Riddle of the Sands Adventure Club

We’ve made it to the last day in the book - October 26. Our heroes, Carruthers and Davies, sail off into the sunset with the delightful Clara on board, and her dastardly dad, Dollman, overboard. In this podcast Lloyd notDavies plots out how to get us back to Blighty via Ostmahorn, Holland. Tim notCarruthers, meanwhile, considers the end of Dollman, and the potentially tricky subject of suicide at sea. First up, we make yet another plea to the listeners to support us on Unbound (02:52), where we’re trying to raise money to produce a beautiful new book and online adventure for you. Sign up here: https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands Lloyd charts the route from Norderney to Ostmahorn via the island of Rottum (04:56); a brief description of Rottum & its warden (06:42); the tale of the ‘crazy Earl’ who once owned the place (08:12); how we might sail past Rottum today (10:28); how the SS held out in this part of the world at the end of WW2 (12:20). Tim talks about Dollman ‘falling’ overboard (14:00); people who fall off cruise ships (15:46); people who jump off the Staten Island ferry (18:06); the strange tale of Donald Crowhurst (18:58). Tim talks about late-19th century attitudes to suicide (21:56); the move to treating would-be suicides as mental patients rather than criminals (23:26); where would Dollman’s body have ended up anyway?(25:35); how ‘The Mikado’ ridiculed English attitudes to anti-suicide laws (27:37). Lloyd tries to get us to Ostmahorn but finds there’s a dyke in the way (29:56). Musical Interlude: the legendary Ostmahorn/Gröningen folk scene of the ‘70s featuring Törf and Fungus (33:19). Tim is puzzled as to whether Dollman really is a double agent (36:04); examples of real-life German double agents of the period (37:41); stories of criminals, madmen and fantasists working as spies (40:55). Lloyd consults his Bradshaws (again) about trains, and steamers from Harlingen to London (45:41); our landing point at Tower Bridge (46:49); a problem with getting back to London before October 29 (47:56). Club Business - Kim’s fears for ship’s dog allayed (50:54); Nick on the Battle of Dorking (51:40). Having brought this narrative to an end, there are no missions for next week! Thank you everyone for your contributions. MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by the Wellington Sea Shanty Society: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea The Mikado - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLOY_R5XIJ8 Törf - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7F9l-zk7Qk Fungus - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr9voaqgSIw

After weeks of sailing and suspense, ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ explodes into action on October 25. At last we discover what the ‘Riddle’ is. Sadly, as you will hear, Lloyd notDavies and Tim notCarruthers fall out quite badly - and loudly - about the basic credibility of Erskine Childers’s premise in describing the imminent German threat. We start the podcast, though, by plotting out the day for Carruthers, starting with an extended pub/gin bar crawl in Dornumerland, followed by an arduous cross-country walk to Hage, a fair deal of train travel in heavy disguise, and finally a bold act of sabotage on a galliot and a confrontation with, of all people, the Kaiser. We quickly descend into chaos when Lloyd notDavies becomes aerated by the presence of ‘lighters’ in Bensersiel harbour (05:43); a heated discussion of the canal vs ditch issue ensues (07:50); Club Member Ian provides useful information about riverine vessels of the period (10:18); Club Member Tony sides with notCarruthers (12:37). Lloyd notDavies then turns his attention to the viability (or not) of amphibious warfare and invasion by rowboat, using Gallipoli as his main case study (16:21). Tim notCarruthers changes the tone by referencing the Marx Brothers (23:04), and talking about the use of disguises in late Victorian literature. (24:44) Finally, we address the pub crawl in Dornum and how to recreate it (or not) in modern times (30:03); a connection is made back to the Marx Brothers (34:03), and the true story of Groucho’s one visit to Dornum is revealed (36:14). As if the tone couldn’t get any lower, we then discuss the 1970s sex comedy The EastFriesland Report (39:07), filmed on location in exactly the same places that Carruthers visits on October 25. Club Business (45:14) - Adrian on why submarines were considered to be underhand and ‘unEnglish’ (45.26); Brian & John correct us on what a submarine engineer actually is (46:31); the status of marine engineers generally in 1903 (47:25); we find a real-life German diving/wreck engineer - living in Lambeth (48:39); Nick on TS Eliot and Baedecker (51:20); Ian on ejaculation(52:27); Ben and Fiona support us on Unbound (52:54); Peter finds us a Munich beer house in London (53:24). MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by the Wellington Sea Shanty Society: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea Mr Gallagher and Mr Shean (from Ziegfield Girls): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkzAEGarl9Q

