1 00:00:15,410 --> 00:00:28,130 Speaker 1: Pushkin a morning before we start. This episode discusses death 2 00:00:28,210 --> 00:00:32,530 Speaker 1: by suicide. If you're suffering emotional distress or you're having 3 00:00:32,570 --> 00:00:37,170 Speaker 1: suicidal thoughts, support is available, for example, from the nine 4 00:00:37,250 --> 00:00:39,930 Speaker 1: to eight to eight Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the 5 00:00:40,010 --> 00:00:47,970 Speaker 1: US or from the Samaritans in the UK. Sixteen year 6 00:00:47,970 --> 00:00:52,330 Speaker 1: old Simon Crowhurst browses the shelves and the library on 7 00:00:52,450 --> 00:00:55,530 Speaker 1: his first day at a new school. He's in the 8 00:00:55,610 --> 00:01:00,370 Speaker 1: history section looking for a book on King John. He's 9 00:01:00,410 --> 00:01:07,490 Speaker 1: about to see something much more interesting. Years earlier, when 10 00:01:07,530 --> 00:01:12,050 Speaker 1: he was just eight, Simon and his three siblings had 11 00:01:12,050 --> 00:01:16,130 Speaker 1: waved off their father, Donald Crowhurst, from the harbor of 12 00:01:16,170 --> 00:01:19,490 Speaker 1: a British port. He was going to sail round the 13 00:01:19,530 --> 00:01:26,330 Speaker 1: world on his own non stop. We heard on the 14 00:01:26,410 --> 00:01:31,010 Speaker 1: last episode of Cautionary Tales about the Sunday Times Golden 15 00:01:31,090 --> 00:01:33,890 Speaker 1: Globe Race and the man who won the trophy for 16 00:01:33,970 --> 00:01:37,330 Speaker 1: being the first to complete the journey. If you haven't 17 00:01:37,370 --> 00:01:39,570 Speaker 1: heard that episode, you might want to do that now. 18 00:01:41,410 --> 00:01:44,970 Speaker 1: The race had another prize too, for the sailor who 19 00:01:45,050 --> 00:01:49,090 Speaker 1: sailed fastest around the world from one British port and 20 00:01:49,170 --> 00:01:54,770 Speaker 1: back again, leaving between June and October in nineteen sixty eight. 21 00:01:56,130 --> 00:02:01,370 Speaker 1: The prize was five thousand pounds, an equivalent sum today 22 00:02:01,490 --> 00:02:05,250 Speaker 1: might be around a quarter of a million dollars. This 23 00:02:05,850 --> 00:02:12,170 Speaker 1: was the prize Donald Crowhurst wanted to win. Crowhurst set 24 00:02:12,210 --> 00:02:17,610 Speaker 1: off on the final day of October, the latest possible moment, 25 00:02:18,250 --> 00:02:21,930 Speaker 1: and he still wasn't ready. The last few days had 26 00:02:21,930 --> 00:02:26,290 Speaker 1: been a blizzard of activity, family, friends and well wishers, 27 00:02:26,330 --> 00:02:31,970 Speaker 1: buzzing around, buying supplies, doing jobs. No sooner had Crowhurst 28 00:02:32,050 --> 00:02:35,250 Speaker 1: left the harbor than he turned around and came back again. 29 00:02:35,730 --> 00:02:38,850 Speaker 1: When he had tried to raise his sails, he discovered 30 00:02:38,850 --> 00:02:40,490 Speaker 1: that someone had put them on wrong. 31 00:02:41,130 --> 00:02:43,890 Speaker 2: I'll be glad that I'm on my own without help 32 00:02:43,930 --> 00:02:45,170 Speaker 2: from you, bloody lot. 33 00:02:46,650 --> 00:02:51,410 Speaker 1: Crowhurst gave his wife a theatrical wink, rearranged his sails, 34 00:02:52,290 --> 00:03:00,370 Speaker 1: and set off again. Nearly nine months later, Crowhurst's wife, Claire, 35 00:03:01,210 --> 00:03:04,930 Speaker 1: gathered little Simon and his siblings in a bedroom and 36 00:03:05,010 --> 00:03:08,610 Speaker 1: told them that their dad's boat had been found and 37 00:03:08,730 --> 00:03:15,370 Speaker 1: he wasn't on it. Then she began to sob. We 38 00:03:15,450 --> 00:03:19,890 Speaker 1: didn't know he was dead, Simon later recalled, but we 39 00:03:19,970 --> 00:03:32,610 Speaker 1: knew something very serious had happened. Years passed. Claire Crowhurst 40 00:03:32,770 --> 00:03:36,610 Speaker 1: doesn't believe that she consciously withheld the truth from her children. 41 00:03:37,810 --> 00:03:42,570 Speaker 3: I think if the children asked me questions, I answered them. 42 00:03:42,730 --> 00:03:45,130 Speaker 3: But of course they didn't know the questions to. 43 00:03:45,130 --> 00:03:51,770 Speaker 1: Ask, And so Simon Crowhurst didn't know why his dad 44 00:03:51,810 --> 00:03:56,330 Speaker 1: had disappeared when, at the age of sixteen, a book 45 00:03:56,690 --> 00:04:01,050 Speaker 1: caught his eye on the shelves of his new school's library, 46 00:04:02,090 --> 00:04:08,450 Speaker 1: The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst. It was like 47 00:04:08,450 --> 00:04:13,490 Speaker 1: a little trick shock, Simon recalls. He wasn't allowed to 48 00:04:13,530 --> 00:04:16,490 Speaker 1: take books out of the library, and Simon was a 49 00:04:16,570 --> 00:04:18,930 Speaker 1: rule abiding kid, so it didn't occur to him to 50 00:04:18,970 --> 00:04:23,290 Speaker 1: steal it. Instead, he sat down and read as much 51 00:04:23,290 --> 00:04:27,530 Speaker 1: as he could before the library closed. Then the next 52 00:04:27,650 --> 00:04:30,770 Speaker 1: chance he got, he came back and read some more. 53 00:04:32,370 --> 00:04:35,850 Speaker 1: He read to the end of the book, then he 54 00:04:35,890 --> 00:04:41,850 Speaker 1: read it again. Simon later recalled to the writer Chris Eakin, 55 00:04:43,490 --> 00:04:51,010 Speaker 1: things that people had said dropped into place. So what 56 00:04:51,370 --> 00:04:55,250 Speaker 1: was so strange about the Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst. 57 00:04:57,130 --> 00:05:26,370 Speaker 1: I'm Tim Harford, and you're listening to cautionary tales. Donald 58 00:05:26,410 --> 00:05:31,090 Speaker 1: Crowhurst ran a small electronics company that made equipment for sailors. 59 00:05:31,970 --> 00:05:35,930 Speaker 1: He invented a product called the Navigator in the days 60 00:05:35,930 --> 00:05:39,290 Speaker 1: before GPS. One way for sailors to try to figure 61 00:05:39,330 --> 00:05:42,650 Speaker 1: out where they were was from the relative strength of 62 00:05:42,810 --> 00:05:48,330 Speaker 1: radio signals. The navigator was a futuristic gun like device. 