Maurice meets Maralyn at a car rally that ends in disaster, then sends an apology letter and flowers.

Maurice proposes marriage with strict conditions: no religious ceremony, no children, and freedom to pursue his hobbies.

Maralyn proposes that she and Maurice sell their house, build a yacht, and sail to New Zealand.

Maurice and Maralyn depart England aboard their newly built yacht, the Auralyn, bound for New Zealand.

The Baileys navigate through the Panama Canal and set sail into the Pacific Ocean toward the Galápagos Islands.

A sperm whale strikes and fatally damages the hull of the Auralyn in the Pacific Ocean.

The Baileys abandon ship, gather essential supplies, and watch the Auralyn sink as Maralyn photographs the disappearing mast.

The Baileys spot their first ship adrift, but their emergency flares are duds and it passes without seeing them.

Maralyn fashions replacement fishhooks from safety pins after discovering their original hooks are missing.

A massive storm wave capsizes the dinghy and throws Maurice overboard; Maralyn hauls him back into the raft.

The Korean fishing boat Wolmi 306 spots the Baileys' raft and its crew rescues the skeletal couple.

The Baileys arrive in Honolulu to a large media gathering and sell their survival story to a British newspaper for £10,000.

The Baileys return to England, reunite with the Fosketts over dinner, and immediately propose a new voyage to Patagonia.

After being diagnosed with cancer, Maralyn dies, leaving Maurice consumed by grief and deepening depression.

Maurice dies in a nursing home; his ashes are later scattered at the Naked Man tree alongside Maralyn's.

Maurice Bailey meets Maralyn in Derby in the early 1960s, and after a rocky first encounter their relationship grows into a partnership built on shared ambition and unconventional values. After marrying, they sell everything to build a yacht and sail to New Zealand, spending years in preparation before departing England together. Eight months into their voyage, a sperm whale sinks their boat in the Pacific Ocean, leaving them adrift in a life raft with no radio and dwindling supplies. Over 118 days, they endure starvation, illness, and repeated failed rescue attempts until a Korean fishing crew finally spots and saves them. After a whirlwind of media attention and international travel, they return to England and immediately begin planning their next sailing venture. In their later years, Maralyn dies of cancer and Maurice lives on alone before dying in a nursing home, their ashes eventually scattered together at the same tree.

The headline events of the Baileys' marriage, voyage, survival, and lives afterward.

A childhood marked by illness and a strict mother leaves Maurice estranged from his family and isolated in Derby.

Maurice teaches Maralyn to sail on the Norfolk Broads; she crashes the boat into a bank and they spend the afternoon digging it free.

The Baileys decide not to install a radio transmitter on the Auralyn, choosing total isolation from outside contact.

The Fosketts join practice voyages and settle into distinct crew roles: Maurice as navigator, June as bosun, Colin as carpenter.

A violent storm in Funchal harbor gives Maurice a chance to act capably, helping to secure loose boats and assist other sailors.

The Baileys complete their Atlantic crossing and arrive in Barbados, where an overjoyed Maralyn runs onto the deck naked.

After the Auralyn sinks, Maralyn methodically organizes the raft's salvaged supplies while Maurice sits immobilized by guilt in the dinghy.

Maralyn draws a daily calendar on the raft canopy and Maurice fashions a signal flag from orange oilskins.

A fourth passing ship briefly turns toward the Baileys after their homemade smoke signal works, then inexplicably sails away without stopping.

The Baileys' pet turtle dies after weeks on the raft; after a brief moment of sadness, they eat it.

After a seventh ship passes without stopping, the Baileys accept that death is imminent and discuss it with resigned calm.

Medical examinations in Honolulu reveal poor dental health but confirm the Baileys are recovering from their ordeal.

The Baileys tour South Korea and receive the mayor of Seoul's golden key and the city's honorary citizenship.

After all his public obligations following the rescue, Maurice escapes alone to a Malibu beach and sits doing nothing for the first time.

In his final years, Maurice structures his days around rigid routines: Sunday tea house visits, bell-ringing, and weekly lunches with the Fosketts.

Maurice's isolated and painful childhood in Derby shaped the man who would later seek escape at sea, while his early relationship with Maralyn was tested by practical challenges on water and in the mountains. Their preparation for the voyage included the crucial and fateful decision to sail without a radio transmitter, and their friends Colin and June Foskett became essential members of their extended crew. During the voyage itself, Maurice proved his seamanship in a Mediterranean storm, and the Atlantic crossing ended in jubilant celebration in Barbados. After the sinking, the couple's early days on the raft were defined by Maralyn's organizational genius and by the repeated heartbreak of passing ships that failed to stop for them. Following their rescue, the Baileys were celebrated in Hawaii and South Korea before Maurice found a rare moment of peace alone on a California beach, and in his final years he clung to familiar routines to manage an immense grief.

The secondary moments and supporting details behind the Baileys' extraordinary story.

Maralyn gives an immediate, certain yes to Maurice's marriage proposal and agrees to all his conditions, including having no children.

The Baileys treat Eric Hiscock's sailing manual as a sacred guide and commission a Golden Hind 31 hull for their yacht.

Maralyn weeps at the final sight of England's Devon coastline as the Auralyn sails away from shore.

Unable to act after the sinking, Maurice defers the decision to row south entirely to Maralyn, acknowledging that his captaincy is over.

The Baileys make the brutal decision to kill their first turtle and consume its raw meat to survive.

A whale surfaces beside the Baileys' raft, sprays them gently, observes them in silence, then dives cleanly away without harm.

Maralyn reveals to a despairing Maurice that she has been mentally designing their next boat, and the couple begins planning Auralyn II.

Maralyn secretly writes letters to June in her diary, recording fears and truths she cannot bring herself to tell Maurice.

Maurice falls gravely ill with a fever and severe respiratory infection, and Maralyn takes over all tasks on the raft.

As Maurice hallucinates a third person in the raft, Maralyn shakes him awake shouting that she sees a rescue ship.

Captain Suh watches Maralyn tenderly comb Maurice's hair on deck and concludes this mutual care is what kept them alive.

The launch of Auralyn II becomes a public fiasco when Maralyn fails five times to break the champagne bottle against the hull.

During the Patagonia voyage, Maurice declares himself God on the boat but ultimately defers to Maralyn's quiet authority when she intervenes.

While living in Spain, Maralyn discovers she is pregnant; the pregnancy is later terminated after the fetus is found malformed and dead.

In a final interview shortly before his death, Maurice says he would willingly relive the ordeal and weeps while recalling the second whale.

The foundations of the Baileys' partnership were laid in the conditions Maralyn accepted when she agreed to marry Maurice, and in their shared devotion to Eric Hiscock's seamanship philosophy when planning their voyage. Their departure from England was already emotionally charged, and when their yacht sank, the crisis forced a fundamental power shift as Maurice ceded all authority to Maralyn. On the raft, the couple's survival hinged on a series of pivotal moments: killing their first turtle, surviving a peaceful encounter with a second whale, and Maralyn's secret invention of the Auralyn II project to give Maurice a reason to live. In the final weeks adrift, Maurice's near-fatal illness and hallucinations pushed the partnership to its absolute limit before a rescue that their Korean captain interpreted as proof that mutual tenderness had kept them alive. In the years after, hidden truths emerged about the Patagonia voyage and a terminated pregnancy, all crystallized in a final interview where Maurice wept recalling the whale.

The pivotal decisions, discoveries, and emotional shifts that define the Baileys' journey.