It’s the 23rd of September, 1979, and a cabin cruiser, known as the Nocturne, is cruising through deep blue waters just off the far north coast of NSW. 

It’s a near-perfect day for the five passengers on board. A light nor-easter is blowing and the sun is glistening off the boat’s sleek, white hull.

But as the day wears on conditions begin to change… clouds form on the horizon… but the Nocturne presses on with its voyage.

As night falls the warm breeze of the day disappears, replaced by the icy chill of a southerly buster. The wind picks up speed...20 knots...40 knots...60 knots. That white hull that had been shining in the sun just hours earlier, is now being beaten by unrelenting, ten-metre high seas. 

A rogue wave smashes through one of the boat’s windows, flooding the interior. Moments later, the engines fail. As the boat begins to sink, the passengers have no choice but to abandon ship. 

Of the five people on board that night, only three make it to shore. What happened to those lost at sea remains a mystery that will only be unravelled 32 years later when a badly weathered bone fragment washes ashore at Kingscliff Beach…

CREDITS

Guest: Adam Shand, host of the Lost At Sea podcast.

Host: Claire Murphy

Executive Producer: Gia Moylan

Audio Producers: Rhiannon Mooney

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