63 00:05:49,290 --> 00:05:52,170 Speaker 1: You had pointed towards where you thought the nearest land 64 00:05:52,250 --> 00:05:57,930 Speaker 1: might be, and it would calculate your rough position. Crowhurst 65 00:05:58,010 --> 00:06:02,330 Speaker 1: was an absolutely brilliant innovator, said the main investor in 66 00:06:02,330 --> 00:06:07,930 Speaker 1: his company, but as a businessman he was hopeless. The 67 00:06:07,970 --> 00:06:11,370 Speaker 1: investor had more less resigned himself to losing his money 68 00:06:12,210 --> 00:06:15,690 Speaker 1: when Crowhurst approached him with a plan to turn the 69 00:06:15,690 --> 00:06:20,530 Speaker 1: failing business around. The Sunday Times had announced a race 70 00:06:20,730 --> 00:06:24,810 Speaker 1: to sail solo round the world, leave before the end 71 00:06:24,810 --> 00:06:27,770 Speaker 1: of October, and the sailor who made it back in 72 00:06:27,810 --> 00:06:31,930 Speaker 1: the shortest time would win a handsome cash prize and 73 00:06:32,530 --> 00:06:40,450 Speaker 1: also publicity, just what an inventor needs. Crowhurst wanted to 74 00:06:40,450 --> 00:06:45,250 Speaker 1: make the voyage in a trimaran, a relatively new designer boat. 75 00:06:46,450 --> 00:06:51,010 Speaker 1: Imagine your classic boat shape and add arms sticking out 76 00:06:51,050 --> 00:06:56,090 Speaker 1: on either side connected to smaller boat shaped floating compartments. 77 00:06:57,730 --> 00:07:04,650 Speaker 1: Trimarans were fast and stable usually, but nobody had yet 78 00:07:04,730 --> 00:07:07,130 Speaker 1: tried to sail one round the world, and for very 79 00:07:07,170 --> 00:07:10,930 Speaker 1: good reason. The fierce and waves of the Southern Ocean 80 00:07:11,610 --> 00:07:17,010 Speaker 1: under Africa, Australia and South America threatened to expose the 81 00:07:17,050 --> 00:07:23,130 Speaker 1: big vulnerability of the trimaran design. If it capsized, it 82 00:07:23,170 --> 00:07:28,850 Speaker 1: wouldn't right itself. Simpler votes do flip them over and 83 00:07:28,890 --> 00:07:33,010 Speaker 1: they'll pop back up again. But if a trimaran tips over, 84 00:07:33,650 --> 00:07:38,690 Speaker 1: those sideways arms and floating compartments will keep it firmly 85 00:07:38,970 --> 00:07:46,730 Speaker 1: upside down. Donald Crowhurst had an ingenious solution. He told 86 00:07:46,730 --> 00:07:51,570 Speaker 1: his investor. An electronic system would detect if the trimeran 87 00:07:51,770 --> 00:07:57,450 Speaker 1: was upside down and trigger a pressurized gas canister to 88 00:07:57,530 --> 00:08:00,770 Speaker 1: inflate a buoyancy device. It would flip it the right 89 00:08:00,770 --> 00:08:01,410 Speaker 1: way up again. 90 00:08:03,130 --> 00:08:06,650 Speaker 2: If the practical utility of the equipment I propose can 91 00:08:06,730 --> 00:08:10,290 Speaker 2: be demonstrated in such a spectacular way winning the race, 92 00:08:11,050 --> 00:08:14,930 Speaker 2: the rapid and profitable development of the company cannot be 93 00:08:14,970 --> 00:08:15,570 Speaker 2: in any down. 94 00:08:17,130 --> 00:08:19,890 Speaker 1: The investor's wife told him he'd be mad to risk 95 00:08:19,970 --> 00:08:25,770 Speaker 1: another penny. Crowhurst was hopeless at business, but he was 96 00:08:25,850 --> 00:08:31,290 Speaker 1: also the most impressive and convincing of men, the investor 97 00:08:31,530 --> 00:08:37,770 Speaker 1: later wistfully recalled. He agreed to lend Crowhurst enough to 98 00:08:37,810 --> 00:08:41,730 Speaker 1: build a boat with the partial security of a mortgage 99 00:08:41,730 --> 00:08:43,010 Speaker 1: on Crowhurst's house. 100 00:08:44,010 --> 00:08:47,170 Speaker 2: I have gone into the problems and risks in detail, 101 00:08:47,610 --> 00:08:50,450 Speaker 2: and I am very confident of success. 102 00:08:51,410 --> 00:08:56,570 Speaker 1: He'd better be. If Crowhurst failed, he stood to lose 103 00:08:56,690 --> 00:09:04,930 Speaker 1: not only his business but his home. Another sailor also 104 00:09:05,010 --> 00:09:09,970 Speaker 1: wanted to take a trimaran around the Southern Ocean. Lieutenant 105 00:09:10,050 --> 00:09:15,450 Speaker 1: Commander Nigel Tetley like trime ran so much he lived 106 00:09:15,450 --> 00:09:18,850 Speaker 1: on one. He was soon to retire from the Royal 107 00:09:18,970 --> 00:09:23,970 Speaker 1: Navy at the age of forty five. One Sunday morning, 108 00:09:24,250 --> 00:09:28,410 Speaker 1: reading the newspapers over breakfast, Tetley handed his wife the 109 00:09:28,530 --> 00:09:34,370 Speaker 1: Sunday Times an article announcing the race. He waited till 110 00:09:34,410 --> 00:09:40,890 Speaker 1: she'd read it and asked, may I go? Eve Tetley 111 00:09:40,930 --> 00:09:43,010 Speaker 1: looked at her husband for a long time. 112 00:09:45,130 --> 00:09:46,410 Speaker 3: I would not try to stop you. 113 00:09:50,650 --> 00:09:54,290 Speaker 1: Tetley hoped at first to build a new trim ran 114 00:09:54,410 --> 00:09:58,570 Speaker 1: for the journey. That would need money. He wrote letters 115 00:09:58,570 --> 00:10:01,370 Speaker 1: to every potential sponsor he could think of. 116 00:10:02,650 --> 00:10:06,210 Speaker 4: My sailing experience covers thirty years and includes the Round 117 00:10:06,250 --> 00:10:08,890 Speaker 4: Britain race in which I achieved fifth place in my 118 00:10:09,170 --> 00:10:10,010 Speaker 4: family trimaran. 