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  • The Menu That Should Have Sunk: A Message for the Sea

    The Menu That Should Have Sunk: A Message for the Sea
    2026/09/10
    The Menu That Should Have Sunk: A Message for the Sea

    A laminated diner menu meant to sink instead washed ashore nine miles later, bone dry, with a brass shackle that slipped free and the name Linda Allen written on the back; how did a weighted message for the sea end up on a breakwater while its writer was already in a hospital bed? This episode centers on that impossible object and the narrow exits it left open to a small crew in a storm.

    In this episode, we tell how a routine Gulf passage became a fight for survival, tracing the Calder Blue’s departure from Harker’s Point, the unexpected deepening low that stalled over their track, and the menu that carried a deliberate, failed plan to leave a legible trace. What choices and failures turned a seventy-something crossing into eight days of consequence?

    Date: May 4-13 (events from departure May 4; menu found May 13)
    Location: Harker's Point and nine miles offshore
    Vessel: Calder Blue
    Person: Linda Allen
    Status: Three survivors; Linda hospitalized

    - The menu was found at 6:40 a.m. on May 13 wedged against the base of a piling and was bone dry despite nine miles of open water.
    - Linda Allen wrote “Linda Allen, vessel Calder Blue, departed Harker's Point May fourth” on the back of the menu and weighted it with a brass shackle to sink.
    - The Calder Blue departed Harker's Point on the morning of May 4 with four aboard: Linda Allen (26), Ed Novak (64), Carl Novak (29), and Pete Duvall (31).
    - The crew deployed a parachute drogue just after 2:00 a.m. on May 6 when seas were running 15 feet from the beam; the drogue bought them eleven minutes before a swivel fitting failed.
    - When the swivel failed the Calder Blue broached past 90 degrees, the electrical panel and radio took seawater and went dark, and Ed Novak went over the lifelines.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    20 分
  • She Survived - How a Drifting Sloop Nearly Buried Her Alive

    She Survived - How a Drifting Sloop Nearly Buried Her Alive
    2026/09/09
    She Survived - How a Drifting Sloop Nearly Buried Her Alive

    Heat, tide and an engine that never stopped turned a day trip into a life-or-death drift: a thirty-two-foot sloop was found 63 nautical miles offshore with its engine running and a half-eaten bowl of chili on the table - how did the owner end up submerged in a marsh tracking a helicopter by wristwatch, and how close did every small choice come to killing her?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of facts from a marina checkout at 07:14 on April 8, 2014 to a discovery the next morning that left searchers puzzling over running engines, bent life-ring pins, and a warm bowl of chili; what really unfolded between grounding on a sandbar at low tide and the sloop’s unexpected offshore drift?

    Person: Shannon Watson
    Date: April 8-9, 2014
    Location: South Brunswick River marina to 63 nautical miles offshore
    Vessel: 32-foot sloop Caravel Moon
    Fuel: 41 gallons topped prior Saturday

    - The sloop left the marina at 07:14 on April 8, 2014 with a full diesel tank of 41 gallons.
    - Around 13:40 the sloop grounded on a sandbar two feet shallower than the two-season-old chart indicated.
    - Watson entered the water wearing her personal flotation device and grabbed a life ring whose bracket pin was later found bent.
    - At approximately 15:00 the tide turned, lifting the boat off the sandbar while its engine was still running and carrying it eastward.
    - A passerby reported the unmanned sloop the morning of April 9; Coast Guard teams found the vessel 63 nautical miles offshore with a half-eaten bowl of chili and a companionway hatch open.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    20 分
  • The Notebook in the Church Lot: How the Gulf Betrayed Four Men

    The Notebook in the Church Lot: How the Gulf Betrayed Four Men
    2026/09/08
    The Notebook in the Church Lot: How the Gulf Betrayed Four Men

    Saltwater, diesel, and a man’s handwriting washed ashore eleven days after two boats vanished in a race - but the notebook was found sixty miles from where that name should have been, and it smelled like the Gulf itself. Four men went missing after a squall; the Coast Guard searched four nautical miles away because a GPS datum was wrong - how could a single unchecked number turn a routine race into ten days adrift?

    In this episode, you will hear the unfolding details of what happened from departure to discovery, the weather changes, the search decisions, and the notes left behind on a life raft - all pointing to one unanswered administrative error that redirected the search. Did an overlooked GPS setting doom the search before it began?

    Date: March 19, 2014
    Location: Palmetto Avenue, Sarasota
    Event: Whitmore Cup race, March 7-8, 2014
    People: John Meyer, Hank Serrano, Phil Garner, Trevor Garner
    Error: GPS datum set incorrectly, shifting positions four nautical miles southeast

    - A waterlogged notebook was found leaning against a van tire in a church parking lot on Palmetto Avenue on March 19, 2014.
    - The notebook’s inside cover was labeled John Meyer and showed handwriting still legible after eleven days at sea.
    - Two boats went missing from the Whitmore Cup race on March 8, 2014; eleven boats had departed at 5:50 a.m, on March 7.
    - By 1:15 p.m. on March 8 the National Weather Service had upgraded conditions to a small-craft warning with winds at the Venice Inlet buoy reading 38 knots, gusting to 44.
    - The chase boat’s GPS unit was set to the wrong coordinate datum, causing every transmitted position to be four nautical miles southeast of the boats’ actual location.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    18 分
  • Mirror Aimed at Nothing: The Survival of Susan Henderson

    Mirror Aimed at Nothing: The Survival of Susan Henderson
    2026/09/07
    Mirror Aimed at Nothing: The Survival of Susan Henderson

    The hull of a capsized sloop held a four-inch signal mirror that was dry on the outside and wet on the inside, untouched for six days after its owner was airlifted away. Susan Henderson, a 51-year-old marine surveyor, survived a sudden February 2014 storm forty miles offshore with six liters of water, a corroded flare kit, and that mirror-so how did ordinary gear and methodical choices keep her alive when nearly everything failed?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of events from Susan’s departure on February 4, 2014 to the capsize at 2:40 a.m. on February 5 and the six days that followed, detailing what supplies she had, what failed, and the actions she took to stay alive. How did training, routine, and a few small items determine whether she lived or died?

    Person: Susan Henderson
    Date: February 4-5, 2014
    Location: Forty nautical miles offshore from Saint Simons Sound toward Fernandina Beach, Georgia/Florida
    Age: 51
    Boat: Tartan 31 sloop named Palomar

    - Susan rationed six liters of water to 400 milliliters per day using a container cap marked with a fingernail.
    - The storm produced sustained winds of 32 knots with gusts to 44 knots before the capsize.
    - The handheld VHF radio battery lasted four minutes after water intrusion in the lazarette.
    - The flare kit failed after 20 attempts across the first day due to a corroded striker wheel; every cartridge remained unfired.
    - The signal mirror, roughly four inches square, was dry on the outside and wet on the inside and went unused for six days after Susan’s airlift.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    18 分
  • The Birthday Card Tied to a Life Ring: 11 Days Adrift

    The Birthday Card Tied to a Life Ring: 11 Days Adrift
    2026/09/06
    The Birthday Card Tied to a Life Ring: 11 Days Adrift

    A laminated birthday card, still sealed and dry after eleven days in the Gulf, washed ashore tied to a life ring - and it was threaded from the inside, a deliberate act done after someone watched a man die; how did that card become the world’s first clue to a drifting vessel 61 miles from the search? Searchers had been looking in the wrong place while two survivors drifted with no compass, no chart plotter, and a beacon giving coordinates 18 miles off - what led them to survive, and how did a card become their voice?

    In this episode, we follow the Callie Mae’s voyage from Palmetto on January 7 and trace the sequence of failures, decisions, and survival skills that unfolded after a wave struck on January 9. We describe who was aboard, what failed on the vessel, and the improvised navigation and actions that kept two people alive - could a middle-school science lesson and a laminated birthday card really be the keys to their rescue?

    Person: Nicole Stewart
    Person: Marcus Webb
    Person: Robert Fenn
    Date: January 7-19, 2017
    Location: Gulf of Mexico, 61 miles south of where searchers looked

    - The Callie Mae was a 42-foot sloop that left dock fourteen on January 7 bound for Isla Mujeres, roughly 500 miles away.
    - Between 18 and 22-foot wave struck the boat in the early hours of January 9; impact lasted approximately four seconds.
    - The wave staved in two portholes, flooded the salon, shattered the compass housing, and disabled the chart plotter and paper charts.
    - The EPIRB transmitted coordinates that were 18 miles off target while the vessel drifted 61 miles from the search area.
    - The laminated birthday card had been written in October, sealed in plastic, and remained dry inside after eleven days adrift.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    19 分
  • Nine Days Adrift: Surviving a Raft, a Lost Notebook, One Death

    Nine Days Adrift: Surviving a Raft, a Lost Notebook, One Death
    2026/09/05
    Nine Days Adrift: Surviving a Raft, a Lost Notebook, One Death

    She left Marathon at 4:50 AM on December 11, 2019, checked the forecast twice and still ran into a different storm with 12-16 foot swells - her mast came down and the Delmar sank, leaving her with only a ditch bag and a life raft. A notebook later found on a sandbar contained 46 tally marks and two handwritings; why did that notebook end up there, and what did those marks record during the nine days that followed?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from the Delmar’s departure through the EPIRB signal at 11:47 PM and the expanding search area, the missing drogue line and the drift that carried her seven miles beyond the search datum, and the later discovery of the dollar-store spiral notebook on a sandbar - what did each of these facts mean for the search and for what happened next?