Finally, on October 24 with only two days to go in the book, we get to discuss the actual riddle of ‘The Riddle of the Sands’. Lloyd notDavies uses his train timetables to get us to Esens. Minus a moustache, Tim notCarruthers points out the cultural highlights of this ancient Frisian town. And then both men argue at length about the proper use of canals. Finally the talk turns to the significance of submarines. First, a plug for our Unbound project. Just £25 will get you a beautiful ROTS Handbook, an ebook, an audiobook and access to the month-long online adventure in September. (02:00) https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands We start the podcast proper, as we often do, by referring to train timetables (05:19). We discover it isn’t as easy to get to Esens by rail as it was one hundred years ago. We find the humblest guesthouse in Esens where we can eat wurst and drink beer (10:29); Tim notCarruthers tells tales of the Frisian pirate Junkers Balthasar (16:35) and, friend of Wagner, Theodore Thomas (17:29). A long conversation about canals ensues (20:35) including: memories of the newsreader Peter Sissons (21:32); the geological history of Frisia (23:20); a canoeing trip down the Bensertief (27:30); German enthusiasm for navigable canal-building (29:15); the plan to ‘kill’ Rotterdam (30:42); how to get from Bensersiel to Aurich by barge (the long way round) (32:43). We return to last podcast’s subject - the villainous engineer Böhme (38:12). If he hails from Bremen and is a submarine engineer, he can only have worked at one place. Tim notCarruthers follows this clue back to West Norwood (41:58), and ends up talking about an American-Irish engineer who imust have been known to Childers(43:03). Club Business: Brian offers us a chance to row in the North Sea (45:18); Pat also talks rowing, and his brief time as a hero (47:33); Jeff gives us a chance to tell you about the mysterious annotated 1920s edition of ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ which has inspired this whole project(49:07). MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by the Wellington Sea Shanty Society: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea Flying Dutchman Overture by Wagner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqezCR_XzaI

It’s October 23 in ‘The Riddle of the Sands’, a day when Carruthers takes advantage of the mighty German railways to speed his way to Amsterdam for a night in a proper bed. The only downside? He has to endure half the journey with the creepy engineer, Böhme: “Don’t forget to go to Lloyds…” So, it’s railways, luxury hotels by the Amstel River, and possible real-life role models for Böhme. If that floats your boat, don’t forget to pledge your support for the Adventure Club Handbook on https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands. Just £25 gets you a Handbook, a Field Audiobook, an e-book and full web access to our live web adventure. First up, Lloyd NotDavies gets his Bradshaw’s out and indulges his obsession for timetables (07:34). We discover how Carruthers would have got from Nordeney to Amsterdam in real life in 1898 - and how Tim NotCarruthers can ride (roughly) the same route today. Astute readers will notice how quickly a German army could travel through Holland and Belgium by train. Lloyd refers to the famous historian AJP Taylor to show the importance of train timetables in army mobilisation and the start of World War One (14:05). Tim NotCarruthers ignores the rattling of sabres and researches, instead, the nicest possible hotels to stay at by the Amstel River (19:35). He finds a historic hostelry with basement showers and a unique line in deep massage and physical therapy. Tim also goes looking for a slop-shop in the Jewish Quarter in Amsterdam, and uncovers the dark reasons for why he can’t find one (24:38). And so to real life examples of Böhme the military engineer - Böhme the Nazi war criminal (28:08); von Pressel the chief architect of the Baghdad Railway (31:30), von der Goltz Inspector-General of Fortifications in 1898, and lover of young Turks (33:13); Krupp the steel magnate, and lover of young Corsicans (36:23). Club Business: John Ironside on German comedy videos (39:43); Zydny on Lancaster guns (40:41); Tony F on rowing speeds (41:36); Kass reports calmly on a proper sailing (mis)adventure (43:43); Jeff loves our Memmert episode (45:28); Brian offers to set us up with rowing lessons (45:40); Jon joins in with tales of Thames sculling at speed (46:33); a special ‘Ahoy’ to Adrian for finally tracking down the original Queenborough steamer pier (48:30). MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by the Wellington Sea Shanty Society: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea Waiting for a Train - Flash and the Pan: https://youtu.be/skVv0__xKdY

