Survive the Savage Sea (Sailing Classics)

• #26 in Best Sailing Books

17 Reviews

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This is one of the best survival adventure stories. The Robertsons are attempting a circumnavigation when their yacht is sunk by killer whales in the Pacific Ocean. With very few provisions, an inflatable raft (which later sinks) and a dinghy the Robertsons are able to survive 38 days on the ocean under extreme conditions.

Dougal Robertson's account of the adventure is gripping, at sometimes understated and brutally honest. Robertson was probably not an easy man to get along with but his indomitability, his command presence and force of will, coupled with his wife's emotional strength, got their family through. It is a tremendous story of leadership under the most extreme circumstances.

While looking up information on the Robertsons I was happy to find their own website, ... but was saddened to read that both Dougal and Lyn Robertson have since passed away. One of their twin sons however is preparing to embark on a round-the-world cruise with his own family soon.

Having read many survival and endurance books, I found this one exemplary. Written with quiet recollection - as only a log-keeping seaman could - he recounts both the inner and outer journey very well. I was appreciative of his honesty in the emotional shortcomings of himself and crew. You can imagine the difficulty of being so revealing of your own family in print! Without these insights, a reader would have been mislead about what it means to survive with others. I also listened to an unabridged book-on-tape, and the idea of a long story, well told, detail by detail was wonderful. For someone who has waited out storms on the sides of mountains, I appreciate long, detailed, unhurried stories. This is a wonderful book.

The Robertson family's ordeal at sea would be unbelievable if it weren't true. It's hard to imagine a group of six people stranded for 37 days in a failing life raft and then a small dinghy. Robertson does an impeccable job of recounting details and procedures used in surviving the journey and his experience as a master seaman comes through clearly in the telling. There's barely a detial left out and the knowledge gained by his family's proactive struggle to save themselves has gone on to save others subsequently lost at sea.

The only aspect I felt wasn't thoroughly explored, save for a couple pages near the end, was the emotional side of the drama. Six people of varying ages, experience and personalities thrust together into unimaginable circumstances must have created more upheaval than was apparent in the story. Robertson's writing style (and, one gets the impression, his personality style), while perfect for describing the situation and its outcome, lacks a certain sensitivity to emotion and personal reflection.

That said, this book is a terrific read and makes one truly grateful for even the uncomfortable irritations of land and everyday life. The practical information learned and imparted, too, is fascinating, though one hopes after reading this book such information will never have to be personally applied.

Add this to your collection of castaway tales and you won't be disappointed. If you're looking for a more personal and introspective point of view, check out Steven Callahan's outstanding first-hand account, "Adrift." And for an even more technical and fascinating education about ships and the sea, try "The Perfect Storm" by Sebastian Junger.

There are books that stand out in a person's life. This is such a book for me.

I read this book back in the 1970's as a teenager. The story, images and lessons from it still stand out in my mind years later. That is a measure of the impact that it had on me and may have on others. I wasn't aware then how deep that went. Years later I am able to recount a great deal from that read despite the intervening time. That is a measure of its impact and the vivid nature of the images and experiences recounted.

This is a story of survival. It is a true story. A family on a boat is set adrift when a pod of killer whales destroys their boat and they are set adrift. How they survive on a day to day basis learning the skills and discovering the hidden resources is progressively told.

More than a dull recounting of the challenges that they face and the rescue that ultimately comes, this is a book that explores the relationships between family members as they reach within themselves to survive the storms, the sun, the sharks, dehydration and every other challenge that an unforgiving environment can present.

I recommend this book for anyone, but in particular this is the type of book that can have an impact in the life of a young person who reads it. Especially in our western culture which is so overwrought by materialism and a sense of entitlement, this book has the ability, more-so than many others to pierce the veil of that thinking and present a story that is both riveting and also life-changing without coming across as moralistic or preaching.

Minimum age to read should probably be about 12 or 13 as some of the situations and stories recounted are stark. But they are realistic and add to the impact and flavor of this excellent book.

In this fascinating book, Dougal Robertson describes the survival at sea of six people for over a month. Their 43-foot schooner sank in only a minute after being attacked by killer whales.

Um, killer whales? A couple of hundred miles west of the Galapagos? In warm water? That's pretty rare. That was truly awful luck. They were lucky to get their life raft and 9-foot dinghy launched, so that they did not go down with their ship.

Surviving at sea is not easy, but the most critical elements are buoyancy and water. We see plenty about both. The life raft lasted a little more than two weeks, and the dinghy only had a few inches of freeboard when all six people were on board. Any swamping would almost surely be fatal, so they sailed their dinghy stern-first, with a flotation collar at the bow end and a sea anchor behind the bow.

What about water? There wasn't going to be much near the equator, so they chose to sail north. At around 5 degrees north, rain is more plentiful. It took two weeks to accomplish this, and the day after that, it rained enough to give them good chances to reach land (in fact, they did run low on water again, got more rain, and finally were rescued by a Japanese fishing boat when they were less than 300 miles from Costa Rica). By the way, one can drink sea water, but it just makes things worse. The Robertsons were wise to avoid trying it.

And, of course, what about food? They did catch some fish and turtles, and they eventually wound up with adequate provisions.

