These days, stories of crazy accidents, crimes, hijinks, and hoodwinks are all the rage. Starting with the wild phenomenon that was the original Serial podcast, it has become all the rage to collect tales of total absurdity in order to tell them at dinners and parties. And while murders, kidnappings, and other calamitous events tend to steal the spotlight (how many more remakes of The Staircase tale are they going to do?!) there is one particular brand of disastrous event that is always interested to all who hear about it: the boating accident. 

If you are at all interested in the true crime world, or are simply looking for a good yarn to spin at the next dinner party you attend, here are two crazy boating accident stories you simply must know about.

Violet Jessop Lived Through Three Shipwrecks in Five Years

Between the years of 1911 and 1916, one woman managed to live through three separate shipwrecks. This seems incredible, even when you know that she was a stewardess and nurse who worked at sea. Violet Jessop, who was Argentine and of Irish heritage, was on the ship the Olympic in 1911 when it crashed into another ship: the HMS Hawke. Although the Olympic and the Hawke were both ultimately fine, there was considerable damage and trauma. 

Unlike now, when boating accidents can be turned into legal cases so that those injured or traumatized in the collisions can be remunerated for the damage done and represented by a specialist boating accident lawyer, Violet Jessop had no legal recourse after this crash and instead got a position on the Titanic. Need we say more?

Luckily, she survived the sinking of the Titanic as well, only to be placed on the HMHS Britannic during World War I. In 1916 this ship was sunk by a German mine: Jessop jumped overboard to avoid being pulled down but sustained a fracture to the skull from this third and final boating catastrophe.

Terry Jo Dupperrault Spent 84 Hours Alone At Sea

In 1961, nearly fifty years after Violet Jessop lived through her final shipwreck, an eleven-year-old American girl found herself adrift alone on a lifeboat after a murder plot unfolded on a ship at sea which left her stranded and alone on a lifeboat. Terry Jo Dupperault was on holiday with her family when the skipper of their boat took it upon himself to murder everyone on the boat and then sink it. 

Terry was lucky enough to escape with her life but spent the next 84 on the life raft with no food or water until she was rescued by a passing Greek freighter. Images taken of her on the dinghy by individuals on this ship show a small, thin, blonde child surrounded entirely by water. When word got back to the murderer that she had been rescued, his plan was foiled, and he killed himself. Terry lived, and her story became a sensation: for years afterward, she was referred to as the ‘sea waif.’ 

As you can see, you are inches away from disasters when you are on the water. So, you must go on the water when you are 100% sure. It also includes that you have spare parts for emergencies. That said, you can collect some of the best from the boat equipment for sale.