We’re now at the most important moment of the book, and the section that could be claimed to have secured the reputation of ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ as one of the greatest British adventure novels of all time. It’s the row to the island of Memmert in a thick fog on October 22: a fantastic feat of navigation and physical strength by our two heroes, Carruthers and Davies. But can it actually be done? And what of the dinner afterwards at the Dollmans on the Schwannallee in Norderney? This podcast covers amazing feats of dinghy rowing, bird wardens, the holiday exploits of Chancellor von Bülow, and German (and Norwegian) dinner parties. First up, we explain again why you should be supporting our efforts to create a brand new Handbook Edition of our favourite book, all yours for just £25 with Field Audiobook and an online adventure thrown in for free. Full details at https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands. (01:44) Tim notCarruthers consults the maps, the text and Yahoo Answers, then does the maths (in a very rough way) and concludes that the row to Memmert is probably a very tall tale indeed(05:30). He goes on to discuss real-life ocean rowers Harbo and Samuelsen (13:20), and the larger-than-life John Fairfax (15:33). Lloyd NotDavies evaluates our chances of making it to Memmert at all on a real adventure next year (20:20), and talks about the only people to have lived on the islands in the last 100 years - a strange family of bird wardens and rabbit hunters. (21:07) We then go in search of the Schwannallee and find only the Bülowallee (27:18). Much talk about Schwann the physicist, and Bülow the Chancellor, with speculation about Norderney as a place for ‘all-male gatherings’(30:58). We sit down to dinner and consider what kind of meal would be had in 1898 (36:07), rediscovering ‘Babette’s Feast’ along the way (37:28), and enjoying Germany’s funniest ever TV comedy sketch to boot. (40:24) Club Business. Inspired by talk of foghorns in a previous podcast, John tells us about ‘The Hornster’ (45:10); Gordon wants to know more about McMullen’s ‘Down Channel’, so we oblige (45:58); EC Childers tells us more about Erskine’s personal library of sailing books (48:17); Emma on Facebook calls out Victoria BC for poor sewage management (49:23); Ian on Twitter points us back towards Latakia, the possible source of our pipe tobacco (51:09); instructions on how to pack a pipe come from Sergeant Matron of the Kervaig Pipe Club (52:04). MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by the Wellington Sea Shanty Society: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea The Ballad of Harbo and Samuelsen by Jerry Bryant: https://youtu.be/-rdqQxlx9hI Dinner For One: https://youtu.be/b1v4BYV-YvA The Hornster: https://youtu.be/_9nonCqesLI

Part of the package of extra goodies you’ll get from us when you support us https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands (pledge £25 for the Handbook Edition of ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ today!), will be a Field AudioBook: a complete reading of the book, recorded in exactly the right places at precisely the right dates - and enhanced by the addition of local ambient sounds and field recordings. ‘What will that sound like?’ I hear you ask. Well, now you can find out. We’re giving all our existing supporters on Unbound access to Field Audiobook sample files describing the events and conversations of October 2 and October 3. To entice you into becoming a supporter on https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands, here’s a short sample of what you can expect to hear in full after you’ve pledged your support.

When Clara Dollman comes to meet our heroes off the coast of Norderney on October 21, it all kicks off. Carruthers has to make the cabin fit for a lady, Davies gets hot under the collar and there’s something fishy about the library of sailing books on board. We discuss the best books to have on a small boat, the history of Norderney, what makes a cabin woman-friendly, Edwardian cocoa, and how Childers has got his tide tables terribly terribly wrong. We then drift off into a long diversion about the popularity of 1970s TV series ‘The Onedin Line’ in Romania. Hopefully, we’ll be back on course in time to discuss the row to Memmert in the next podcast. Lloyd notDavies dives straight in by announcing he’s going on a sailing course (00:52), but what books might he have on board any boat he skippers? (05:11); Davies favours E. F. Knight (05:58), Cowper (09:29) and Macmullen (10:44); we list the top 25 books that one might except to find on a cruising saloon bookshelf (12:38); a brief discussion of George Crowninshield Jnr and the birth of small boat cruising culture (14:37). Tim notCarruthers gets very cross about Childers’s frankly cavalier disregard for tides and tide tables (16:55); he cites an article in Cruising World by Alistair Buchan proving that the events of October 21 are impossible to re-enact (18:09); there are consequences, too, for October 22 and the plausibility of the row to Memmert (22:52). Lloyd notDavies offers brief notes on Norderney (25:58); we discover that the island is practically British, thanks to Hanoverian connections (27:14); the case is made to put Isak Dinesen into our growing onboard library ( 29:49). Tim notCarruthers tries to understand womens’ cabins (31:30); details of the HMS Daring ‘unisex’ warship (32:14); drawer management on boats - is it different for girls? (34:50); cocoa as a woman's drink, and the story of Egbert Fry (36:52). Club business: Tony F reminds us about the German TV series ‘Das Rätsel der Sandbank’, allowing us to reprise the theme tune (42:08); how ‘The Onedin Line’ fuelled the revolution in Romania (43:14); Jon on Boulter’s lock in Berkshire (45:55); more on ‘The Onedin Line’ and on to ‘Howard’s Way' - we've gone too far... (46:50). Missions for next week: how possible is the row to Memmert?; more meals including breakfast at the Four Seasons Hotel and dinner with the Dollmans; did the address at Schwanallee ever exist? (48:40) MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society : http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea

Finally, after months of talking about having an adventure, Lloyd (notDavies) and Tim (notCarruthers) head off to Germany, using The Riddle of the Sands as their guide. It’s October 2 - 4, both in the book and in the real world. The route is Holtenau to Brunsbüttel. But how does the Germany of today match up to the world of Carruthers and Davies in 1898? We start with a discussion about the difference between ‘reliving’ and ‘replaying’ a book. Inevitably, we ask you again to pledge your support for the full Adventure Club experience, by supporting us at https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands (00:54) Tim (notCarruthers) starts us off at Kiel, taking in the harbour, the bierkeller, the post office and even some of the edgier parts of town (03:22); a musical interlude with Ulrich Schnauss (11:10); Lloyd (notDavies) describes Holtenau and indulges in a bit of container ship spotting (12:03). October 3 finds the two adventurers in Rendsburg, (22:40), enjoying eels form the canal (29:26), and finally realising it’s German Unity day - *not* German Unification Day (31:36); the final stop is Brunsbüttel, leading out into the Elbe and on to the sands... (36:52). Club Business: Nick on Baltrum house numbers (not Borkum!)and in Japan (42:03); Meg knows a song about kümmel (44:32); Brian brings coals from Newcastle(46:22); Jeff helps on the history of foghorns (46:35); Peter focusses on apples from Kappeln, putting the Finkenwerder in the mix (48:08). MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society : http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea Ulrich Schnauss - https://youtu.be/o4LsDPdD4T4 Dring: Song of a Nightclub Proprietress (Felicity Lott) https://youtu.be/XGbGmHwUeUs

There’s barely a couple of pages covering October 20 in ‘The Riddle of the Sands’, but somehow we’ve managed to create an information-packed podcast out of it. We include a bit of Roman history, obscure house numbering systems, spinnakers, gibs & what-not, a symphony composed for foghorns, a plate of wurst, more pipe-smoking *and* a trip to the Foreign Office! Plus we have several excellent contributions, clarifications and corrections from Club Members. Thank you all. First, we remind you that the next podcast will come direct from the Kiel Canal, on exactly the dates (October 2-4) that Carruthers and Davies would have been there. (01:10) If you want to see us goofing around in Germany ‘live’, and receive a resulting chapter of the Handbook, plus a field audio book excerpt, you need to pledge your support for this project at https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands. Tim (notCarruthers) offers a few interesting facts about the Ems (04:32): the site of a Roman military base called Amisia (05:04); how the Dutch have stolen the German wind (06:52); the opening of the Dortmund-Ems canal (08:03); the bombing of Emden in 1944 (11:10); Wolfgang Petersen and ‘Das Boot’(12:22); Baltrum facts, including the islanders’ idiosyncratic attitude to bicycles and house-numbering (13:36). Lloyd (notDavies) works closely with Club Members Tony F. and Frankie to produce a definitive guide to the boat Dulcibella’s sail-plan (15:23); Tony F. describes the different sails (17:38); Frankie produces a drawing (18:45); Lloyd charts out every reference to sails in the book (20:30). Tim gets excited about foghorns (21:58); the Tyfon original that Davies might have used (22:49); beware of buying a fake foghorn (23:57); a musical interlude concerning ‘The Foghorn Requiem’ (25:11). Club Business: as requested by Jeff - a trip to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London (followed by wurst & beer at a German inn) (32:12); a shout-out again to the Kervaig Pipe Club (39:23); Brian on bicycles, and our kümmel related confusion about where Glasgow is (40:26); more kümmel-related facts from Nick (42:47); Tony suggests that there are still wreckers and pirates in the Frisians (44:50). MUSIC CREDIT Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society : http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea Foghorn Requiem: http://foghornrequiem.org/

