The Notebook on the Bluff: How a Raft Journal Arrived First

The Notebook on the Bluff: How a Raft Journal Arrived First Fear and bewilderment: a notebook written at sea appears intact, spine-down, in a notch fifteen feet above the high-tide line on a bluff - sixty-three miles from the raft where its author, Eugene Slater, drifted ten days earlier. How did a journal described in the raft as being placed on that exact post arrive before the event it records? In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from Slater leaving Pryor Inlet Marina to the moment the notebook was found, laying out the movements, preparations, and failures that led to the Calder Rose sinking - and the specific unexplained detail that defies the timeline. What can account for a raft journal describing an act that appears to have happened before it was written? Person: Eugene Slater Date: November 2-14, 2019 Location: Eastport, Maine (notebook found on bluff) Event: Calder Rose sinking and ten-day drift Status: Notebook found intact on bluff - The notebook was wedged in a notch fifteen feet above the high-tide line on a coastal bluff in Eastport, Maine. - Eugene Slater was sixty-three miles offshore when the same notebook arrived on the bluff. - Slater had been adrift on a life raft for ten days when the notebook was found. - On November 2, 2019 at 06:47, Slater cast off from slip fourteen at Pryor Inlet Marina headed for Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. - Slater activated the EPIRB at approximately 22:15 and abandoned the Calder Rose by about 22:15-22:15 the night the hull began taking water. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].