119 00:10:11,530 --> 00:10:15,810 Speaker 1: He got lots of good wishes and no offers of cash. 120 00:10:17,410 --> 00:10:20,290 Speaker 1: Oh well, he'd just have to rent a flat for 121 00:10:20,410 --> 00:10:27,370 Speaker 1: Eve and take the family trimaran. Like Donald Crowhurst, but 122 00:10:27,570 --> 00:10:32,210 Speaker 1: in a much more literal way. Nigel Tetley was risking 123 00:10:32,290 --> 00:10:40,130 Speaker 1: his home. Donald Crowhurst struggled to find someone to build 124 00:10:40,130 --> 00:10:45,690 Speaker 1: his trimaran. Time was tight. Eventually, a boatyard on the 125 00:10:45,730 --> 00:10:49,570 Speaker 1: other side of the country agreed to the job. The 126 00:10:49,610 --> 00:10:54,570 Speaker 1: boatyard boss was most impressed with Crowhurst. His ideas for 127 00:10:54,610 --> 00:10:59,770 Speaker 1: the boat design were often brilliant, although unfortunately they were 128 00:10:59,850 --> 00:11:06,450 Speaker 1: also often impossible to test before the end October deadline. 129 00:11:06,530 --> 00:11:12,170 Speaker 1: For example, Crowhurst won to the hules divided into various compartments, 130 00:11:12,730 --> 00:11:16,810 Speaker 1: including one for the heavy generator low down to help 131 00:11:16,890 --> 00:11:21,690 Speaker 1: keep the boat stable, Every compartment needed a watertight hatch, 132 00:11:22,370 --> 00:11:25,730 Speaker 1: but the boat builders couldn't find the right kind of rubber. 133 00:11:26,530 --> 00:11:31,210 Speaker 1: Would the replacement rubber keep out leaks? Only time would tell. 134 00:11:35,050 --> 00:11:41,690 Speaker 1: In early October, the boat was ready ish Crowhurst sailed 135 00:11:41,730 --> 00:11:43,930 Speaker 1: it from the boat yard to a harbor near his 136 00:11:44,090 --> 00:11:49,010 Speaker 1: home for the final preparations. He expected the journey to 137 00:11:49,050 --> 00:11:54,970 Speaker 1: take three days. It took thirteen. That left him just 138 00:11:55,330 --> 00:12:00,610 Speaker 1: two weeks before the deadline for departure. A local remembers 139 00:12:01,450 --> 00:12:05,090 Speaker 1: everyone was trying to help, but nobody knew what to do. 140 00:12:06,050 --> 00:12:12,450 Speaker 1: Crowhurst hadn't an inkling what was happening. Days. The boat 141 00:12:12,530 --> 00:12:17,010 Speaker 1: would need specially reinforced hose, for example, to pump out 142 00:12:17,170 --> 00:12:20,530 Speaker 1: water that leaked in. The pump was too powerful for 143 00:12:20,570 --> 00:12:24,690 Speaker 1: a normal hose. Crowhurst had forgotten to ask the boat 144 00:12:24,690 --> 00:12:27,770 Speaker 1: builder to supply it. He tracked some down and had 145 00:12:27,810 --> 00:12:31,170 Speaker 1: it flown to the airport on a private plane. When 146 00:12:31,210 --> 00:12:34,250 Speaker 1: someone went to collect it, they couldn't find it anywhere. 147 00:12:35,210 --> 00:12:40,170 Speaker 1: I can only think someone pinched it for their garden. Then, 148 00:12:40,250 --> 00:12:43,850 Speaker 1: when Crowhurst opened the specially made hatch to the generator compartment, 149 00:12:44,490 --> 00:12:45,650 Speaker 1: Robert Seal fell off. 150 00:12:46,410 --> 00:12:48,610 Speaker 2: How the hell is that kind to stand up to 151 00:12:48,650 --> 00:12:49,570 Speaker 2: the Southern Ocean. 152 00:12:51,490 --> 00:12:55,610 Speaker 1: Over coffee, an old friend asked Crowhurst if he could 153 00:12:55,690 --> 00:13:00,170 Speaker 1: really get his boat around the world, his journey from 154 00:13:00,210 --> 00:13:03,370 Speaker 1: the boatyard had gone so much more slowly than planned. 155 00:13:04,450 --> 00:13:09,410 Speaker 1: In response, Crowhurst began to doodle a map of occur 156 00:13:09,530 --> 00:13:10,570 Speaker 1: in South America. 157 00:13:11,290 --> 00:13:14,730 Speaker 2: Well, one could always shuttle around in the South Atlantic 158 00:13:14,770 --> 00:13:17,570 Speaker 2: for a few months. There are places out of the 159 00:13:17,610 --> 00:13:20,170 Speaker 2: shipping lanes where no one would ever spot a boat 160 00:13:20,210 --> 00:13:20,530 Speaker 2: like this. 161 00:13:22,330 --> 00:13:28,090 Speaker 1: So not go into the Southern Ocean at all. Fake 162 00:13:28,370 --> 00:13:29,850 Speaker 1: going around the world. 163 00:13:30,370 --> 00:13:33,450 Speaker 2: It would be simple. No one would ever find out. 164 00:13:35,570 --> 00:13:41,730 Speaker 1: Was he serious? Crowhurst laughed, of course not. He was joking. 165 00:13:43,010 --> 00:13:49,530 Speaker 1: Of course he was joking. Cautionary tales will be back 166 00:13:50,570 --> 00:14:05,610 Speaker 1: after the break. Soon after Donald Crowhurst departed, his wife 167 00:14:05,690 --> 00:14:09,050 Speaker 1: Claire got a knock on the door. It was somewhe 168 00:14:09,370 --> 00:14:11,650 Speaker 1: dropping off a bag that had been found on the 169 00:14:11,730 --> 00:14:17,290 Speaker 1: Harbor slipway. It contained a long, loving letter that Claire 170 00:14:17,330 --> 00:14:21,290 Speaker 1: had written to Donald, a present for Christmas, and a 171 00:14:21,490 --> 00:14:25,610 Speaker 1: ham and salad bun for his dinner. She'd put this 172 00:14:25,730 --> 00:14:29,970 Speaker 1: bag on board herself. Someone must have taken it off 173 00:14:30,810 --> 00:14:35,490 Speaker 1: and forgotten to put it back. Also accidentally left on 174 00:14:35,530 --> 00:14:40,850 Speaker 1: the slipway was a pile of plywood, rigging, nuts and screws, 175 00:14:41,370 --> 00:14:44,410 Speaker 1: all the spare parts that Donald would need to do 176 00:14:44,490 --> 00:14:48,690 Speaker 1: running repairs on his boat. We heard in the last 177 00:14:48,690 --> 00:14:52,290 Speaker 1: episode how this Round the World boat race was really 178 00:14:52,490 --> 00:14:57,690 Speaker 1: about maintenance. Robin Knox Johnston, the first to finish, filled 179 00:14:57,730 --> 00:15:02,970 Speaker 1: his boat with supplies for maintenance. Bernard Mortessier, who quit 180 00:15:03,130 --> 00:15:07,250 Speaker 1: the race to save his soul, carefully minimized the need 181 00:15:07,290 --> 00:15:12,370 Speaker 1: for maintenance. Donald Crowhurst had the worst of both worlds, 182 00:15:13,130 --> 00:15:17,090 Speaker 1: a boat that needed maintaining and no supplies to do 183 00:15:17,170 --> 00:15:21,650 Speaker 1: it with. He soon noticed the lack of supplies when 184 00:15:21,810 --> 00:15:25,530 Speaker 1: screws were loose from the steering mechanism. 