NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • Deloitte Fast 50
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Maurice Bayley, who survived 117 days lost at sea with his wife, dies aged 85

By Matt Young
news.com.au·
24 Nov, 2019 12:59 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Maurice Bailey, along with his wife Maralyn, departed Southampton in a 9.4m yacht named the Auralyn at the beginning of 1973.

Maurice Bailey, along with his wife Maralyn, departed Southampton in a 9.4m yacht named the Auralyn at the beginning of 1973.

The husband of a British couple who survived for more than 117 days lost at sea in the Pacific Ocean has died, more than 30 years after their survival story.

Maurice Bailey, along with his wife Maralyn, departed Southampton in a 9.4m yacht named the Auralyn at the beginning of 1973. They had sold all of their belongings to buy the boat and make the journey south.

They had intended to emigrate to New Zealand and begin a new life abroad but their yacht sank.

Maurice and Maralyn Bailey pictured in their raft during their rescue. Photo / Supplied
Maurice and Maralyn Bailey pictured in their raft during their rescue. Photo / Supplied

The couple made it safely through the Panama Canal and the Galápagos Islands when on March 4, their vessel was struck by a whale off the coast of Guatemala and sank.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The pair evacuated to an inflatable life raft, transferring as many supplies as they could, including some food and a compass.

They survived by "almost continually" bailing water out of the liferaft "night and day", while collecting rainwater and killing turtles, birds and fish with their bare hands for food.

The pair claimed hundreds of animals approached the liferaft and followed them on their journey.

Maurice said that the animals were their friends and helped them to alleviate their isolation. Maralyn said: "After so many months with them, we felt just like sea creatures ourselves".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"They (the animals) were around us all the time," Maurice told Alvaro Cerezo in a never-before-seen documentary.

"One of the chief things we killed which didn't please us that much were turtles.

"They are such harmless creatures … we killed it. Decapitated it and killed it.

" … I didn't like it at all."

Maurice and Maralyn Bailey after their rescue. Photo / Supplied
Maurice and Maralyn Bailey after their rescue. Photo / Supplied

After their rescue, the pair became vegetarians.

"We thought we wouldn't kill any more animals or allow any more animals to be killed, so we became vegetarians. I haven't eaten meat since that event."

At least seven ships passed the couple during their ordeal but the crews never spotted the couple adrift, and so their boat floated further and further away from land, into remote sections of the Pacific Ocean, all while their liferaft deteriorated.

At the beginning of their journey adrift they would read or play card games, but by the end malnutrition and weather conditions made any physical activity proved difficult and dangerous.

The couple drifted 2400km in the raft until they were rescued by a South Korean fishing boat, the Weolmi 306, on June 30, 1973. The couple were lost at sea for four months.

"Maralyn said, 'I can hear a ship', Maurice recalled.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Sure enough, a ship appeared on the horizon. They saw us, the fisherman saw us. I don't think when they called the captain he could believe it.

January 1974: Maurice and Maralyn Bailey, who survived four months adrift in a rubber dinghy after their yacht sank, relive their ordeal at the London Boat Show. Photo / Getty Images
January 1974: Maurice and Maralyn Bailey, who survived four months adrift in a rubber dinghy after their yacht sank, relive their ordeal at the London Boat Show. Photo / Getty Images

"The sea was our life, the animals were our neighbours. I couldn't believe that we were going back to human civilisation and we were wondering what civilisation has to offer us now."

The pair had lost 40kg each while their legs could barely support their weight.

The couple returned to England and wrote a book of their ordeal a year later, 117 Days Adrift.

Maralyn died of cancer in 2002 aged 61 and Maurice lived a solitary life until since his death in December 2018. He lived his last years extremely lonely.

"It's a lonely life but I'm happy being lonely I think," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

His death went unnoticed until Alvaro Cerezo, who had been in communication with Maurice for years, stopped receiving replies. After some investigating, he discovered his friend had died.

Cerezo is a Spanish explorer who owns Docastaway, which helps people spend time alone on desert islands.

Alvaro Cerezo and Maurice Bailey before Mr Bailey's death. Photo / Supplied
Alvaro Cerezo and Maurice Bailey before Mr Bailey's death. Photo / Supplied

Cerezo has released an interview with Maurice from 2016 because he "wanted to do something special for this beautiful couple".

"Through time, this adventure has fallen into oblivion," Cerezo told news.com.au.

"Maurice and Maralyn spent four months on a damaged inflatable life raft and they became the longest lasting castaways at sea in a device like that.

"Unfortunately I never had the chance to meet Maralyn. I would have loved it. Maurice was definitely a very special person."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Cerezo said that since Maralyn's death, Maurice lived completely alone and cut himself off from society.

"When I say 'alone' I'm not trying to exaggerate as Maurice has no one else in this world. It was hard to believe that I was maybe the only person who maintained contact with him until his death.

"Sometimes I called him, other times we wrote to each other via emails. I always insisted on the need to have an alternative contact in case I stopped receiving mail or he didn't answer my calls. He couldn't give me this for, though it's hard to believe, he had no one.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from World

World

Delta flight diverted after 25 injured in severe turbulence

World

Trump tariff drama: Midnight deadline pressures global trade deals

World

Pensioner arrested over alleged poisoning at Christian summer camp


Sponsored

Saving NZ’s rarest species

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Delta flight diverted after 25 injured in severe turbulence
World

Delta flight diverted after 25 injured in severe turbulence

The flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam was diverted to Minneapolis.

31 Jul 07:10 PM
Trump tariff drama: Midnight deadline pressures global trade deals
World

Trump tariff drama: Midnight deadline pressures global trade deals

31 Jul 07:08 PM
Pensioner arrested over alleged poisoning at Christian summer camp
World

Pensioner arrested over alleged poisoning at Christian summer camp

31 Jul 06:25 PM


Saving NZ’s rarest species
Sponsored

Saving NZ’s rarest species

30 Jul 09:40 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP