Good Jibes #235: Rod Scher on Historic Shipwrecks, With Host John Arndt
In today’s episode we catch up with with author Rod Scher to discuss what we can learn from some of the most fascinating and tragic shipwrecks in history. Rod has published several books, including an annotation of Richard Henry Dana’s Two Years Before the Mast, Sailing by Starlight: The Remarkable Voyage of ‘Globe Star’, and Ship of Lost Souls: The Tragic Wreck of the Steamship ‘Valencia’. He is currently writing a book on the wreck of the steamship Pacific.
Hear about the mistakes that led to the wrecks of Valencia and Pacific, why you need to trust your instruments, how to avoid catastrophes, who is really in charge on the water, and why it’s important to read about disasters.
Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:
- Defining the Graveyard of the Pacific and its thousands of shipwrecks
- Captain Oscar Johnson’s cascade of fatal mistakes
- Life jackets made of tule reeds
- How the Titanic finally forced safety reforms
- The collision of the sailing ship Orpheus and the steamship Pacific, the latter sinking in 15 minutes
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots — follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re feeling the Good Jibes!
Learn more about Rod and check out his books at RodScher.com.
Check out the episode and show notes for much more detail.