The true story of a Quaker sea captain marooned in the frigid, uncharted Falkland Islands by the very castaways he saves from doom in 1813; unarguably the greatest man and his dog survival story of all time.

SYNOPSIS:

What happened to American sea captain CHARLES BARNARD between the years 1812-16 is one of the most intriguing true stories of survival in history.

With an Antarctic winter approaching, Barnard, on a commercial seal hunt, rescues English castaways from certain doom in the uninhabited Falkland Islands and must give up his hunt. Then one day while Barnard, four men, and a dog named CENT are hunting for fresh food at a nearby island in the ship’s longboat, a band of treacherous castaways takes over the ship and leaves them marooned.

The deserted men, with only clubs and knives, risk certain death from exposure and starvation. Barnard’s leadership and the dog’s brave hunting feats keep all alive. Later, when things get less desperate the four men surreptitiously take off in the longboat with the dog and abandon Barnard. Despite being robbed of everything, including his fire-making tools, Barnard manages to survive months, alone, on luck and wits and a club and a knife, while fighting against the paranoidal demons of forced solitude.

Finally, the men, in terrible physical condition from their misadventures away, return and beg forgiveness. Because his loneliness is unbearable, Barnard accepts them with conditions. The marooning instigator, ANSEL, who was in the earlier plot to steal Barnard’s ship but was tricked by his fellow conspirators, continues to terrorize the other three men. His treachery is finally dealt with and he is banished to another island.

Finally, they are saved by two British warships after two years of near drownings; starvation; thirst; no compass; attacking rooks and a rat plague eating their hard-got food supply; attempted murder; mysterious thefts; and a one-of-a-kind dog who risks his life against tusked boars for the men. It is a remarkable tale of a man of faith and character and an incredible dog against the worst of nature, man, and beast.

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OUT OF HUMANITY'S REACH