Dougal Robertson and his family set out on a voyage in January 1971, with Dougal Robertson (48) and his wife, Linda (52), their son Douglas (18), and their twins Sandy and Neil (11). They gained another person, Robin Williams (22), who joined the ride in Panama when the family left for New Zealand. Dougal wanted to expose his children to new things. They had been at sea for about a year and a half when a pod of killer whales attacked and sank their ship. The family escaped on a life raft, hauling a dinghy behind them. They became castaways for 38 days, and were eventually rescued by a Japanese fishing boat on July 23, 1972. The Japanese hauled them aboard and took care of them until they could get them back to land.

The Robertson family never made it to an island after their boat sunk, they stayed on their life raft and dinghy for 38 days until they were found. The dinghy had water laying in it, and only one dry seat, which the family members took turns sitting on. This ship, however, is not the ship they survived on.