185 00:15:25,810 --> 00:15:30,050 Speaker 2: That's four screw's gone. Now. Can't keep cannibalizing from other 186 00:15:30,130 --> 00:15:33,010 Speaker 2: spots forever. The thing will soon fall to bits. 187 00:15:34,290 --> 00:15:36,690 Speaker 1: The missing hose for the pump was an issue too, 188 00:15:36,850 --> 00:15:39,050 Speaker 1: because the hatches were leaking badly. 189 00:15:40,410 --> 00:15:44,730 Speaker 2: The whole compartment was flooded. I bailed out with a bucket. 190 00:15:44,890 --> 00:15:48,370 Speaker 2: It was a long, exhausting job that took three hours. 191 00:15:50,770 --> 00:15:55,130 Speaker 1: Two weeks in Crowhurst wrote a nine page entry in 192 00:15:55,210 --> 00:16:00,370 Speaker 1: his log book listing everything wrong with his boat. The leaks, 193 00:16:01,050 --> 00:16:06,370 Speaker 1: lack of pump, falling out screws, the sails still weren't right. 194 00:16:07,010 --> 00:16:10,290 Speaker 1: Oh and his ingenious boy and see system to write 195 00:16:10,330 --> 00:16:15,490 Speaker 1: the boat in case of a capsize didn't exist. He 196 00:16:15,690 --> 00:16:20,770 Speaker 1: hadn't had time to make it. If he went into 197 00:16:20,810 --> 00:16:25,970 Speaker 1: the Southern Ocean, Crowhurst estimated his chances of survival were 198 00:16:25,970 --> 00:16:28,530 Speaker 1: perhaps no better than fifty fifty. 199 00:16:29,730 --> 00:16:32,170 Speaker 2: I must soon decide whether or not I can go on. 200 00:16:33,330 --> 00:16:36,410 Speaker 2: What a bloody awful decision to chuck it in at 201 00:16:36,410 --> 00:16:40,010 Speaker 2: this stage, What a bloody awful decision. 202 00:16:46,570 --> 00:16:50,930 Speaker 1: Nigel Tetley had set off weeks earlier, and things were 203 00:16:50,970 --> 00:16:52,090 Speaker 1: going rather smoothly. 204 00:16:54,130 --> 00:16:57,090 Speaker 5: Two months at sea, the days go by more or 205 00:16:57,170 --> 00:16:58,690 Speaker 5: less on a framework of routine. 206 00:17:00,170 --> 00:17:03,330 Speaker 1: The family Trimeran is holding up remarkably well. 207 00:17:04,690 --> 00:17:08,170 Speaker 4: Bits have dropped off her. It's true leaks have developed, 208 00:17:08,530 --> 00:17:10,650 Speaker 4: but such min of troubles are to be expected. 209 00:17:11,130 --> 00:17:12,810 Speaker 5: She is an excellent seaboat. 210 00:17:14,330 --> 00:17:17,330 Speaker 1: Tetley's diary of the journey major is on the weather 211 00:17:18,050 --> 00:17:19,250 Speaker 1: and what he had for lunch. 212 00:17:20,530 --> 00:17:23,890 Speaker 4: After a dull start, the day brightened up. The wind 213 00:17:23,970 --> 00:17:26,050 Speaker 4: stayed light about force two. 214 00:17:27,450 --> 00:17:28,530 Speaker 5: I have cooked some. 215 00:17:28,730 --> 00:17:36,210 Speaker 4: Crazy dishes recently, for example, spaghetti, peas and curried prawns. 216 00:17:37,970 --> 00:17:43,730 Speaker 1: It's frankly a bit boring. As he passes Cape Town, 217 00:17:44,050 --> 00:17:46,930 Speaker 1: Tetley gets a call from a radio station. They've got 218 00:17:46,930 --> 00:17:50,570 Speaker 1: a Sunday Times reporter on the phone, hoping for a story. 219 00:17:51,450 --> 00:17:55,850 Speaker 1: The reporter soon gets exasperated. Haven't you fallen over the 220 00:17:55,930 --> 00:18:01,970 Speaker 1: side or anything else exciting? No, but Tetley is about 221 00:18:02,010 --> 00:18:06,010 Speaker 1: to enter the Southern Ocean. Exciting things might happen there. 222 00:18:12,050 --> 00:18:16,450 Speaker 1: The book that young Simon Crowhurst finds in his school library, 223 00:18:17,290 --> 00:18:21,730 Speaker 1: The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, was written by 224 00:18:21,810 --> 00:18:28,090 Speaker 1: journalists from the Sunday times. After Crowhurst's vote was found 225 00:18:28,930 --> 00:18:34,490 Speaker 1: floating deserted in the Atlantic, the journalists tried to reconstruct 226 00:18:34,690 --> 00:18:38,970 Speaker 1: what had happened from his log books and tape recordings 227 00:18:39,010 --> 00:18:41,530 Speaker 1: he had made on equipment had been given by the BBC. 228 00:18:43,130 --> 00:18:47,210 Speaker 1: The journalists make the case that Crowhurst wrote and spoke 229 00:18:47,930 --> 00:18:55,410 Speaker 1: in two distinct voices. There's the private Crowhurst, honest and real. 230 00:18:55,690 --> 00:18:57,810 Speaker 2: What a bloody awful decision. 231 00:18:58,890 --> 00:19:01,730 Speaker 1: And there's an act that Crowhurst put on with a 232 00:19:01,810 --> 00:19:07,090 Speaker 1: view to later public consumption. He expected the BBC to 233 00:19:07,210 --> 00:19:11,850 Speaker 1: broadcast his tapes after his voyage. On the same day 234 00:19:11,970 --> 00:19:15,210 Speaker 1: he put his odds of surviving at just fifty to fifty. 235 00:19:15,770 --> 00:19:21,250 Speaker 1: He made an upbeat tape recording, I've been. 236 00:19:21,330 --> 00:19:24,770 Speaker 2: Seen our for very nearly fourteen days, and I'm on 237 00:19:24,850 --> 00:19:28,650 Speaker 2: my way to a rendezvous with Cape Horn. This prime 238 00:19:28,690 --> 00:19:31,090 Speaker 2: an really is phenomenally stable. 239 00:19:33,330 --> 00:19:37,290 Speaker 1: Crowhurst could perform. He was a leading light in his 240 00:19:37,450 --> 00:19:43,410 Speaker 1: local amateur dramatic society. But performing isn't something we do 241 00:19:43,530 --> 00:19:48,810 Speaker 1: only on a stage. A decade earlier, the sociologist Irving 242 00:19:48,930 --> 00:19:52,490 Speaker 1: Goffman published a book that became a classic of sociology, 243 00:19:53,170 --> 00:19:58,370 Speaker 1: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Goffman invites us 244 00:19:58,410 --> 00:20:02,650 Speaker 1: to see all of life as a theater. Every social 245 00:20:02,690 --> 00:20:06,650 Speaker 1: interaction is a stage of sorts. A business meeting, a 246 00:20:06,650 --> 00:20:12,290 Speaker 1: cocktail party, even a casual a conversation. We play the role, 247 00:20:12,530 --> 00:20:16,210 Speaker 1: we think the situation demands of us. Only when we're 248 00:20:16,290 --> 00:20:23,530 Speaker 1: backstage can we drop the act and be ourselves. Crowhurst's 249 00:20:23,650 --> 00:20:28,010 Speaker 1: two distinct voices are a striking example of Goffman's theory 250 00:20:28,050 --> 00:20:33,690 Speaker 1: at work. With his BBC tape recorder, he's front stage, 251 00:20:34,290 --> 00:20:38,570 Speaker 1: showing the bluff optimism, as the Sunday Times writers put it, 252 00:20:38,610 --> 00:20:46,650 Speaker 1: of Crowhurst, the hero as he would like to appear. Backstage. Meanwhile, 253 00:20:48,010 --> 00:20:54,570 Speaker 1: Crowhurst grappled with his bloody awful decision. Risk the Southern Ocean, 254 00:20:55,610 --> 00:20:59,690 Speaker 1: with its fifty to fifty chance of death, or chuck 255 00:20:59,770 --> 00:21:06,890 Speaker 1: it in, with its certainty of financial ruin. Crowhurst chose neither. 