then he hears something else. His crewmates, Mick Power calling out from the front of the craft. Everybody weakly scrambles towards the edges of the vessel. They are suddenly surrounded by towering rock formations, gnarled, jagged skyscrapers that loom out of the ocean. The battered life raft is being sucked towards these giant hazards, caught in a vortex between three rocky pillars.

[Mick Dolman]

They were huge pinnacles, I mean three, 400ft tall. And there was a small gap between them that we'd got sucked into and couldn't get out. We'd be toast, absolute toast. So me and Mick got a hold of the paddles and just paddled. I don't know where, where we found our energy, but we paddle and paddle and paddled.

[John Hopkins]

The current seems determined to draw them onto the rocks. With a gargantuan effort, Mick plunges his oar into the freezing water again and again and fights for his life. With a final grunt and a heave, they escape.

[Mick Dolman]

The riptide got through by the skin of our teeth and then we came out on the other side and could barely move. I was in agony. And Mick was in exactly the same.

[John Hopkins]

Both mix collapse back into the inflatable. Utterly spent, they've used up precious energy. There's almost nothing left in the tank. Darkness falls, and the remaining survivors of the Blithe Star lie barely moving around the remnants of their battered inflatable.

[Mick Dolman]

These rafts, they're really just to keep you there for a short period of time and then you get picked up and rescued and what have you. And this raft was really worked the ass off. It was in terrible state.

[John Hopkins]

With their vessel and their bodies failing, the men have little hope left to cling onto. But as they drift through the night, something catches Mick's eye. A cliff face. Not another rock in the ocean. It's something more substantial, more solid. It's land. The men squint through the blackness.

[Mick Dolman]

We seen, or we thought we seen a road along the side of the cliff that we're heading towards. And so collective wisdom was, well, let's get over and have a look. And then we can determine what our next action is.

[John Hopkins]

Summoning his last vestiges of strength, Mickey paddles the dinghy in the direction of the rock face. It's brutal. He's on the verge of hypothermia, at times, hallucinating and blacking out. Somehow, he and his crewmates steer the raft in the direction of the cliffs. But as they draw close, it becomes obvious they've made a mistake.

[Mick Dolman]

When we got close enough, we realized it wasn't a road, it was just a part of the, the cliff face. And there's no way there's a car or anything going up and down that.

[John Hopkins]

And now they adventured too close to the cliffs. A labyrinth of sharp, sinister boulders poke out all around half hidden obstacles, each one threatening to tear a final deadly hole in the life raft. Dancing in the froth, slimy black and green tendrils offer the men alone lifeline. Mick throws himself to the edge and grabs onto the seaweed. Arms tremoring, he can't let it slip through his grasp.

[Mick Dolman]

We spent the night hanging on to a kelp to anchor us as best we can, and we'd lose it and then have to go and pull up some more kelp.

[Unknown]

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[Mick Dolman]

We got a lot of work to do.

[Unknown]

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Death is coming for our family.

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On WhatsApp. No one can see or hear your personal messages. Whether it's a voice call message or sending a password to WhatsApp, it's all just this. So whether you're sharing the streaming password in the family chat or trading those late night voice messages that could basically become a podcast, your personal messages stay between you, your friends and your family. No one else, not even us. WhatsApp message privately with everyone.

[John Hopkins]

It's the following morning. Somehow the crew have survived another night. Their dinghy remains in one piece. Just through exhaustion or delirium, Mick drifted off during the night. It takes him a few moments to get his bearings as one of his raftmates gives him a shake and wakes him Up. Birds caw above in the cold morning air and Mick's bleary eyes focus on his surroundings.

[Mick Dolman]

Malcolm McCarroll grabbed me and said, wake up, wake up. We're close to the beach.

[John Hopkins]

Mick is only semi lucid. But then the sight of the coast snaps him into focus. Last night's deadly rocks have been replaced by a large horseshoe bay. Smatterings of sand lying at the feet of tree covered granite walls. It's not the most hospitable of locations, but after nine days at sea, it looks like paradise. Mick doesn't waste a second.

