Hold Fast! 6. Unicorn poo

Lives Less Ordinary

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.6 • 814 Ratings

🗓️ 18 August 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As the crew of the Avontuur fight their way out of the Gulf of Mexico and battle a hurricane that delays their journey back across the Atlantic, ship’s cook Giulia faces the spectre of food and gas shortages with ingenuity and a determination to get back home.

15 people, 188 days at sea, one extraordinary ship: how the Avontuur was locked down at sea during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Narrated by Siobhán McSweeney Produced by Christina Hardinge Sound and music by Noémie Ducimetière Artwork by Joe Magee Narration written by Laura Thomas For Lives Less Ordinary, the series producer is Laura Thomas and the editor, Munazza Khan.

Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.

Got a story to tell? Send an email to [email protected] or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm Rory Stewart and I grew up wanting to be a hero and I'm still fascinated by the ideas of heroism.
0:08.9	In my new series, I'm taking in the long sweep of history from Achilles to Zelensky and asking, what is a hero?
0:16.2	Simply doing your job, being a decent human being.
0:20.0	A true hero is someone who just kind of shines by their own light,
0:23.9	and that light is to be recognized by others.
0:26.5	The Long History of Heroism with me, Rory Stewart.
0:29.5	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:33.5	Coming up on lives less ordinary, hold fast continues.
0:38.6	It was quite clear that it wasn't a joke, and we don't have any B plan for this.
0:47.4	Worst case scenario, we get stuck at sea and we can't land anywhere.
0:52.8	And we will have to go through some severe rationing.
0:56.9	This is the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship, the Avantour, and its crew of 15,
1:03.9	on a wind-powered mission to transport olive oil, cacao, coffee and rum between Europe and
1:10.6	Central America.
1:12.2	But before they even make it halfway, everything they're counting on is thrown to the winds.
1:19.6	I'm Chauvin McSweeney, and you're listening to Lives Less Ordinary Presents.
1:26.5	Hold Fast.
1:30.0	From the BBC World Service Episode
1:33.2	Episode 6
1:33.8	Unicorn Pooh
1:35.8	You know It's early May 2020.
2:03.7	The Aventure has just left Viracruz, Mexico, the most westerly point on their journey.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.