256 00:21:08,330 --> 00:21:12,370 Speaker 1: He'd joke with a friend about faking the voyage by 257 00:21:12,890 --> 00:21:16,530 Speaker 1: hiding in the Southern Atlantic for a few months, just 258 00:21:16,570 --> 00:21:22,650 Speaker 1: a joke, But he wasn't joking now. His more's code 259 00:21:22,690 --> 00:21:28,490 Speaker 1: messages began to be strategically ambiguous about his position towards 260 00:21:28,570 --> 00:21:34,370 Speaker 1: Madeira that could cover a couple of thousand miles off Brazil. 261 00:21:35,730 --> 00:21:38,730 Speaker 1: Half the minute Atlantic is off Brazil. 262 00:21:39,890 --> 00:21:45,290 Speaker 2: Heading south may have the seal charger compartment sneaky. 263 00:21:46,290 --> 00:21:49,770 Speaker 1: Everyone knew Crowhurst's generator was in a compartment with a 264 00:21:49,850 --> 00:21:53,130 Speaker 1: leaky hatch. It made sense that he might decide to 265 00:21:53,290 --> 00:21:56,330 Speaker 1: fully seal the hatch for the Southern Ocean, where the 266 00:21:56,370 --> 00:22:00,410 Speaker 1: waves would be most fierce. And if he couldn't open 267 00:22:00,450 --> 00:22:04,850 Speaker 1: the hatch, he couldn't recharge batteries for the radio, so 268 00:22:05,610 --> 00:22:09,770 Speaker 1: he couldn't send messages. Crowhurst, had said, set up the 269 00:22:09,810 --> 00:22:15,410 Speaker 1: perfect excuse to drop out of radio contact. Then in 270 00:22:15,450 --> 00:22:18,690 Speaker 1: a few months time he could pop up again and 271 00:22:18,770 --> 00:22:21,690 Speaker 1: say he'd made it round Cape Horn and was back 272 00:22:21,810 --> 00:22:31,890 Speaker 1: in the Atlantic heading for home. Nigel Techley, meanwhile, actually 273 00:22:32,170 --> 00:22:39,290 Speaker 1: is braving the Southern Ocean and it's too exciting for comfort. Trimarans, remember, 274 00:22:39,770 --> 00:22:48,450 Speaker 1: won't right themselves if they capt size. A monstrous wave 275 00:22:48,730 --> 00:22:53,250 Speaker 1: clabs his boat, and for an awful moment, Tetley thinks 276 00:22:53,290 --> 00:22:54,330 Speaker 1: it's flipping over. 277 00:22:55,850 --> 00:22:58,170 Speaker 4: I felt her Tito at an angle of about fifty 278 00:22:58,210 --> 00:22:59,930 Speaker 4: degrees in a half cartwheel. 279 00:23:00,690 --> 00:23:01,810 Speaker 5: Then she's slowly writing. 280 00:23:03,290 --> 00:23:04,850 Speaker 1: Another wave floods the cabin. 281 00:23:06,450 --> 00:23:10,930 Speaker 5: A solid bram a star war window gave way, and 282 00:23:11,050 --> 00:23:11,850 Speaker 5: the sea was in. 283 00:23:14,090 --> 00:23:17,250 Speaker 4: The night, passed miserably cold and. 284 00:23:17,330 --> 00:23:25,130 Speaker 1: Damp, but he makes it to Cape Horn, the emotional 285 00:23:25,290 --> 00:23:29,690 Speaker 1: peak of the journey, the point where the worst has passed. 286 00:23:29,850 --> 00:23:33,250 Speaker 1: You're out of the Southern Ocean, you turn north into 287 00:23:33,290 --> 00:23:39,410 Speaker 1: the Atlantic with its promise of kinder weather. Remember from 288 00:23:39,410 --> 00:23:44,610 Speaker 1: our last episode how the French philosopher sailor Bernard Wotessier 289 00:23:45,090 --> 00:23:47,050 Speaker 1: described his rounding of the. 290 00:23:47,050 --> 00:23:54,010 Speaker 2: Cape A great cape has his soul, A soul as 291 00:23:54,090 --> 00:23:59,170 Speaker 2: smooth as a giant's as hard as a criminals. 292 00:24:00,850 --> 00:24:04,250 Speaker 1: Here's Nigel Tetley's less than stirring prose. 293 00:24:06,050 --> 00:24:08,770 Speaker 5: I cannot claim that the moment held any strong emotive 294 00:24:08,810 --> 00:24:12,250 Speaker 5: can for me. The Horn was more of a navigational 295 00:24:12,330 --> 00:24:13,690 Speaker 5: problem than anything else. 296 00:24:16,130 --> 00:24:21,570 Speaker 1: Tetler's boat is battered and weakened, but it should just 297 00:24:21,770 --> 00:24:25,930 Speaker 1: about get him home, and he doesn't need to rush. 298 00:24:26,530 --> 00:24:30,450 Speaker 1: Bernard Martessier's out of the race. There's no news from 299 00:24:30,490 --> 00:24:35,370 Speaker 1: Donald Crowhurst. Only Robin Knox Johnston has completed the voyage, 300 00:24:35,730 --> 00:24:38,810 Speaker 1: and he was so slow that Tetley can afford to 301 00:24:38,890 --> 00:24:42,210 Speaker 1: take it easy and still win the prize for the 302 00:24:42,250 --> 00:24:52,850 Speaker 1: fastest journey. Donald Crowhurst hides out in the South Atlantic, 303 00:24:53,490 --> 00:24:56,330 Speaker 1: listening to weather reports for the parts of the Southern 304 00:24:56,330 --> 00:25:00,250 Speaker 1: Ocean where he's going to claim he had been. He 305 00:25:00,410 --> 00:25:06,050 Speaker 1: meticulously reverse engineers his logbook, coming up with plausible positions 306 00:25:06,090 --> 00:25:09,930 Speaker 1: for each day's sailing. He recalled as a tape for 307 00:25:09,970 --> 00:25:13,690 Speaker 1: the BBC, putting on a show about how hard he'd 308 00:25:13,730 --> 00:25:17,810 Speaker 1: tried to send radio messages while passing Australia. 309 00:25:18,290 --> 00:25:23,410 Speaker 2: Unfortunately, my signals were very weak and my battery was 310 00:25:23,410 --> 00:25:28,010 Speaker 2: getting extremely low. Unsealing the hatch could be dangerous in 311 00:25:28,050 --> 00:25:31,130 Speaker 2: the conditions. It was fairly rough and there was a 312 00:25:31,170 --> 00:25:33,250 Speaker 2: fair amount of water getting into the cockpit. 