In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by shipwreck storyteller John McCrystal to explore one of New Zealand’s most remarkable survival stories: the wreck of the Grafton on the remote Auckland Islands. Together, they set the scene of a brutal Southern Ocean landscape, where bad charts, fierce westerlies and freezing conditions turned the islands into a notorious trap for ships. The conversation follows the five-man crew’s extraordinary 19-month ordeal, from building shelter and finding food to engineering their own escape and reflects on the endurance, ingenuity and character revealed when people are pushed to the edge of survival.