The Wahine Ferry Cyclone Disaster of 1968 | Episode 74

Some people think it’s weird when they hear travel by sea described as romantic. Between the vomiting and the contusions and the lacerations and the spinal injuries – I’m confident this episode will help you discover whatever the opposite of romance is.
 
On this episode:  you’ll learn why Captain James Cook left Hawaii with a knife in his head – and chest – and back and abdomen and face; you’ll learn the clothes-eating, skin-ripping, skull-flattening results of jumping feet first into an active hurricane; and you’ll hear about recovery efforts somehow more damaging than the original disaster
 
And if you were a Patreon supporter, you would also enjoy an additional 10 minutes where we discussed:

•  why in about 600,000 years New Zealand will be some of the most prized real estate in the world

•  we clarify why a corpse in a captain’s outfit isn’t a must-have after every disaster

•  you get a sad reminder that not all ship crews are created equal

•  you hear all about the Marmite Disaster of 2011 that killed over 20,000 people and injured another 8,300

•  and you’ll learn of the horrific tale of the worst, most sea-sickening voyage of all time.

Full disclosure, we’ll make a little bit of fun of Australia in this episode, but less than a minute’s worth, I swear. And it’s all in good fun. In fact, it’s the only real fun to be had. I did this episode as a thank you to a listener from New Zealand, not having been there, and based purely off having read more individual rescue tales for the story than any other episode of this show to date, I have to say this. My first exposure to NZ culture was through a movie called Once Were Warriors. I’ll discuss it quickly in the episode, but it basically painted the country as an urban living hellscape of social problems. My takeaway from preparing this episode is that New Zealanders are warm, caring, brave and selfless. It was a pleasure to put together, and we’ll be back.

Celebrity guest stars include: filmmaker and hobbit enthusiast, Peter Jackson; knife-wound collector and world traveller, Captain James Cook; extratropical cyclone and buzzkill, Cyclone Giselle; sea-sickness pioneer and turtle collector, Charles Darwin; and aquatic-themed Diety and pro-nudist, Poseidon.

All that said, I am giving away a jar of Marmite to one lucky listener. I just haven’t decided what the contest will be yet…


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