Member-only story
A REAL-LIFE DISASTER
How Writing Helped Save A Couple Stranded On A Raft In Mid-Ocean
Keeping a journal and other steps made a difference when they spent 118 days afloat after their boat sank
Last month, I read the summer’s best horror story, but it wasn’t a novel. It was the true story of a British couple who spent 118 days on adrift on a raft after a whale rammed their boat in the Pacific, a catastrophe that left them fighting for their lives as gales and sharks threatened.
Maurice and Maralyn Bailey were enjoying a planned sailing trip around the world when the disaster struck. As their boat sank, they inflated a rubber raft attached to a dinghy and grabbed items that included books, tins of food, and Maralyn’s diary, which helped to inspire Sophie Elmhirst’s new A Marriage at Sea.
Elmhirst’s account of the Baileys’ 1970s ordeal has become a nonfiction star of the summer of 2025: a bestseller that’s had rave reviews on two continents and led to high-profile media interviews for its author. A Marriage at Sea has signal elements of great horror novels and movies: ever rising suspense, life-threatening twists, steep odds against survival, and an intrepid heroine who must draw deeply on her wits to stay alive.