There’s a lot of information to take in as Carruthers, Davies and von Brüning size each other up over coffee and Kümmel in a cafe in Bensersiel on October 19. Since most of their talk centres around wrecks and wrecking, that’s exactly what our talk turns to in this week’s podcast. First up we reveal our plans to travel down the Kiel Canal on October 2 - October 4 this year. It’s your chance to receive a free sample chapter and audiobook from us, plus live reports from the canal. This is available to subscribers only. All you have to do to become a subscriber is pledge your support at https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands (01:44) Tim (notCarruthers) kicks off a chat about the East Frisians’ alleged ‘weakness for plunder’ (5:34); what is ‘flotsam and jetsam’? (06:26); some excellent information gleaned from Bella Bathurst’s book ‘The Wreckers’ (07:54); the relationship between lifeboaters and wreckers (11:34); the link between Kentish hovellers and the East Frisian chieftains called *hovetlinge* (13:15); Prussian attempts to regulate the East Frisian wreckers: von Brüning as the Strandvögte (16:01). Lloyd (notDavies) investigates von Brüning’s cover story about the wreck of French frigate, the ‘Corinne’. Instead he finds a WW1 submarine (18:12); the true story of Lloyds of London, the wreck of the ‘Lutine’ and its bell( 19:57); another true story about the wreck of the ‘Johanne’ (23:43) We sample Kümmel (24:56); golfers call it ‘putting mixture’ (26:48); a James Bond connection (28:48); why Carruthers & Davies should be drinking tea, not coffee (31:35). Club member Kevin assists us with some information about Bensersiel (34:29); Tim (not Carruthers) tortures Ship’s Dog with a poem about Langeoog (35:29); we try to understand the local street game called Boßeln (37:15); the Cabbage Tour and the proclamation of the Cabbage King (40:33). Club Business (43:05): Brian advises on what kind of bicycle to take on the adventure; Frankie despairs about wreckers (43:57) Graham’s story of driving across - and nearly into - the sea in East Frisia (44:19); Jeff alerts us to OpenHouse in London and a chance to visit the Foreign Office (47:45); Liz on German sauna etiquette (48:19). Missions for next week (50:05): sail & canvas configurations on the ‘Dulcibella’, foghorns, Baltrum and the river Ems. MUSIC CREDIT Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society : http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea

Holidays are now over, and we resume podcasting with a slightly longer than usual show covering two days in the book instead of one. On October 17 and October 18, our heroes Carruthers & Davies find themselves in the Otsumer Ee between the islands of Spiekeroog & Langeroog, until bad weather forces them to head for the port of Bensersiel. Lloyd (NotDavies) tackles October 17. Tim (notCarruthers) considers October 18. First, though, we make an important announcement about our attempts to raise money on http://www.unbound.co.uk. (01:50) We discuss how we’re still keen to publish a new ‘Handbook Edition’ of the Riddle of the Sands, but also explain why we’re now going to have to wait a year before undertaking the real-life adventure. See http://riddleofthesands.net/wordpress/2015/09/04/important-news-about-the-riddle-of-the-sands-adventure-club/ for details. Lloyd (or rather Club Member Tony) introduces us to the dark art of pig ballast (07:52); a few basic facts about Langeoog and a correction by Club Member Tony (the other Tony) about groynes (11:15); the story of Lale Anderson (Langeoog resident for many years) and an even more amazing story about the song ‘Lili Marlene’ (14:26). Tim gets excited about 19th century customs duty and the ‘Zollverein’ (24:16); we hazard guesses about what kind of whisky, salt and coffee Davies would have on board the boat Dulcibella (28:16); the story of Pattersons whisky (including talking parrots) (29:00); Cerebos salt and a tobacco tin (35:31); Symingtons coffee - and pea flour (37:58). Club Business. Peter on a filthy sounding drink that isn’t pink gin (40:20); Brian on modern-day cycling kit (41:44); Nick on 1903 cycling kit (43:14); John and Kevin on Langeoog airfields (44:49); Kevin & Ian on the gunboat Blitz (45:03); the discovery of a North Sea gin (45:22); Jeff on a fantastic spy literature & film conference (46:38). Missions for next week: wrecks and wreckers, treasure & bullion; more local drinking; anything we can find out about Bensersiel and the dyke we’re meant to walk along on October 19. MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Seaa) is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. Lili Marleen - Lale Anderson 1939 original version - https://youtu.be/wh4qe0Hp6RU Lili Marleen - Lale Anderson - Goebbels approved version - https://youtu.be/4Mm8Q5JiJT8 Lili Marleen - Lale Anderson - English language version - https://youtu.be/y0P_m7SZBvQ Lili Marlene - Anne Shelton - https://youtu.be/8HaR1nzQYQk Lili Marlene - Marlene Dietrich - https://youtu.be/RDQnfF6-j48

