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A listener note, Against the Odes uses dramatizations that are based on true events.

Some elements, including dialogue, may be invented, but everything is based on research.

Bob Doyle hits the water hard.

Or rather, the water hits him.

It's so cold that it knocks the wind out of him.

Even wearing an insulated survival suit,

he can feel his fingers and toes going numb, as his momentum carries him under the waves.

It's just after 7 p.m. on January 30, 1998, well past dark here, 60 miles off the coast of Alaska. Bob is part of a group of five fishermen whose ship the Laconte is sinking in the midst of the worst storm he's ever seen. The LaConte

had no life raft on board, so Bob and his crewmates were forced to abandon ship. They roped themselves together to make sure they're not separated and jumped into the ocean,

which is churning with waves the size of five-story buildings.

Bob surfaces, sputtering, and looks around in the darkness for the Laconte.

He knows they have to swim clear of her before she sinks.

If they don't, they could be sucked down with the ship.

He spins around, treading water, until he spots her.

The old schooner is now lying on her side, half submerged.

Her lights are still on, casting an eerie, greenish-y yellow glow across the waves.

Then a wave slams into Bob and his crewmates from behind.

Bob feels helpless against the force of it. It's like he's

being hit by a speeding truck. And it's propelling him forward right into the Leconti's overturned

hull.

...