313 00:25:34,610 --> 00:25:37,970 Speaker 1: At last, he decides enough time has passed for it 314 00:25:38,010 --> 00:25:40,850 Speaker 1: to be plausible to say that he's rounded Cape Horn, 315 00:25:41,330 --> 00:25:45,490 Speaker 1: unsealed the hatch to the generator and recharged his batteries. 316 00:25:46,530 --> 00:25:50,410 Speaker 1: He sends a bullish Morse Code message, pretending to be 317 00:25:50,530 --> 00:25:54,490 Speaker 1: newly reconnected and wanting to know how his competitors are 318 00:25:54,530 --> 00:25:56,050 Speaker 1: doing what. 319 00:25:56,330 --> 00:25:58,210 Speaker 2: New ocean bashing. 320 00:25:57,850 --> 00:26:05,050 Speaker 1: Wise crowhursts back in the race and the date he's 321 00:26:05,210 --> 00:26:09,330 Speaker 1: chosen to claim that he's rounded Cape Horn puts him 322 00:26:09,410 --> 00:26:13,570 Speaker 1: on course for a dramatic neck and neck finish with 323 00:26:13,770 --> 00:26:18,050 Speaker 1: Nigel Tetley to claim the prize for the fastest journey. 324 00:26:18,930 --> 00:26:21,890 Speaker 1: A few weeks ahead of him, Tetley has been playing 325 00:26:21,930 --> 00:26:28,250 Speaker 1: it safe, nursing his cracked and creaking trimran gently across 326 00:26:28,290 --> 00:26:33,530 Speaker 1: the Atlantic. Now he hears that Donald Crowhurst has rounded 327 00:26:33,610 --> 00:26:36,290 Speaker 1: Cape Horn and is hot on his tail. 328 00:26:37,610 --> 00:26:40,610 Speaker 5: I wanted to win, or put it another way, I 329 00:26:40,650 --> 00:26:43,450 Speaker 5: didn't want anyone to beat me beast of all. In 330 00:26:43,490 --> 00:26:44,290 Speaker 5: a similar type of. 331 00:26:44,210 --> 00:26:51,490 Speaker 1: Boat, Tetley decides he needs to risk pushing harder. When 332 00:26:51,530 --> 00:26:55,130 Speaker 1: a storm starts to gather, he leaves up his sails 333 00:26:55,170 --> 00:27:00,490 Speaker 1: for as long as he dares. His Gambol ends in disaster. 334 00:27:04,810 --> 00:27:09,970 Speaker 1: About one thousand miles from Britain, nearly ninety seven percent 335 00:27:10,050 --> 00:27:13,970 Speaker 1: of his way around the world. Part of Techler's boat 336 00:27:14,450 --> 00:27:19,810 Speaker 1: snaps off. Water gushes in through a hole. Tech Lee 337 00:27:19,970 --> 00:27:24,770 Speaker 1: clambers onto a life raft as his family home quickly 338 00:27:24,890 --> 00:27:27,210 Speaker 1: sinks beneath the waves. 339 00:27:29,450 --> 00:27:30,770 Speaker 3: Very very night. 340 00:27:34,010 --> 00:27:50,730 Speaker 1: Cautionary tales will return. In Irving Goffman's metaphor of life 341 00:27:50,770 --> 00:27:57,850 Speaker 1: as theater, Some social performances come naturally, others are an effort. 342 00:27:58,170 --> 00:28:01,050 Speaker 1: It's a relief to get backstage and drop the act. 343 00:28:02,530 --> 00:28:07,130 Speaker 1: But in a theater, you're backstage with other actors. You 344 00:28:07,170 --> 00:28:11,450 Speaker 1: can talk things over compare notes, prepare for the next show. 345 00:28:13,490 --> 00:28:16,610 Speaker 1: In the backstage of his boat in the middle of 346 00:28:16,650 --> 00:28:21,770 Speaker 1: the ocean, Donald Crowhurst has nobody to talk to, and 347 00:28:21,850 --> 00:28:25,930 Speaker 1: the role he's committed to playing will be incredibly demanding. 348 00:28:27,090 --> 00:28:31,330 Speaker 1: So far, his performances are little more than rehearsals on 349 00:28:31,370 --> 00:28:34,490 Speaker 1: his own with a tape recorder. Will he really be 350 00:28:34,530 --> 00:28:38,810 Speaker 1: able to maintain a convincing account of sailing around the 351 00:28:38,850 --> 00:28:41,730 Speaker 1: Southern Ocean in all the interviews he'll have to give. 352 00:28:43,890 --> 00:28:49,210 Speaker 1: With news of Nigel Tetli's sinking, this question comes sharply 353 00:28:49,410 --> 00:28:54,810 Speaker 1: into focus. Crowhurst is now on course to win the prize. 354 00:28:55,210 --> 00:28:58,570 Speaker 1: He'll easily beat the time set by Robin Knox. Johnston 355 00:28:59,850 --> 00:29:06,930 Speaker 1: telegrams flood in whole town planning huge Welcome your triumph, 356 00:29:06,970 --> 00:29:12,610 Speaker 1: bringing one hundred thousand folk the BBC Get In Touch 357 00:29:13,290 --> 00:29:17,290 Speaker 1: television program for day of return. They want to meet 358 00:29:17,410 --> 00:29:21,290 Speaker 1: offshore to pick up his tapes before his arrival can 359 00:29:21,410 --> 00:29:28,570 Speaker 1: arrange helicopter. At this point, Donald Crowhurst's mind starts to 360 00:29:28,650 --> 00:29:34,490 Speaker 1: fall apart. He stops sailing towards Britain and lets his 361 00:29:34,570 --> 00:29:39,290 Speaker 1: boat drift with nobody to talk to. He writes in 362 00:29:39,330 --> 00:29:47,090 Speaker 1: his log book under the heading philosophy, what explains human troubles. 363 00:29:48,170 --> 00:29:52,290 Speaker 2: The explanation of our troubles is that cosmic beings are 364 00:29:52,370 --> 00:29:53,850 Speaker 2: playing games with us. 365 00:29:55,450 --> 00:29:59,650 Speaker 1: At times, his ideas sound like a kooky, yet familiar 366 00:29:59,770 --> 00:30:01,530 Speaker 1: kind of New Age religion. 367 00:30:02,810 --> 00:30:06,850 Speaker 2: By learning to manipulate the space time continuum, man will 368 00:30:06,890 --> 00:30:11,210 Speaker 2: become God and disappear from the physical universe as we 369 00:30:11,290 --> 00:30:11,690 Speaker 2: know it. 370 00:30:12,970 --> 00:30:19,490 Speaker 1: But as Crowhurst writes and writes twenty five thousand words, 371 00:30:20,290 --> 00:30:22,930 Speaker 1: he becomes more and more unhinged. 372 00:30:23,810 --> 00:30:27,330 Speaker 2: I am the only man on earth who realizes what 373 00:30:27,370 --> 00:30:32,450 Speaker 2: this means. It means I can make myself a cosmic 374 00:30:32,570 --> 00:30:34,610 Speaker 2: being by my own efforts. 375 00:30:35,570 --> 00:30:38,170 Speaker 1: His realization will save the world. 376 00:30:38,770 --> 00:30:42,690 Speaker 2: Mathematicians and engineers will skim through my complete work in 377 00:30:42,810 --> 00:30:46,410 Speaker 2: less than an hour. Problems that have beset humanity for 378 00:30:46,570 --> 00:30:51,570 Speaker 2: thousands of years will have been solved for them. 379 00:30:51,890 --> 00:30:56,570 Speaker 1: By the final page, he's talking directly to the cosmic beings. 380 00:30:58,410 --> 00:31:03,650 Speaker 2: It is finished. It is the mercy. It is the 381 00:31:03,810 --> 00:31:07,050 Speaker 2: end of my game. It is the time for your 382 00:31:07,130 --> 00:31:13,050 Speaker 2: move to begin. I will resign the game. There is 383 00:31:13,130 --> 00:31:15,130 Speaker 2: no reason for harmful. 384 00:31:17,850 --> 00:31:26,010 Speaker 1: He stops mid sentence, and then we can only imagine. 385 00:31:26,130 --> 00:31:30,170 Speaker 1: He puts down his pencil, rises from his log book 386 00:31:31,850 --> 00:31:43,610 Speaker 1: and steps out into the sea. Forty years after the 387 00:31:43,650 --> 00:31:49,290 Speaker 1: Golden Globe Race, the journalist Chris Eakin spoke to everyone 388 00:31:49,370 --> 00:31:52,970 Speaker 1: he could to write a book A Race too Far. 389 00:31:54,770 --> 00:31:59,770 Speaker 1: He interviewed Simon Crowhurst, then forty eight years old and 390 00:31:59,850 --> 00:32:05,250 Speaker 1: a researcher at Cambridge University. Simon tells Chris Ekin about how, 391 00:32:05,330 --> 00:32:09,930 Speaker 1: as a teenager, he'd found in his school's library the 392 00:32:09,970 --> 00:32:16,010 Speaker 1: strange last voyage of Donald Crowhurst and started to understand 393 00:32:16,050 --> 00:32:21,010 Speaker 1: what had happened to his dad and what happened afterwards. 394 00:32:22,570 --> 00:32:26,890 Speaker 1: When Donald Crowhurst's boat was found, the race was over. 395 00:32:28,050 --> 00:32:32,770 Speaker 1: The first man home, Robin Knox Johnston, would be the 396 00:32:32,770 --> 00:32:38,330 Speaker 1: only finisher and therefore the fastest. He was due the 397 00:32:38,490 --> 00:32:44,690 Speaker 1: five thousand pounds, a meaningful sum. Knox Johnston wasn't rich 398 00:32:45,570 --> 00:32:49,250 Speaker 1: before the race. He'd worked as an officer on trade ships. 399 00:32:50,170 --> 00:32:54,130 Speaker 1: The prize was two and a half times his annual salary. 400 00:32:55,290 --> 00:32:59,290 Speaker 1: Knox Johnston told the Sunday Times to give the money 401 00:32:59,530 --> 00:33:05,530 Speaker 1: to Crowhurst's family. They told him what they discovered from 402 00:33:05,610 --> 00:33:12,650 Speaker 1: studying Crowhurst's logbooks. He cheeked, did Knox Johnston still want 403 00:33:12,690 --> 00:33:16,010 Speaker 1: Crowhurst's family to have the money? 404 00:33:16,170 --> 00:33:20,170 Speaker 5: Of course, he said, I wasn't giving money to a cheat. 405 00:33:20,570 --> 00:33:23,370 Speaker 5: I was giving the money to an unfortunate family who 406 00:33:23,370 --> 00:33:25,730 Speaker 5: were going to be in an even worse plight. Now 407 00:33:26,610 --> 00:33:30,090 Speaker 5: those children were going to suffer. I just thought there 408 00:33:30,130 --> 00:33:31,610 Speaker 5: was no change to the situation. 409 00:33:35,170 --> 00:33:39,210 Speaker 1: When Simon Crowhurst was old enough to understand what Robin 410 00:33:39,250 --> 00:33:42,770 Speaker 1: Knox Johnston had done for his family, he wrote to 411 00:33:42,810 --> 00:33:48,610 Speaker 1: thank him. They stayed in touch. Simon has a great 412 00:33:48,690 --> 00:33:55,290 Speaker 1: deal of admiration for him. The journalist Chris Eakin also 413 00:33:55,410 --> 00:34:01,930 Speaker 1: interviewed Eve Tetley, whose husband Nigel sank so agonizingly close 414 00:34:01,970 --> 00:34:03,850 Speaker 1: to the finish line. 415 00:34:04,090 --> 00:34:06,890 Speaker 3: Had it not been for Crawhurst, Nigel would have plodded 416 00:34:06,930 --> 00:34:11,850 Speaker 3: horn cheerfully is where he sunk. Ah hit at Crawlhurst 417 00:34:12,130 --> 00:34:14,890 Speaker 3: so much hit hit hit. 418 00:34:20,330 --> 00:34:25,130 Speaker 1: Life was hard for the Tetley's. After Nigel's rescue, they 419 00:34:25,210 --> 00:34:29,450 Speaker 1: started to build a new Trimran, a new home, but 420 00:34:29,530 --> 00:34:35,610 Speaker 1: money was tight. Tetley wrote a book, Trimaran Solo, but 421 00:34:36,170 --> 00:34:42,050 Speaker 1: sales were poor. That's actually not surprising, It's frankly. 422 00:34:42,050 --> 00:34:42,730 Speaker 5: A bit boring. 423 00:34:44,490 --> 00:34:48,250 Speaker 1: Tetley gave a lecture at a Navy event, but afterwards 424 00:34:49,130 --> 00:34:54,090 Speaker 1: no one approached him with questions. Robin Knox Johnston was there. 425 00:34:55,250 --> 00:34:57,970 Speaker 5: I saw the hurt on his face, so I went 426 00:34:58,050 --> 00:35:00,490 Speaker 5: up to chat to him. That was how we got 427 00:35:00,490 --> 00:35:03,290 Speaker 5: to know each other. I wonder how much of that 428 00:35:03,330 --> 00:35:03,930 Speaker 5: he put up with. 429 00:35:05,210 --> 00:35:07,410 Speaker 4: Yes, but you didn't succeed. 430 00:35:09,090 --> 00:35:12,490 Speaker 5: It was a very remarkable voyage, and he never really 431 00:35:12,490 --> 00:35:13,490 Speaker 5: got the credit for it. 432 00:35:16,530 --> 00:35:20,090 Speaker 1: If Nigel was disappointed by the lack of credit, he 433 00:35:20,130 --> 00:35:24,530 Speaker 1: never showed it to Eve. Stiff upper lip. They had 434 00:35:24,530 --> 00:35:29,770 Speaker 1: to stop talking about Donald Crowhurst. Nigel was uncomfortable at 435 00:35:29,810 --> 00:35:34,210 Speaker 1: how intensely Eve hated him. 436 00:35:34,330 --> 00:35:36,810 Speaker 3: I think he probably felt there but for the grace 437 00:35:36,810 --> 00:35:40,410 Speaker 3: of God, I could have gone the gorn bonkers, the 438 00:35:40,410 --> 00:35:44,850 Speaker 3: effect of the solitude. I just think he was so 439 00:35:45,050 --> 00:35:50,090 Speaker 3: sympathetic to Crawhursts predicament. Perhaps sympathetic is not the right word, 440 00:35:50,170 --> 00:35:55,410 Speaker 3: but understanding. I had no time for that. 441 00:35:58,650 --> 00:36:05,170 Speaker 1: One day, three years after the race, Tetley disappeared. His 442 00:36:05,290 --> 00:36:10,090 Speaker 1: body was found in a forest. He had died by hanging. 443 00:36:12,010 --> 00:36:16,850 Speaker 1: The newspapers reported that had been depressed, but when a 444 00:36:16,890 --> 00:36:20,610 Speaker 1: policeman broke the news to Eve, he had a sensitive 445 00:36:20,730 --> 00:36:24,890 Speaker 1: question to ask, are any of your clothes missing? 446 00:36:26,450 --> 00:36:31,250 Speaker 3: I thought, what a funny question, he said, what about underwear? 447 00:36:32,570 --> 00:36:34,610 Speaker 5: I had no idea why he was asking that. 448 00:36:37,930 --> 00:36:43,090 Speaker 1: Tetley had been found in stockings, suspenders and a corset. 449 00:36:44,850 --> 00:36:50,490 Speaker 1: The inquest said this wasn't suicide, it was sexual adventure 450 00:36:50,570 --> 00:36:51,170 Speaker 1: gone wrong. 451 00:36:51,890 --> 00:36:56,450 Speaker 3: Bloody, how there was all so unlike Nigel. 452 00:36:58,170 --> 00:37:05,610 Speaker 1: Maybe, just maybe Nigel Techley sympathized with Donald Crowhurst because 453 00:37:05,650 --> 00:37:09,690 Speaker 1: he understood the mental strain of putting on an act 454 00:37:10,410 --> 00:37:19,130 Speaker 1: to hide a secret. It's hard to be backstage on 455 00:37:19,170 --> 00:37:22,730 Speaker 1: your own with no one to drop the act with 456 00:37:22,970 --> 00:37:27,490 Speaker 1: and be who you really are. In the Strange Last 457 00:37:27,570 --> 00:37:32,130 Speaker 1: Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, the authors describe how Crowhurst became 458 00:37:32,290 --> 00:37:35,130 Speaker 1: obsessed with trying to get a phone call through to 459 00:37:35,170 --> 00:37:39,290 Speaker 1: his wife Claire. His radio didn't work as it should. 460 00:37:39,890 --> 00:37:42,530 Speaker 1: He could send and receive messages in Morse code, but 461 00:37:42,610 --> 00:37:45,410 Speaker 1: he couldn't talk to radio stations to ask them to 462 00:37:45,450 --> 00:37:49,050 Speaker 1: connect a call. He spent days trying to fix it, 463 00:37:50,130 --> 00:37:54,650 Speaker 1: but never could. It's hard not to wonder what might 464 00:37:54,690 --> 00:37:57,890 Speaker 1: have been different if Crowhurst had been able to share 465 00:37:57,970 --> 00:38:04,890 Speaker 1: his predicament with someone he loved. Then again, perhaps nothing 466 00:38:04,930 --> 00:38:09,850 Speaker 1: would really have changed. Claire Crowhurst recalls a conversation the 467 00:38:09,970 --> 00:38:11,810 Speaker 1: night before Donald left. 468 00:38:13,210 --> 00:38:18,290 Speaker 2: Darling. I'm very disappointed in the boat. She's not right. 469 00:38:19,410 --> 00:38:23,090 Speaker 2: I'm not prepared. If I leave with things in this 470 00:38:23,370 --> 00:38:26,970 Speaker 2: hopeless state, will you go out of your mind with worry? 471 00:38:28,250 --> 00:38:29,170 Speaker 2: If you give up now? 472 00:38:29,250 --> 00:38:33,890 Speaker 3: Will you be unhappy for the rest of your life? 473 00:38:34,170 --> 00:38:40,850 Speaker 1: Donald didn't answer, he started to cry. Only much later 474 00:38:41,130 --> 00:38:45,010 Speaker 1: did Claire understand what Donald had been trying to say. 475 00:38:47,610 --> 00:38:51,930 Speaker 3: I was such a fool, such a stupid fool. I 476 00:38:51,930 --> 00:38:55,090 Speaker 3: didn't realize Don was telling me he'd failed and wanted 477 00:38:55,090 --> 00:38:57,730 Speaker 3: me to stop him. 478 00:38:57,810 --> 00:39:02,450 Speaker 1: Even with his wife. Donald Crowhurst couldn't let go of 479 00:39:02,450 --> 00:39:07,210 Speaker 1: the role he was playing, the hero, willing to press 480 00:39:07,250 --> 00:39:12,170 Speaker 1: on even with everything Again. Tim Claire responded by playing 481 00:39:12,210 --> 00:39:17,330 Speaker 1: the role she thought the situation demanded, the loyal, loving, 482 00:39:18,010 --> 00:39:24,090 Speaker 1: supportive wife. All of life's a theater, Irving Goffman says, 483 00:39:25,370 --> 00:39:29,370 Speaker 1: if we have no friends backstage to share our true selves, 484 00:39:30,450 --> 00:39:47,690 Speaker 1: the theater is a lonely place to be. A key 485 00:39:47,770 --> 00:39:51,730 Speaker 1: source for this episode was A Race Too Far, The 486 00:39:51,770 --> 00:39:55,490 Speaker 1: Tragic Story of Donald Crowhurst and the nineteen sixty eight 487 00:39:55,610 --> 00:39:59,890 Speaker 1: Round the World Race by Chris Eakin. For a full 488 00:39:59,930 --> 00:40:04,850 Speaker 1: list of sources, see Timharford dot com. Cautionary Tales is 489 00:40:04,850 --> 00:40:08,570 Speaker 1: written by me Tim Harford with Andrew Wright, Alice Fines 490 00:40:08,730 --> 00:40:14,410 Speaker 1: and Dilly. It's produced by Georgia Mills and Marilyn Rust. 491 00:40:14,450 --> 00:40:16,770 Speaker 1: The sound design and original music are the work of 492 00:40:16,890 --> 00:40:22,250 Speaker 1: Pascal Wise bend A. Daph Haffrey edited the scripts. It 493 00:40:22,330 --> 00:40:27,010 Speaker 1: features the voice talents of Melanie Guttridge, Genevieve Gaunt, Stella Harford, 494 00:40:27,330 --> 00:40:33,050 Speaker 1: Massa Munroe, Jamal Westman, and rufus Wright. The show also 495 00:40:33,130 --> 00:40:36,050 Speaker 1: wouldn't have been possible without the work of Jacob Weisberg, 496 00:40:36,250 --> 00:40:42,490 Speaker 1: Greta Cohne, Eric Sandler, Carrie Brody, Christina Sullivan, Kira Posey, 497 00:40:42,890 --> 00:40:48,170 Speaker 1: and Owen Miller. Cautionary Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. 498 00:40:48,570 --> 00:40:52,090 Speaker 1: If you like the show, please remember to share, rate, 499 00:40:52,290 --> 00:40:54,930 Speaker 1: and review. 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