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Maurice and Maralyn : a whale, a shipwreck, a love story
Maurice and Maralyn couldn't be more different. He is as cautious and awkward as she is charismatic and forceful. It seems an unlikely romance, but it works. Bored of 1970s suburban life, Maralyn has an idea: sell the house, build a boat, leave England - and its oil crisis, industrial strikes and inflation - forever. It is hard work, turning dreams into reality, but finally they set sail for New Zealand. Then, halfway there, their beloved boat is struck by a whale. It sinks within an hour, and the pair are cast adrift in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. On their tiny raft, over the course of days, then months, their love is put to the test. Filled with danger, spirit and tenderness, this is a book about human connection and the human condition; about how we survive - not just at sea, but in life.
BOOK
Derby couple who survived 117 days adrift in pacific
The woman was the late Maralyn Bailey (nee Harrison). Although born in Nottingham, in April 1941, Maralyn was brought up in Derby and attended the girls' grammar school, Parkfields Cedars. After her marriage, in 1963, to Maurice Bailey, the couple lived in Derby. Maralyn's diary reads: \"There was a violent impact. The ship shuddered and there was tearing, splintering wood. We looked at each other. I dashed outside. As I went into the cockpit, I saw, off the stern, a huge whale. Around him, the deep blue water was stained red.\" Maurice Bailey always attributed their amazing survival to Maralyn's sheer tenacity. He wrote: \"She kept morale high while I flagged. When I was prepared to give up hope, she was there beside me.\"
Newspaper Article
Obituary of Maralyn Bailey Sailor who spent nearly four months adrift in the Pacific in a dinghy and survived on raw turtle and shark
The couple's adventure had begun the previous June when they set off from Southampton aboard their 31 ft yacht, Auralyn, intending to emigrate to New Zealand. Their voyage started well, and Maralyn kept in touch with her widowed mother in England by sending postcards from ports they visited. Her last card arrived in early February 1973, as the Baileys were passing through the Panama Canal. Then, after several weeks of silence, Maralyn's mother began to feel that something must have gone wrong. In an entry in her diary dated March 4 1973 (but written after the event), Maralyn Bailey recorded how the Auralyn had just passed a whaling vessel when \"there was a violent impact. The ship shuddered and there was tearing, splintering wood. We looked at each other. I dashed outside. As I went into the cockpit, I saw, off the stern, a huge whale. Around him the deep blue water was stained red\". Looking over the side, the Baileys were horrified to see a huge hole in the hull, below the waterline, through which water was pouring into the cabin. Realising they would have to abandon ship, they inflated a rubber dinghy which Maurice Bailey had insisted on carrying in addition to the yacht's life raft. After roping the two boats together, they threw in whatever they could grab - tins of food, a small oil burner, a map, sextant and compass, rubber and glue to patch the dinghy, water containers, knives, plastic mugs and passports. By the time they finally clambered aboard the dinghy, Maralyn Bailey, a non- swimmer, was on the point of exhaustion.
Newspaper Article