Shipwreck on the Sahara | The Storm | 1

Against The Odds

Audible

History, Society & Culture, Atmos, Mike Corey, Cassie De Pecol, Dolby, Dolby Atmos

4.7 • 7.9K Ratings

🗓️ 6 July 2021

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In August 1815, a ship called The Commerce runs aground off the coast of Northwest Africa. Onboard are eleven crew members who are merchant traders who have no choice but to row to shore. They will soon find themselves at the edge of the Sahara, one of the most inhospitable places on earth where oasis settlements are controlled by tribes who also run the trans-Saharan slave trade. With no way to escape and dwindling supplies, they will need to cross the largest hot desert in the world. If captured by desert tribes, they face enslavement or death, but without help from locals, they will die of hunger and thirst.

This is the true story of the men who survived the journey based on the journals they wrote. It’s about sacrifice and human endurance and the fight to get home. But their odyssey will have a much greater impact than on just their own lives – it will influence a future president and impact a nation in ways that are still felt even today.

We recommend Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival by Dean King for more reading.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime members, you can listen to against the odds at free on Amazon music. Download the app today.
0:15.9	It's 10 p.m. August 28th, 1815.
0:20.4	Captain James Riley stands alone at the bow of his ship watching the white caps crash over the heavy sides.
0:26.6	Something is wrong. Miley can feel it.
0:30.2	The ship is headed to the Cape Ferd Islands, the last stop of their six-month journey.
0:35.5	They'll drop off tobacco and pick up salt to bring home to America. A quick trip in and out.
0:41.7	But so far, no sign of land. It doesn't make sense. He should have seen the Canary Islands when they pass through.
0:49.5	But now the instruments are showing they are 120 miles off course. It seems impossible.
0:55.5	The channel between the islands is only 50 miles wide. Even on a night as dark as this,
1:01.3	he should have been able to make out the biggest island. And now the fog is rolling in.
1:06.8	At 38 years old, Riley has been a sailor more than half of his life. As a merchant trader,
1:14.1	he's crossed the Atlantic seven times. He's faced down squals that raise waves as big as houses.
1:21.2	He watched the sky erupt in bolts of lightning and heard cracks of thunder, loud enough to split a man's ear drums.
1:28.2	But this is different. The fog envelops the ship in a cold grey veil. He can't see a thing.
1:35.2	And the high winds make matters worse. These are very dangerous conditions.
1:41.2	His shoulders sag under the weight of his responsibility. There are 11 crewmen on the ship,
1:47.2	all trusting him to bring him home safely. And then he hears it. A deep low rumble somewhere in the distance.
1:57.2	He hears the clattering of feet. It's horror savage. His 15 year old cabin boy. His eyes are wide with fear.
2:05.2	Captain! A storm is coming!
2:08.2	Riley listens as the booming grows closer. More ominous.
2:15.2	Then he realizes it's not a storm at all. It's something far worse.
2:21.2	It's breakers!
	...

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