    Person: Tracy Burke
    Date: December 11-22, 2019
    Location: Departed Marathon; search datum ~58 nautical miles ESE of Islamorada; notebook found on sandbar south of Pinder Reach
    Event: Stern fitting failure, mast collapse, Delmar sank, life raft deployed, EPIRB activated at 23:47
    Object: Spiral-bound green cardboard notebook with 46 tally marks and two handwriting styles

    - Departure time from Marathon: 4:50 AM on December 11, 2019
    - EPIRB activation received by Miami regional coordination center at 11:47 PM on December 12, 2019
    - Search datum established approximately 58 nautical miles east-southeast of Islamorada
    - Drift: by dawn on December 13 she was seven miles south of the designated search datum due to a cut drogue line
    - Notebook found by county surveyor Ross Stevens on December 22 on a sandbar that appears about four hours a day at low tide, containing 46 tally marks with the last group incomplete

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    26 分
  • The Dry Paper in the Lifeboat: How One Note Redirected Rescue

    The Dry Paper in the Lifeboat: How One Note Redirected Rescue
    2026/09/04
    The Dry Paper in the Lifeboat: How One Note Redirected Rescue

    The Gulf can turn routine into survival in hours: a sun-bleached lifeboat found at Pelican Flats contained a single dry yellow sheet after eleven days afloat with six survivors and one dead - and that paper measured 11.5 by 27 centimeters with eight names and three blue-ink circles. How did a single wrong coordinate send rescuers eighteen nautical miles away and almost cost lives?

    In this episode, you will hear the sequence of events from the collision on November 8 to the lifeboat found on November 19, learn who was aboard Lifeboat One and what happened during those eleven days, and follow how a dry piece of paper factored into the official inquiry and the late unraveling of the search error.

    Person: Darlene McCarthy
    Date: November 19, 2011
    Location: Pelican Flats Marina, Corpus Christi
    Event: Collision between MV Brauer Star and MV Sula Drift on November 8
    Status: Lifeboat found with six survivors and one deceased after eleven days

    - The yellow paper recovered measured 11.5 by 27 centimeters and contained eight names in two columns with three circles drawn in blue ink.
    - The Brauer Star sank in forty-one minutes after striking the Sula Drift at 22:17 on November 8.
    - The rescue coordination center searched a grid eighteen nautical miles away from where the survivors were actually drifting.
    - Lifeboat One held seven named occupants: Dawn Wallace, James Pell, Marcus Webb, Dennis Farrow, Rey Buenaventura, Oleg Marchenko, and Fernando Delgado.
    - The lifeboat drifted in the Gulf of Mexico for eleven days before being discovered by a contract worker pumping a holding tank.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    20 分
  • Dry Log, Lost Beacon: How Three Vanished Between Tides

    Dry Log, Lost Beacon: How Three Vanished Between Tides
    2026/09/03
    Dry Log, Lost Beacon: How Three Vanished Between Tides

    There is a dry logbook on a capsized raft and a man found alive eight feet away in mud - but the raft's pages record seventeen days at sea and stop on October 8, two days before the last companion died. How did paper stay dry in a tidal basin with water stains six feet high, and what does the log really tell us about three people lost between tides?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from the October 2 departure of the 40-foot sailboat Maren's Light through the missed Tuesday shift that triggered a missing-persons report, the search launched on October 6, and the unexpected discoveries in a tidal mangrove basin that raised new questions about drift, rescue, and survival. What errors in the search plan and what small natural shifts changed everything?

    Date: October 19, 2011
    Event: Kayaker David Schultz finds orange canister and dry logbook on collapsed raft
    Person: Donald Fitzgerald, age 23, found alive in mud
    Vessel: Maren's Light, 40-foot sailboat, sank in ~200 feet of water
    Search start: October 6, initial drift model predicted southwest drift from 38-knot southwest winds

    - The logbook documents seventeen days on the open water and ends on October 8 in careful handwriting.
    - The waterline stain on the mangrove roots runs six feet up the bark at the tidal basin where the raft was found.
    - Maren's Light sank in approximately two hundred feet of water with its EPIRB still mounted below deck.
    - The search launched on October 6 used a drift model based on a southwest wind of thirty-eight knots and searched toward the Dry Log from the east.
    - A secondary wind shift from the northeast lasting about eighteen hours at 2-3 knots pushed the raft in a direction not predicted by the initial model.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    18 分