Silent Seas: A Mary Celeste Sleep Story

Close your eyes and sail into the misty past with the Mary Celeste, the ship that drifted silently across the Atlantic. This soothing tale of mystery and calm seas is designed to ease your mind and guide you into peaceful sleep.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Approach production. Hi, welcome to Silent Secrets, a bedtime podcast
for curious minds. I'm jay, I'm glad you're here. This
is your time to let go of today, to settle

(00:28):
in and slow down, and let curiosity gently carry you
towards sleep. In each episode, I'm going to share a
true story of the unexplained, not to alarm you, to
quiet your mind, to remind you that the world is
full of wonder and some things we'll never truly understand.

(00:53):
So take a deep breath, feel your body sink into comfort,
let the weight of the day drift away as we
begin tonight's story. The sea holds countless stories, some filled

(01:26):
with storms and shipwrecks, some of survival triumph. But then
there are other tales, quieter ones where the mystery isn't
about what was found, but what was missing. The story
of the Mary Celeste is one of those tales. In

(01:48):
eighteen seventy two, this merchant ship was discovered adrift in
the Atlantic Ocean. The sails flat gently in the breeze,
The cargo was untouched. There was no sign of a struggle,

(02:09):
and yet every single person on board, ten souls, including
the captain's wife, and young child had vanished. No bodies

(02:32):
were ever found, no lifeboat was recovered, the ship itself
was perfectly seaworthy. It's a story that's haunted sailors, historians,
and storytellers for over one hundred.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
And fifty years.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
Tonight we stepped back in time and sail with the
Mary Celeste into a mystery that feels as eerie and
empty as the open sea itself. Our story begins on

(03:20):
a cold chris morning in New York Harbor on November seventh,
eighteen seventy two, the Mary Celeste, a two masted brigantine,
was loaded for her journey across the Atlantic. She wasn't
a particularly large ship, just one hundred feet long, but
she was built well. A veteran of many voyages. That morning,

(03:42):
the crew was preparing for a trip to Genoa, Italy,
carrying seventeen hundred barrels of industrial alcohol. At her helm
was Captain Benjamin Briggs. He was just thirty seven years old,
but already a well respected sailor. Briggs wasn't the sort

(04:03):
of man to take unnecessary risks. He was known for
being calm, organized, and deeply religious. This voyage was different
for him. He decided to bring along his wife, Sarah
and their two year old daughter, Sophia. Perhaps he thought
it was one of the last adventures before settling down.

(04:26):
His oldest son had stayed behind in the care of
the family. The crew consisted of seven men, hand picked

(04:53):
by Briggs himself. They were experienced sailors, loyal and dependable.
As the ship prepared to leave New York Harbor would
have been a busines place, ships coming and going, gulls
circling above. The world was changing. Steamships were beginning to

(05:14):
replace sailing vessels, but the Merry Celeste still relied on
wind and canvas and the skill of the men who
sailed her. By midday, with the cargo loaded and the
tide just right, the Merry Celeste slipped out of the harbor.

(05:48):
Life on board the Merry Celeste would have been quiet
but demanding. The men worked in shifts, trimming sails, maintaining
the rigging, and navigating the vast Atlantic. For Sarah, live
at sea with a toddler would have been both thrilling
and challenging. The crew likely doted on young Sophia, as

(06:10):
sailors often did with children aboard. A rare, warm presence
in a tough environment. Captain Briggs kept a meticulous log
recording their progress each day. By all accounts, the weather
during those early days was fair, the ship was in
excellent shape, and nothing suggested trouble. Fast forward nearly a month,

(06:38):
the Merry Celeste is somewhere near the mid Atlantic. It's
on this day, December fourth, eighteen seventy two, when the
British brigantine Delgracia, commanded by David Moorhouse, spots something on
the horizon. It's a ship drifting oddly, its sails not

(06:59):
properly trimmed through whose spyglass Moorhouse recognizes the vessel. It's
the Mary Celeste. He knows Captain Briggs. They even dined
together in New York before. Both ships set sail, just
days apart. But something's wrong. There's no one on deck,

(07:24):
no signal, just a ship wandering silently in the open ocean.
Captain Moorhouse orders a boarding party to investigate. Two sailors
from the del Gracia row over in a small boat,
the sound of the oars cutting through the quiet water.

(07:45):
When they climb aboard the Mary Celeste, they're struck by
an eerie stillness. The ship is in good condition, but
everything feels frozen. Below deck, they find a captain's quarters.
A woman's sewing machine sits with a half mended garment.

(08:08):
The child's bed is neatly made, a doll lying nearby.
The crew's belongings are untouched, boots lined up, clothing stored neatly.
The gallery shows signs of recent activity. There's food, water,
and enough supplies to last six months, and yet not

(08:31):
a single person remains on the Mary Celeste. As the
boarding party ventures back on deck, they notice the lifeboat
is gone. The ship's only pump is dismantled, some of

(08:51):
the hatches are open, the compass is broken, but there's
no sign of fire, no flooding in the hold, and
no damage from the storms. The captain's log books abruptly
ten days before the ship was found. It mentions nothing unusual,

(09:12):
just calm seas and steady progress. Whatever happened, it happened suddenly,
and it happened without leaving a trace. The Mary Celeste

(09:32):
was sailed to Gibraltar for investigation, and soon theories began
to swirl. Some suggested pirates, but pirates don't leave valuables behind.
Others whispered mutiny at Briggs was admired, and no evidence
of violence was found. The most widely accepted theory involves

(09:59):
the cargo industrial alcohol, some believe might have caused toxic fumes,
brigs fearing and explosion. May have ordered everyone into a
lifeboat as a precaution. Perhaps the lifeboat broke free, leaving
the crew stranded. But there was also a problem with

(10:26):
this theory. Why dismantle the pump? Why not return once
they realized the ship was safe. Others believed in a
natural disaster, rogue waves, sudden water sprouts, And then, of
course there are those who point to the supernatural sea monsters, ghosts,

(10:51):
and curses. The Mary Celeste, although tainted by this mystery,
continued to sail under a different owner, but misfortune to
follow her failed voyagers, legal troubles, and even mutinies. In

(11:13):
eighteen eighty five, she was deliberately run aground of Haiti
in an insurance fraud scheme. Her remains were left to rots.
But the story of that empty ship drifting silently on

(11:35):
the Atlantic has never faded. Before you drift off to sleep,
imagine that scene one last time. A ship, her white
sails rippling in the breeze, no crew to tend to them.

(11:59):
The wheel creaked slightly with the roll of the ocean.
The Merry Celeste remains an unanswered question. It goes from
a time when the sea help both opportunity and endless
unknowable dangers. Thank you for listening to silent secrets. I

(12:28):
hope tonight's story has given your mind something soft to
wander through as you drift towards rest. But the quieter
the night wrap around you now, and know that mysteries
will still be here tomorrow. Close your eyes, read deeply,
and let's sleep take over until we share another secret

(12:54):
next time.

Speaker 2 (12:56):
Good Night, School, School.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
U. When the Wing Movement Ring had been born in Hive,

(15:09):
everything in