I was curious to see what stores Robertson advises for life rafts. There's a discussion of food and water, as well as a rain-catcher. And there has to be a means of propulsion. A useful knife. Fishing equipment (a gaff is the most important of these). A spear head. A bailer. A first-aid kit, a repair kit, and some line. A couple of sea anchors.

And, oh yes, some navigational equipment, including a clock and compass, as well as "dividers strong enough to be used as small fish spears." Along with a series of world charts "showing shipping lanes with frequency of use, ocean currents with set and drift, seasonal weather with, most important of all, rainfall expectations."

All these things probably ought to be made to float, and there probably needs to be an instruction manual.

Of course, as Robertson mentions, it would be useful to have a (battery-operated) phone or radio phone. He does not discuss beacons, and while I think these are better than nothing, I'd rather have two-way communications before staking my life on staying put.

Given that the life raft did not last all that long, Robertson also has some suggestions for making rafts that might last longer.

Of course, none of this will do you much good if you go down with your ship, so the most important thing is to make sure that you can get yourselves and the lifeboat off the ship very quickly, and under terrifying and unexpected conditions.

I recommend this book.

I read this book aloud with my wife and we throughly enjoyed the adventure together. I highly recommend it. Very enthralling!

THis book was incredible. I learned so much about survival skills from it and could not put it down. I am only 11, and even though this book is not quite for my age, I still loved it. A true story of family and working together.

I think this book was a good adventure book and it teaches you about diffrent animals and the hardships that a family went through when killer whales attacked a boat. It also makes it clear in the book that at the end the family had a very little chance of survival. This book is a very good book. I encourage you to read it if you like adventures.

Having read many survival and endurance books, I found this one exemplary. Written with quiet recollection - as only a log-keeping seaman could - he recounts both the inner and outer journey very well. I was appreciative of his honesty in the emotional shortcomings of himself and crew. You can imagine the difficulty of being so revealing of your own family in print! Without these insights, a reader would have been mislead about what it means to survive with others. I also listened to an unabridged book-on-tape, and the idea of a long story, well told, detail by detail was wonderful. For someone who has waited out storms on the sides of mountains, I appreciate long, detailed, unhurried stories. This is a wonderful book.

I tried to read this book, but only made it about 50 pages. Despite the many rave reviews and status of this book, it did not ring true to me. I read it while vacationing in the Galapagos, and I just didn't buy it. I love the genre, Krakauer being number one. In the Heart of the Sea, etc, all good. But this one did not work for me. Sorry.

This book first came to my attention when it was printed (in abridged form) in "The Reader's Digest" in 1973, and later when the author appeared on "To Tell The Truth". I've always been a sucker for adventure stories and this true-life account of grit, determination and ultimate survival makes the statement "the truth is stranger than fiction" ring all the more true.

By the way - with the 30th anniversary of the Robertson family's disaster looming - does anyone know what ultimately happened to them?

NOTE 4/30/03 - After writing my original review, I was directed to the Robertson family website to learn the family's fate. Their daughter, who left the voyage in Miami and was not on board when the boat was sunk, is the web-mistress for the site, and was very gracious in e-correspondence when I sought details about her parents' later years. As stated in another review, Dougal Robertson passed away in 1992, aged 68, his wife Lyn following in 1998.

One family faced the ship-wrecked situation. They all help each other to fight for their survival. This is the real story that will stop you from doing anything else but reading it.

this was a great book- i liked "adrift" better but this was still very enjoyable and an amazing true story- it was maybe too technical for me but not unbearably so- the dad is a bit pompous in his writing and tries to sound like a better writer than he is and the infighting he recounts was a bit unpleasant for me, but it was still very interesting to read their survival techniques and see their eventual rescue- i mentioned to my friend (who had also read the book) that i was disliking the father while reading it but his response was "the man is a hero for goodness sake! he single handedly is responsible for saving this entire family plus their guest!" and you know what? my friend is absolutely right, you may not like the father (or not mind him at all like my friend) but what matters is that he saved his entire "crew" and didn't play favourites with his family- he was brilliant and if my boat ever capsized, i would definitely want him on board with me- this is a good story that all should read-

I thought this was an excellent book. I have read several ocean survival tales & this is one of the best. The five other people that were stranded at sea , besides the author, I feel owe their lives to the author. He made some very important decisions & most had lives hanging in the balance. Most other people lost at sea just seem to drift aimlessly until they are sighted by another ship, hit land or die looking for help. Dougal Robertson had a far better knowledge of the prevailing winds / currents / weather systems than your typical person stuck in the same situation. He didn't have any maps to rely on.

The book does an excellent job of telling you how to make a little go a long way. Another thing I thought was very well done in the book was the illustrations - sometimes he would describe an item he made & on the next page would be a detailed sketch of that item. Worth reading for both the adventure part of it & the survival knowledge you may gain.

I thought it was a great book. I still think I enjoyed "Adrift" slightly more - just because it was a solo effort.

After a binge on many incredible adventure books, Survive the Savage Sea doesn't quite stack up. However, to the newcomer in this category of suspense, endurance, and survival books, Survive the Savage Sea is a great, quick read

A fascinating account of a family surviving the sinking of their sailboat by killer whales. For 37 days they battled the elements, hunger and thirst before finally being rescued. A great read! Highly recommneded.

This was a very engaging account of this families survival at sea. Told in an understated and concise voice, I couldn't put it down.