Wrecked on a Reef

Twenty Months among the Auckland Isles

In December 1864, five men stood on the desolate shore of a subantarctic island watching their ship break apart in the waves and sunken rocks as they contemplated an uncertain fate. In the constant presence or icy rain and howling wind, the crew of the Grafton spent the next twenty months both enduring and leveraging the unforgiving elements of Auckland Island as they awaited a rescue ship that never arrived.

"Wrecked on a Reef' was the first autobiographical account of shipwreck and survival that made castaway stories part of maritime folklore. First published in English in 1870, F.E. Raynal's book became a bestseller and inspired Jules Verne's "Two Years' Vacation" and "The Mysterious Island".

©2024 F.E. Raynal (P)2024 F.E. Raynal