The Lubber’s Hole - A Patrick O’Brian Podcast

We're finally at Desolation Island:  the pumps have gained, and the ship could yet float. We have flatulent cabbages, an illicit whaler's forge and a spot of covert counterespionage. Amongst all of that, though, Jack and Stephen are still far from enjoying plain sailing. Beware the giant petrels!

At forty-six degrees south with no rudder, our battered Leopard finds hope of salvation—until suddenly safety seems as distant as the moon.  Jack bets everything on finding Kerguelen’s land, Stephen bemoans a lack of lime-juice, and the gunroom takes a long-overdue, civilised breath. Whether or no, Tom Collins!

In the wake of the destruction of the Waakzaamheid, a wounded Jack Aubrey contends with fractured discipline, mutinous whispers, and a muffled ship's bell. But the real ordeal in the freezing Southern Ocean has only just begun - the Leopard and her crew are in a grim fight for survival.

Pursued across the South Atlantic by the Waakzaamheid, Jack Aubrey evades, fights, and then flees the Dutch 74. Below decks there's tragedy, as a monstrous gale drives both vessels into the Roaring Forties. A desperate duel with stern-chasers ends with one of the most shocking and memorable moments in the canon.

As HMS Leopard runs south toward the Cape, Jack Aubrey prepares to meet a superior enemy. We encounter  seabirds, superstitions, social diseases and substance abuse, and Stephen gets personal with Midshipman Herapath.