In the summer of 1968, an English newspaper, The Sunday Times, proposed a contest,

the Golden Globe yacht race, which challenged all comers to attempt the first single-handed

non-stop circumnavigation of the world. Many entered, but only one man, Robin Knox Johnson, completed the sale,

securing the Golden Globe trophy and a cash prize of 5,000 pounds. This caught the attention of

Dougal Robertson, a former sailor in his late 40s, along with his wife Lynn and their children,

18-year-old Anne, 16-year-old Douglas, and 12-year-old twin boys Neil and Sandy,

who, together, followed the Golden Globe race from their dairy farm in rural Staffordshire, England.

While watching a news report of the race, Neil, one of the twins, blurted out,

Daddy's a sailor, why don't we sail around the world? And this was how it

started. The family farm had not been the most profitable. So when the Golden Globe trophy was

hoisted in April of 69, it inspired Dougal Robertson to go for it. Go for it, meaning they would

sell the farm, buy a yacht, a schooner, and sail around the world.

Welcome to Maroon, harrowing tales of the catastrophically lost.

I'm Jack Luna. This is Aaron Hable.

Dougal Robertson, a stern former sea captain in the Royal British Navy and Master Mariner,

framed the idea as a way to provide the

children with an experience you can only gain from leaving the comfort of your home and throwing

yourself fully into it. It would build strength and character. The children would receive a real

world, practical education, and learn invaluable skills through hard work and perseverance.

It would be a journey, an adventure. Naturally, Lynn had reservations on the initial idea of

uprooting the children, taking them out of school, tossing them into an unconventional,

potentially dangerous life they knew nothing about. Besides Dougal, none of them had any

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