The entry in Carruthers's log book for October 16 makes mention of: a survey of the Muschel Balge between Wangerooge and Spiekeroog; a spot of hunting for jack snipe; encounters with both the galliot Kormoran and the torpedo gunboat Blitz - the latter armed with four 'Maxims'. Lots for us to get our teeth into there. First, though, Tim (notCarruthers) notes a very specific reference in the book to tide tables. Why does Childers bother with this? And are the tide times across the book actually accurate? (01:49); we discuss the island of Spiekeroog, a place of holidaymakers, groynes and wellness centres (05:13); Lloyd (notDavies) refers to his copy of Brasseys to see if he can find a real-life version of the Blitz (10:40); similarly Tim (notCarruthers) shares a few thoughts about the Kormoran, and German galliots in general (14:31). We learn about jack snipes and how to catch one (18:16); a short interlude about 1980s rabbit hunters of the region (21:45); we discover that the inventor of the Maxim machine gun had a very colourful life - and is buried just down the road from us in Norwood Cemetery (25:29). Club Business: Adrian proposes we all share photos of our personal 'NotDulcibellas' (40:48); Jeff goes book spotting (42:09); a reminder that you can support us financially at unbound.co.uk (42:59); Tony on harbour stinks and tidal flushing (43:41); Kevin on 'something else' about Davies (44:26); A Ron joins the Club (46:00); Patrick mixes the perfect pink gin (46:22). MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea) is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. BBC Radio 4 Tweet of the Day: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03bks90 "Leben auf Spiekeroog" - 1988 - https://youtu.be/YOrrGMqZAHg

At last our heroes Carruthers & Davies arrive at the East Frisian islands. It's October 15, and, in a curious reversal of roles, Davies is quaffing pink gin in a bar, whilst Carruthers is dealing with intruders on the boat. In this podcast you can learn why Wangerooge is rarely in the same place in any given century, how to mix a delicious pink gin (with proper German gin), and how the Frisians used dykes, drainage and 'siels' to build a nation - and create a stink. First up, we ask why does the author Childers bother with a gap between October 7 and October 15 in the book? (01:30); Lloyd NotDavies talks us through the history of Wangerooge tower-building; we do another plug for our crowdfunding page on Unbound.co.uk - pledge now! (09:53) A brief aside about casual anti-semitism in the book (10:46); Tim NotCarruthers puts on his serious history face and delivers a lecture on dykes, drainage and siels/sluices (11:32); East Frisia as a contested space (14:24); did Childers mistake the age-old practice of dyke-building for German acts of militarism? (16:03); how sluicing also involves sewage and stinking harbour pollution (17:05); the problem of leisure craft waste, and where Carruthers and Davies went to the toilet (19:34). Lloyd notDavies mixes up some pink gin (22:06); we avoid drinking the 'old genever' and savour Doornkaat instead (23:52); James Bond is a pink gin drinker too (27:34); we meet another Doornkaat drinker: Horst Schlämmer (28:48); there's even a Doornkaat musical interlude! (30:07) Club Business: Nick sends us a cartoon of the Kaiser, drawn by Queen Victoria (30:49); Ian tells us what 'ahoy' really means (32:03); Tony on Dulcibella's mizzen mast (33:21); Frank on the very wonderful swimmer Annette Kellerman (34:46); William on his real-life travels throughout the Frisians and the Baltic (37:18); Lloyd NotDavies's frank admission that on our adventure to Queenborough we actually went to *the wrong pier* (39:10). MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea) is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. Horst Schlämmer: https://youtu.be/7j64_SXRdig Doornkaat Song: https://youtu.be/dsOqOwe_nzU

We’re meant to be talking about October 6 in ