Modern Viking Adventure: Fateful Voyage
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00:28 Contact your local Specsavers for details. Some see heroes, and others see egos. Bloomberg sees the era of billionaire athletes. While others follow the noise, we follow the money. Learn more at Bloomberg.com. It is evening, Tuesday, the 27th of August, 2024. Off the coast of Norway, a wild storm rages over the North Atlantic. I see sheets of rain fall from the glowering sky,
00:59 and a low freezing fog clings to the air, shrouding the shoreline from sight. The slate gray sea is in turmoil. The towering waves whipped into a frenzy by howling winds. More than a millennium ago, these waters were traveled by the Vikings. Devil May Care explorers striking out from Scandinavia in search of riches and adventure. The world has changed drastically since then. And yet, today, a piece of history has been brought. back to life. Someway offshore, a sleek, black ship bursts through the fog, her rust-red sails
01:42 billowing in the wind. She rides the waves with powerful grace, seeming to harness the energy of the storm rather than fighting it. This is the Nadodur, a replica Viking ship hailing from the Faroe Islands. On board is a team of six international adventures. Their Swiss skipper, 56-year-old Andy Fiat, They'd say squints against the rain as he scans the swell ahead. Now only a couple of hours from the coast, they are nearing the end of their journey. But just then, Andy sees something out of the corner of his eye. I was looking forward in this moment, and I saw in my perspective just on the side, a wave is building up behind us, a wall of wave.
02:34 There is no time to do anything. before the wave smashes into the Naderderder. The back of the boat lifts up into the air and the bow plunges down towards the frothing swell below. A heartbeat later, the vessel somersaults, capsizing lengthways and trapping the terrified crew beneath her hull. So it's a fraction of a second in no time underneath the boat. So there was no possibility to avoid this anymore,
03:06 unfortunately by steering right or doing somethings at the last moment. It was just too big the wave. Submerged in the chaos of the freezing water, Andy fumbles to free himself from the safety line, which tethers him to the boat. With just moments until he runs out of air, he gropes through the icy darkness and yanks the release handle on his harness. But nothing happens.
03:32 The harness does not release. He is trapped under water. water and unable to escape. I try once and it didn't work under the water and you're running in your mind out of time, out of option and out of mind. So I mean your whole life is just hanging on the possibility that this harness release system works now. Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes.
04:09 If your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice? Welcome to real survival stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. People suddenly forced to fight for their lives. In this episode, we meet Swiss skipper and adventurer Andy Fice. In 2024, Andy sets out to recreate history when he and a small crew embark on a daring voyage across the North Sea aboard the Naduadur, a replica Viking ship. Their aim is to honour Viking culture and history,
04:47 promote the rich seafaring traditions of the Faroe Islands and encourage a future generation of explorers. But in a boat such as this, nothing is plain sailing. We knew it can be a very rough place on a Viking boat. There is no shelter from wind, sun, rain. So we didn't know how the ship is really behaving in heavy sea states. so we prepared for all the different scenario. Yet despite all of Andy's efforts, some events simply cannot be prepared for.
05:23 When the ship encounters unexpectedly bad weather and is violently capsized, the crew will be thrust into a fierce battle for survival against the might of the North Atlantic. They will be forced to call upon all their training, skills and comradeship if they want to make it out alive. But even that may not be enough to avert tragedy. The picture is this submerged Viking boat and a life raft tangling around with large wave coming over the boat, under the boat, beside the boat. So you can imagine we had the fear that this life raft get destroyed. I'm John Hopkins. From the Noiser podcast network, this is real survival stories.
06:08 It's morning, the 20th of April, 23, in the first. Barrow Islands, a small archipelago adrift in the North Atlantic between Iceland, Norway, and Scotland. Formed by volcanic activity 50 to 60 million years ago, these 18 wind-swept islands sing with a stark otherworldly beauty. This is a realm of rugged mountains and green treeless valleys, encircled by dramatic seaclifts and intersected by deep fjords. Settled by Norse explorers around the 9th century, the pharaohs are steeped in myth and history, and the legacy of the Vikings remains evident in local culture and seafaring traditions today. On Suroy, the southernmost of the pharaoh islands, a handful of brightly painted wooden houses
07:29 make up the village of Tvoira, which sits on a craggy hillside overlooking an inlet. Mored at a small jetty, a sailing boat bobs gently. on the waves. Inside, its Swiss skipper, Andy Fite, wakes on the morning of his 55th birthday. He is two weeks into a sailing trip around the pharaohs and decided to stop in Tuorrah overnight. As Andy sets about preparing for the day ahead, he is suddenly interrupted by a sound. Someone is knocking on the hull of the boat. Going to investigate, he discovers an elderly gentleman standing on the jetty. The stranger invites Andy, along with his nephew slash traveling companion Martin, to breakfast at the local boat club.
08:21 My nephew and I went there and they welcomed us and immediately someone told me, listen, someone is coming in a couple of minutes and they will tell a story. They didn't know us. I didn't know them. I didn't know the village. Nothing. Just nothing. Yeah, the man came, his name. is Ernst. And this kind of man that has in his face a long story of being seaman. It was 78 at
08:52 end. And he starts immediately and say, listen, I would like to show you our history. Ernst, this charming, elderly seafarer, leads Andy outside the boat club. He walks and then stops in front of a pair of heavy wooden doors that face out towards the sea. He pulls them open to reveal a workshop, housing ropes, life vests, and other sailing equipment. But that isn't all. Andi's eyes widen. Because there, in the middle of the room, is something extraordinary. The girl was lying this ferries fishing boat, what is more or less a replica of a Viking boat.
09:42 Lying there with a lot of stuff on top of it. And then he started to talk about this boat, the story about Viking, the story about Faruiz Island, the story about this boat, the builder. It was really so intense. It was kind of being a chosen one in his eyes. Ernst tells Andy that this is the Naduadur, a traditional Faroese boat built by a local father and son in the late 90s. and modelled on an ancient Viking ship. Measuring just 10 metres or 32 feet, the double-masted vessel is constructed with overlapping planks in the lapstrike or clinker Viking style.
10:31 It is both an exquisite feat of craftsmanship and a work of art. She was named after the 9th-century Viking explorer Nadod, who was credited with the discovery of Iceland after he was blown off course whilst sailing from Norway to the first. pharaohs. In the past years, the Naduador has lived up to her illustrious namesake, completing voyages to Norway, Iceland and the Shetland Islands. But by the time Andy first sets eyes on her, the ship has not been sailed properly in decades. Ernst explains that he was the Naduador's last skipper, but that he and the other men of the boat club are too old
11:16 to undertake any serious expeditions in her now. They need someone to take any serious expeditions. They need someone to take over the role and keep their heritage alive. And then he say, Andy, I want to have the opportunity that next generation sails this boat again because it hasn't been sailing for 25 years. And I was standing there. And I just open my mouth and say, I promise you, I come back with a crew. Family is on the brink of civil war. Mopland, the hit original series is now streaming on Paramount Plus.
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13:02 Though he has forged a highly successful career in the tech industry, Andy is also an experienced adventurer with a passion for exploring extreme and remote places. I love to be in the nature because nature gives me the incredible feeling that I'm responsible what I'm doing. I like to be on my own, organized everything by myself, because I like to be responsible for the world. what I'm doing and also taking all the risk by myself. Nature can be very helpful to your own soul, to your body, because it's so direct and so it's real. And I like to have this directly experience on my own life. After a childhood spent sailing and skiing in Switzerland, Andy journeyed to Southampton in southern England, where he undertook training to develop his
13:55 skills as a skipper. Over the years, he built up his experience, leading sailing expeditions around the globe. He soon discovered that what appealed to him wasn't simply racking up the voyages and ticking off locations, but something rather more poetic. I figure out, I cannot go to the sea and just sailing from A to B. That's not what I like to do. No, I like to tell a story. Why are we doing this?
14:20 So I immediately recognize I have to tell a story. Why are we doing this? What is behind the scene? And this was really cool. So I start to explore things with a story behind. Alongside Andy's love of stories is a desire to explore challenging uncharted territory, particularly at high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. And although he is a man drawn to extreme places and undertakings, is very far from being an adrenaline junkie.
14:52 I probably never cross this line or went too far. So I start to figure out how I can teach myself, how can I review myself, to go as close as possible to this risky edge. I know other telling me you are already over the edge from their perspective. I see a bit different perspective. You have to be very frank and very open in a review process and telling you often that you are not in an environment that you know everything. So you have to be very open as a leader to talk and to listen to your crew. For Andy, being a leader means preparing himself and his crew for every eventuality, a process he describes as building options.
15:42 By anticipating potential dangers, he is better equipped to push up. against risk and undertake the kinds of expeditions which appealed to him. Yeah, I never had the feeling in my life that I had near that experience never before. And as has been always the feedback also from the crew member. We very planned, organized very well in advance. And it gives me always the perspective during the rising, not more risky. So the capability of do something. of do some things and anticipate their different challenges in a serious matter.
16:22 And that has been always the case. And his passion for intense and extreme adventures has only become more pronounced since a life-altering diagnosis. They recognize the cancer, skin's cancer on my body. Fortunately, that they found this early enough to cut it out. Yeah, they told me later on two months. and then it would be too late. So it changed really my perspective to life as I have three boys. And what would be happen if there would be too late to cut it out?
17:00 So I told myself, let's go out, make something happen with your life. And probably also kind of it started here that I have no passion for things that just not helping each other, not the society, not the next. generation, I like to do real stuff. It's hardly a surprise then that Andy seizes the opportunity proffered by the Naduadur. It is a meeting of all his passions, poetic stories, extreme exploration, and a chance for a new adventure, one with a purpose. Upon returning home from his 2023 Faroe Islands trip, Andy makes contact again with Ernst. Together, the two men weave a story around the planned expedition and work out
17:49 how they can utilize it in some way for good. He's kind of my mentor in this. Being together with Ernst's this visionary, old man, sea man, he told me immediately, listen, I want to do it for the next generation, and I couldn't agree more. So let's do it for the next generation. And then we ask ourselves, how can we do it? And he told me, listen, if you could bring someone young, but also scientific on the boat, it would be so good.
18:21 Andy mulls over Ernst's words as he begins gathering a crew and making plans for the voyage. And then fate intervenes. In early 2024, he becomes a member of the prestigious Explorers Club, an international organization based in New York, which is dedicated to promoting field exploration and scientific inquiry. And it is here that Andy happens to meet someone who fits, all of Ernst's criteria. Her name is Carla.
18:54 She is an ethnographic field researcher and archaeologist in her late 20s, specializing in the Viking era. Upon hearing about Andy's planned expedition, she leaps at the chance to join. She started to train herself to be a good crew member. On a Viking boat, everyone has to be involved in everything, so it doesn't help if you're just a knowledgeable. You need to do everything from steering to set the sails or using the ores, everything, cooking. You need to be practical as well. Yeah, and she had done a good job in preparing herself. So that was just four months before we left.
19:36 She joined the crew. Alongside Andy and Carla there are four other crew members. Liva, a world-renowned Ferris Ocean Rower, Martin and his nephew and fellow adventurer. Seni, a Swiss photographer, and Georg, a Swiss engineer with a talent for fixing almost anything. It takes months to organize everything and finalize plans, and Andy is careful to ensure every possible consideration is taken for the safety of the crew. We had everything with us be proper prepared from a safety perspective. The boat was full with safety equipment, so we had their survival suits.
20:18 Everyone has knife with them. We had a life raft. Everyone had a lifeline and the life rest and so on and so on. There was a multi-layer strategy for safety. So we really prepared very well. We just want to do it quite, really right. This is, after all, an extreme undertaking. Andy and his crew intend to sail from the boat club in Turoyrora
20:43 to the Norwegian city of Trondheim, which served as the capital of the country during the Viking Age. It is a journey of 500 nautical miles, nearly 1,000 kilometers, and will take between 3 and 5 days. Being a replica Viking boat, the Nudadur naturally has no engine. Unlike modern sailing ships, she also uses fixed sails, so steering is limited by wind speed and direction. The only onboard shelter consists of a piece of tarpaulin stretched over the back of the vessel which provides sleeping space for up to two people. The crew will therefore be at the mercy of the elements.
21:26 Waves can easily break over the sides of the shallow-hulled ship. To be successful, the entire crew must learn a whole new set of skills. None one of us has sailed this. So we told ourselves we have to learn from scratch. So forget the things that you learned before as a sailor. Just ask any silly questions because we never know how this boat well behave. So we start to learn and it was funny and how we end up with the feeling we will do it because it was really, really cool.
22:02 And this is a great boat that we feel comfortable in the open sea. In mid-August, 2024, the crew convene at the Boat Club in Tuirera to begin their adventure. Over the next week they gather supplies, do practice runs in the boat and prepare for different scenarios, including capsizing. Evenings are spent bonding over meals and long conversations in the boathouse and the six adventurers are soon a tight-knit team. They are practically celebrities on the small island and even make the front page of the newspaper. In addition to training for their voyage, the crew also fulfilled their promise of trying to inspire, the next generation by giving a talk to a crowd of several hundred local school children and teenagers. We could talk to them about what is mean to be Viking, that you see somethings behind the horizon
23:01 and imagine what could be and leading your own life towards a vision and being an own explorer. And Carla has been there also on stage and a huge role model for all their young girls. and it has been so great to see the open eyes of these girls to see Carla talking to them. It's around 3pm on Saturday the 24th of August. Outside the boat club in Tuorra, hundreds of local people have gathered to wave off the explorers. Needing a window of decent weather, Andy has twice been forced to delay their departure. Now, however, everything is in place and conditions appear favourable. Decent winds, bright sun, pleasant seas.
23:54 Though there is a definite feeling of excitement in the air, it is also tinged with trepidation. For the first time in my life, a journey with a lot of not uncertainty, but some things that I have never done before. I was super sure from a preparation perspective that we are ready, that we're doing some things that are first a doable, and be enjoyable and see
24:22 very important from a story perspective to keep the heritage of Vikings ongoing for the next generation and beside me was Ernst my mentor and storyteller
24:34 and he was smiling and I was so proud that we got to this point it was a great great spirit on the pier it's felt absolutely right to go After a couple of final alterations to the boat, the crew set sail,
24:55 passing off into the wide open ocean. For the first few miles, the Neddodah is accompanied by Dinges, bearing the old men of the boat club, shouting out last instructions and encouragement. Eventually, though, the dinghies fall away, and the Nedderder and her six adventurers are left alone in the North Sea. There is little time for reflection at first. Instead, the crew ready themselves for the onset of night,
25:22 organizing food and shift changes. They watch as the sun sets over the water and the sky grows dark. It was a Milky Way night, the first night, up so beautiful stars. So it was beautiful to see the nature around the fuss. We have been totally alone. We didn't see any ship in the first night,
25:48 sailing absolutely quiet. And then we start to tell story to each other and especially Carla start to tell a story about the Vikings and it was amazing to listen to her to things that I
26:04 really didn't know why did the Vikings built this boat like this how they use it for which purpose they use it and this was great
26:16 spirit on the boat absolute great spirit it is Monday the 26th of August on board the nadada, the mood has changed. Until this point, sailing has been smooth and uneventful. But the weather forecast has recently altered,
26:38 and now it looks as if strong winds and stormy conditions are on their way, far earlier than previously predicted. We prepared for four days crossing as the longest possible time, that the weather changed towards being earlier the storm and from another direction, so against our capability more or less. But we have been pretty sure we can cope this. We can cope the four-meter prediction wave, the 40 knots of wind. We had a feeling that's doable.
27:15 Armed with the latest weather forecast, Andy instructs his crew to make ready. They prepare the storm sail, eat some hot food and don't survival suits, which will provide insulation and buoyancy should anyone fall into the water. Andy double-checks their equipment and reviews emergency procedures with the crew. The night is calm enough. But the following morning, the storm sets in
27:41 and only continues to grow worse as the day passes. It seems they might be in for a wild ride. The storm, as predicted, started to increase. The wind increased. Near a like predicted then. first. But then we recognized in afternoon it's going further. So it's not 40 knots of wind. It's not 50. It's not 60. It's probably 70 or more knots of wind. And the waves are not ending by four meters, not by five meters, not by six meters. So we saw during the afternoon and early
28:20 evening, large wave around the vast, heavy wind. I prepared to cool for the worst. It is early evening on Tuesday the 27th of August. Off the west coast of Norway, storm clouds mass above the turbulent gray sea. On board the Naderde, the six strong crew must shout to be heard over the crashing waves and screeching wind. Now into the fourth day of their voyage, they should reach their destination in a matter of hours, even in spite of the tempestuous conditions. Though the weather is significantly worse than expected, under Skipper Andy Fitzs' leadership, the mood on the boat is focused
29:09 and the Nuddera is handling the swell with practiced grace. Super surprised how stable the Viking boat. One was calm and concentrated. We had also good to chat to each other with talks and discussions or anything. So there was no fear. There was question about it. how we handled this and this.
29:33 So we had to talk about what happened. If we capsizing, what is the procedure? But there was no fear. Andy maintains a close eye on the forecast and keeps in contact with the Maritime Rescue Center for any updates. However, as time passes and conditions continue to deteriorate,
29:53 Andy and the crew begin to realize the weather forecast was wrong. It's not as predicted. It's much more. We had again more wind, more waves around of us, wild waves. And we have been sailing with this Viking boat like a surfer, because Viking boats can speed up, not like a regular sailboat to 10 knots. We have been 15 knots, 20 knots, once a time, even close to 30 knots of speed.
30:27 and we could steer very well, very precise, on top of waves, staying there like a wave surfer, and steering very precise also to the valleys of the waves and going out again. Everyone was involved in a task, was occupied by themselves, and have done a great job in steering, navigating or belching out water of the boat in this time. In these stormy seas, the nadadur is strangely enough in her element. The boat's narrow body rises and falls with the crests of the ice-cold waves, her rust-coloured sails swelling with the force of the wind. On board, the crew weave around deck, bailing out water, attaching lines, hauling ropes,
31:23 doing what is required to keep the vessel on course. So focused are they on their work that it takes a month. moment before anyone registers the dull, repetitive thud of propellers overhead. Andy looks up. In the swirling skies above, there is a helicopter. The Nandada's alarm system has gone off because of the high swell and waves crashing into the boat. This has alerted a search and rescue helicopter team. But Andy quickly signals up to them that everything is okay. Despite the tempestuous surroundings, the crew still feel in control. We knew the road.
32:04 We knew all the steering our heading. The whole crew was fine, and we had the chance to reach the coast in around two hours. And then I went through my options and said, if I would say, yes, I have an emergency there with the first helicopter, I had no plan to abandon the ship. If I stopped the boat, we would immediately capsize and that could end up in a disaster. Declaring an emergency, if you are good on the way, if everyone is healthy. It's even questionable. It's legally right to declare an emergency if you're good on the way.
32:47 Satisfied that all is well, the helicopter disappears into the storm, leaving the Naderde alone once more. Now, about 25 miles from shore, the crew are hoping to reach land within a couple of hours. But as the ship skims across the waves, Andy spots something. Suddenly they are confronted with a whole new problem. Then we saw from far these energy waves. I saw a lot of them. What is an energy wave? If you have a stable wind pattern over weeks or over days,
33:27 you have established waves with a lot of energy in it. And then if the wind change, If the wind change to another direction, you have a cross-wave pattern. So it means one wave come from one direction and 90 degree, you have the old waves with lot of energy in it. And you can imagine if the waves combine, then there is a pattern where these two waves just crashed into each other from my energy standpoint, and it goes just up. So it's exploding to the sky.
34:02 Andy and the crew cling on tight, shouting to be heard above the storm as they attempt to judge the ever-changing swell. With each new onslaught, they make minute alterations to the sails in order to keep the nadadur steady. It is a feat of immense concentration and skill and will be near impossible to do in the dark. With sunset fast approaching, Andy issues the order to pick up speed, aiming to reach land before nightfall. The crew adjust the sail. and the Nettada surges forwards, unleashing her full potential. Shielding his face against the penetrating sting of the rain, and he concentrates on the way ahead,
34:47 preparing to ride the oncoming waves. And that's when he sees something in his peripheral vision. I was looking forward in this moment, and I saw in my perspective just on the side, a wave is building up behind us, a wall of waves. Within seconds, the enormous wave lifts the back of the boat into the air before slamming her bow into the water. There is no time to react before the nadirr flips over,
35:19 capsizing lengthways and thrusting her crew into the icy uproar of the North Sea. So it's a fraction of a second in no time underneath the boat. So there was no possibility to avoid this anymore, unfortunately, steering right or doing somethings in the last moment. It was just too big the wave. Plunged into freezing darkness, surrounded by ropes and broken masts, it's impossible to tell which way is up. Immediately, Andy's ingrained training kicks in.
35:56 Fumbling in the water, he reaches for his harness release in order to free himself from his safety line. His fingers find the handle, and he gives a hard, sharp tug. I try once and it didn't work under the water and you're running in your mind out of time, out of option and out of mind so I mean your whole life is just hanging on the possibility that this harness release system
36:26 works now. Pulse drumming in his ears and his hand tightens around the handle again the air in his lungs is diminishing with every passing second. All hopes of survival rest on the success of his next move. Heart pounding, he gives another firm yank on the handle. And suddenly, the mechanism releases.
36:51 Finally, free of his safety line, and he makes his way through the foam and tangled debris beneath the boat. When he thinks he's clear, he pushes his way upwards, surfacing into the havoc of the storm. Clinging to the side of the boat, he presses the emergency locator beacon attached to his shoulder, a backup in case the Naderderder's alarm system hasn't already activated. At the same time, he sweeps his gaze across the waves,
37:18 scanning around for his crew. He sees three other figures floundering in the frothing sea. I start to count in a wavy condition through the breaking waves over us, and I count together with myself for, and as the two ladies has another color life survival suits, I recognized we missing the two ladies. 41-year-old Saini and 29-year-old Carla are nowhere to be seen. Panic rises.
37:55 Before Andy can react, Sani suddenly surfaces, coughing and spluttering. But there is still no sign of Carla. And he spins around frantically searching the dark churning waters for any indication of her. And that's when he sees something that makes his blood run cold. I saw the two boots of Carla beside me upside down. So she was tangled underneath the boat, so immediately I focused with two other ones to get her route there. But it has been very wild. and we couldn't see any move on her body.
38:37 Despite Carla's lack of movement, Andy quickly dives back beneath the boat to try to free her. I couldn't believe that a young lady, 29 years old, is dying in front of my eyes, so I was shocked. Beneath the hull, he reaches Carla, still motionless, and starts cutting through her safety line with his knife. But before he can free her, Andy feels a huge force surging up around him. The next second, another enormous wave lifts the boat and what's left of the vessel is flipped back over. The nadadur is righted once again, but this has a horrifying consequence. Carla is still trapped beneath the boat, her leg caught in the rudder. Andy splashes back towards the nadadur and tries to disentangle her.
39:32 Tossed and battered by the waves, he eventually manages to wrestle Carla free and drag her into the boat, which is now full of freezing cold water. With the storm howling in his ears, Andy opens her survival suit and begins CPR, ignoring everything else going on around him. But despite his best efforts, it appears the very worst has already happened. We're too late. I was not any more skipper in this moment. I was Andy, and I couldn't stop to keep going and keep my fight to her to give the last
40:07 chance for her to survive, to bring her back. But no matter what he does, there is no sign of life. Eventually he is forced to admit defeat. She's gone. Now comes an agonizing choice. The Naduador's life raft has already self-inflated and is currently bobbing amidst the sharp debris of the wreckage, drifting further away from the boat with every moment.
40:44 Andy has a responsibility to ensure the rest of his crew reach it safely, along with the emergency bag which is still on board the ship. But to do that, he must leave Carla behind. The picture is this submerged Viking boat and a life raft, tangling around with large waves coming over the boat, under the boat, beside the boat. So you can imagine we had a few. fear that this life raft get destroyed.
41:17 I have been still on the boat and wait forl. Toughest decision in my life, the decision between staying with her or rescue my life and the rest of the crew. Seeing his distress, Georg, the Swiss engineer, shouts something into the storm. His words almost carried away by the crashing waves and roaring wind. He tells Andy to tie Carla's body to the boat so that she can be recovered later. Binding her up means at end we're not losing Carla because I was sure this boat is not sinking. So let's give the chance that we will have Carla later on the body. With Carla's body secured to the Naderda, Andy now turns all his attention to the surviving crew members.
42:13 He grabs the emergency bag and jumps into the sea. With his movements restricted by his bulky survival suit, he battles through the freezing waves and floating debris, struggling towards the lifeboat where his crew are waiting. Eventually his hands grasp the orange inflatable. Chest heaving, he holds himself onto the raft, then turns back to the Neddur. And once again, he is met with a shocking sight. Before his eyes, the ship is lifted up again. and capsized by another huge wave. I couldn't believe what I saw. In this time, in this second,
42:55 the another door turns once again. And I saw it last time, Carla. And I was sure, wow, this has been so close. I could be on this ship right now and could be again underneath. So it was, there has been the right time to step away. But the crew are still in danger. And his only priority at this point is ensuring that he and the other four surviving crew members get out of this situation alive. Gripping the raft, he sends out another emergency call to be absolutely sure that rescue services know they're in distress.
43:33 Then he tells his crew to prepare themselves. Although help should be on the way, rescue is far from guaranteed. And I told them, don't believe you get rescued with the next helicopter. It can be technical problems, weather, whatever, and they have to turn away and they lose sight, and we have to stay the whole night in this situation. You never know. So keep going and stay calm and stay ready to be rescued.
44:05 The crew huddled together on the raft, clinging to each other as they are battered by the waves and gales. A blurry outline begins to materialize in the distance. As it nears, the crew see that it's a large fishing vessel, heading towards them, having been alerted to their distress. But it's too big to approach the tiny raft safely in the stormy seas. Over the radio, Andy tells them to keep their distance. They still cling onto the hope of rescue from a helicopter. If one arrives, Andy tells everybody he will be the last to be evacuated, a skipper's duty to his crew.
44:44 The never-ending waves continue to blast around their life raft until at last another sound emerges from the frenzy. Andy and the crew crane their necks upwards. They watch as a frogman is lowered from the helicopter towards the small orange inflatable. Despite the plan for Andy to go last, the frogman grabs him first and quickly wrestles him into a harness. Besides, I'm my own plan to be the latest.
45:17 I have been the first. Being in this sling together with him, body on body, holding each other, one, two meters in the air, and then another wave crushed over us. And we have been totally drowned again in the water. Before the wave can claim them, the helicopter pulls up further. Drenched in icy saltwater, Andy and his rescuer rise slowly through the air.
45:43 When they finally reach the cabin, the focus turns to winching up the other crew members. It is an almighty operation, in desperate conditions, but in time, everybody is safely evacuated from the raft. Andy and the remaining crew of the Naderda are taken to shore and checked over by medical teams, shielded from the already gathering press by the police. Andy is both grateful and awed by how smoothly everything runs. I mean, you could get rescue around the globe, but what we experience in Norway is exordinary. This was this kind of experience of calmness, of professionalism, of culture, of we're doing
46:32 our best for you and not blaming. I feel just home and in a good environment, friendly, warm and warm and helpful. Remarkably, none of the surviving crew are injured, though all are in a state of deep shock over what they have just experienced, chiefly over the death of Carla. We have been with the care team, social team. Even crew members of the helicopter came in the night to us and we talked and talked, debriefed, debriefed. Yeah, and it was super emotional the first night. Every second someone else, start to cry. The day after the Nadodur capsizes, Carla's body is recovered.
47:26 It is assumed she must have hit her head during the accident and lost consciousness. A few weeks later, a remembrance service is held in her honor at the Boathouse in Tuirara, where this story began many months ago. Standing beside the recovered Nadoda, Andy gives a speech highlighting Carla's adventurous spirit and endless curiosity. A plaque is also erected in her memory, so that she may continue to inspire future generations of explorers. Here, where people's lives are intrinsically bound to the sea and to the spirit of the Vikings, Carla's death is mourned deeply. But the remarkable survival of her fellow crew members is met with gratitude and incredulity.
48:13 Every single person on the sailors club start to hug me. My wife told me, listen, they know what it means to lose someone at sea. But you brought back Carla. But the real miracle, how did you survive? How could you come out of this situation? A Gale Force 12 storm. How can you manage to survive? to survive.
48:44 And they didn't believe me or us till they could really physically touch me. Yeah, I physically touched him. And it's true. Carla's death was the result of numerous, terrible circumstances converging together. An investigation into the accident confirms that no individual blame can be apportioned. But it's a reminder that even with all the safety precautions and preparation in the world At sea, nothing is guaranteed. So the great things as leader, as Skipper, is building options.
49:25 So you have to build options before you use it. And for the first time in my life, as Skipper, I didn't have any options left. So it feels weird and feels very, very on the edge. But there was no options to turn around or doing this or this. So I tried hard to find options, but there hasn't been. anymore. Being a survivor should make a different in your life. I will go out again to explore, and I have to keep in my mind. I don't do it is for a great risk. I do it for the greater purpose. I think I have learned a lot of being prepared for the next exploration, whatever I do. And I do have
50:10 a list of possible things that I would like to do. And this list is, called Sleeping Beauty's. Sleeping Beauty is the term that cartographs used for the uncharted territory. And I called my bucket list for sailing exploration, Sleeping Beauties. I think it's a good term of exploration combined with science, but also with purpose. Next time on real survival stories, a horror scenario plays out at the top of the world. In 2011, 36-year-old amateur mountaineer Brian Dickinson is attempting to scale his fourth major peak in just three years. The Navy veteran is taking on the highest mountain in each of the seven continents, and now it's the turn of Mount Everest, the tallest of them all. But after the triumph of reaching the summit, Brian's whole world suddenly turns white and his life hangs in the balance.
51:20 When prolonged sun exposure bleaches his corneas, Brian is snow-blinded, unable to see. and facing a terrifying prospect. He must feel his way alone with no means of communication and no possibility of rescue back down to the nearest camp. He is going to have to overcome Everest again, and this time he'll be doing it blind. And I remember thinking I'm at the highest point in the world. I'm completely alone.
51:46 I'm blind, and no one's coming to get me. And without overthinking it, I got up and I just started moving. That's next time on Real Survival Stories. Listen today without ads and without waiting a week by joining Noiser Plus.
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