[Mick Dolman]

It looked reasonable in comparison to every other potential landing place. And so myself and Mick Power jumped in to the water, which was partly stupid because I wasn't a great swimmer at all, but thankfully the water was only up and up to your chest, freezing cold and this beach was full of boulders, huge, massive, big boulders and rocks and pebbles and it wasn't a beach at any shape or form.

[John Hopkins]

Finally, Mick and his crewmates are back on land. But no sooner have they arrived than it becomes depressingly apparent their ordeal is far from over. They're still trapped. Mick lies stretched out on the rock strewn beach, his body numb with hunger and fatigue. Everywhere he looks, all he can see are impossibly steep cliff faces and seemingly impenetrable forest. It looks so inhospitable that one of the men even suggests getting back into the raft. Perhaps they should head out of the bay once more in the hope of finding a more manageable entry point, back into civilization. Nick cannot face this idea and so he sets off, climbing the steep hills that surround the beach, each one covered with thick woodland. He tackles this challenge with vigor. Head down, marching into the dense forest. But the terrain refuses to yield in the face of his youthful determination.

[Mick Dolman]

I endeavored to find an exit to get out of the place, but to no avail. And it was a disaster.

[John Hopkins]

Mick returns, breathing heavily, scratched and bruised. Escaping the bay is proving just as hard as escaping the sea. At least the beach does offer a chance for the crew to recoup some strength. Flowing down one of the cliffs is a stream. Mick walks over to investigate.

[Mick Dolman]

There was fresh water and we just all went up and devoured as much water as we could physically drink and we had a respite there for a period of time.

[John Hopkins]

More hydrated than he's been in days, Mick tries to traverse the cliff face again and again. But it's no use. He's gone for hours at a time, but never gets further than a few meters. Sometimes others come with him. But that doesn't help either. It is impossible to navigate this harsh, overgrown assault course. After another unsuccessful solo attempt, Mick turns back once again. When he returns to the beach, he finds the crew spread out, dotted around the bay, each man in his own little world. Someone is missing. There is no sign of Chief Officer Ken Jones.

[Mick Dolman]

When I got back, I said, where's Ken? And they said, he's down there. And they pointed to where he was and he was sitting on a rock and he took off his jacket and most of his clothes and just looked out to sea. I went up and gave him a shake and he was cold as anything. I could tell he was dead and it broke my heart because he encouraged us to do the things that need to be done. He did things that others should have done and didn't. But Ken was a true leader.

[John Hopkins]

Moments later, Mick also discovers the body of Chief engineer John Eagles. Like Ken, John had been decisive and brave during the ordeal, particularly when shutting off the engines as the Blythe Star sank. Both men have succumbed to exposure. Extreme hypothermia confused their body temperatures, making them feel hot and causing them to peel off their clothes, exposing them to the elements. The weight of tragedy hangs heavily over the bay. But the loss of his crewmates also fortifies Mick's determination to get off the beach.

[Mick Dolman]

So Malcolm McCarroll and I made a decision that we were going to go and we're not coming back. We're going to walk and walk and walk, and we'll either find something, rescue or a resource, or we'll die. But we can't sit here, can't stay here.

[John Hopkins]

The ship's cook, Alfie Simpson, wants to join Mick and Malcolm for this final attempt. Staying on the beach will only end one way. This really is their last throw of the dice.

[Mick Dolman]

Anything happens to any of us, we got to keep going. We don't stop anybody. We keep going until we get out of here.

[John Hopkins]

It's the next morning. Yesterday, after hours of slogging through the brush, Mick, Malcolm and Alfie had to rest, huddling up together under a large fern tree for the night. Now, as dawn filters through the canopy, the three men wake. Feeble and famished, they set off again as the day heats up around them. The midday sun pierces holes in the treeline over their heads, casting forlorn shadows on the ground. The forest is slowly starting to thin out. The steepness of the incline starts to level off under their filthy, bloodied feet. Perhaps they really are making progress after all. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, Mick steps out from the forest and onto a road. A quiet dirt road surrounded by dry shrubs, but a road nevertheless. Toes blistered and legs wobbling, they stick to this dusty track, following it as it winds onwards. And then the men stop. There is a distant sound, something rumbling through the trees.

[Mick Dolman]

We heard a truck talking to each other, saying, does that sound like a truck? We said, yeah, it sounds like a truck coming through its gears. I said, keep quiet. Let's listen to it for a second.

[John Hopkins]

The men turned and sure enough, approaching from behind is a bright red truck. After 11 appalling days, the end is in sight. They can't blow this chance.

[Mick Dolman]

Let's not scare this bloke off because we, we look like convicts that have escaped from prison or something. He or she might think, let's get out of her, put it in reverse and nick off. So we waited till the very last minute we ran down and just put our hand up. I jumped onto the passenger side. He said, who are you? Who are you? I said, look, we're off the Bly Star. He said, no, you're not. They're dead.

[John Hopkins]

It takes a little back and forth to convince the truck driver, a forestry worker named Rod, that they are indeed surviving members of the Blythe Star. Turns out the search and rescue operation has already been called off, with the authorities concluding the crew must be lost to the sea. And yet here they are, living and breathing. Mick, Malcolm and Alfie clamber into Rod's truck and soon enough, rescuers are dispatched to the bay to recover the remaining survivors, as well as the bodies of Ken and John. While convalescing in hospital, Mick learns that the search for the Blithe Star was called off after just four days. The rescue operation faced problems and confusion from the off. There had been no mayday signal, no information conveyed about the Blithe Star's chosen route. The authorities didn't know where to look or what to look out for.

[Mick Dolman]

Nobody knew which way the ship was going, whether it was going west about to King island or east about. So instead of looking for a needle in a haystack, we've got two or three needles in haystacks all over the place. Because of the lack of knowledge of where the preferred route was to get to there.

[John Hopkins]

The sinking of the MV Blythe Star and the tragic loss of three of its crew turns out to be a watershed moment in Australian maritime practices. New regulations are introduced regarding life rafts. Emergency position indicating radio beacons, or EPIRBs, become mandatory and procedures are updated that require captains to make regular check ins with the maritime authorities. These changes come about in no small part thanks to Mick as part of his work as an official of the Seamen's Union of Australia. Throughout his career, he has fought tirelessly for seafarers rights and protections. As for his own story, it takes 42 years before Mick speaks publicly about the Blythe Star.

[Mick Dolman]

I chose not to talk about it at all shortly after the sinking. It has not gone away. It will never go away.

[John Hopkins]

Eventually, he decides to share his account to give the families of his crewmates clarity about what happened. Now more than half a century has passed since the catastrophe. Reflecting upon it, Mick puts his remarkable survival at sea down to the life he hoped was waiting for him back on land.

[Mick Dolman]

I never, ever considered that I was gonna die. I wouldn't allow it. I just met a woman and I'd only been going out with her for a few months and she was off having a 17th birthday party while I was flighting for my life on a life raft. And I wanted to marry that woman. I was only 18, but I was determined to make a life with that woman. And I did. And we'd been married for 50 years and I've got two beautiful kids. My son's a seafarer and my daughter's a teacher in the teachers union. And I got grandkids. And I'll make the best of my life and be a good father and a good husband. That was my driving force.

[John Hopkins]

Next time on Real Survival Stories. We meet Jules Mountain. As his surname suggests, he is a man destined to scale the heights. After battling cancer and emerging with a new lease of life, he takes on the epic challenge of reaching the top of Mount Everest. But when an enormous earthquake causes the slopes of the mountain to crack and crumble around him, Jules is once again left staring death in the face. The whole sky, everything I can see, is full of snow and it's hurtling towards us. And I'm thinking, what do I do? What do I do? I'm about to die. That's next time on Real Survival Stories. Listen today without ads and without waiting a week by joining Noizur. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started.

[American Express]

Eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real. And so is the relief from Ebglis. After an initial dosing phase, about 4 in 10 people taking EBGLIS achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

[Unknown]

EBGLIS Librekizumab LBKZ a 250mg 2ml injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. EBGLIS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to Epglis. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with Epglis. Before starting Epglis, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection searching for for real relief?

[American Express]

Ask your doctor about epgliss and visit epgliss.lily.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979.

[Unknown]

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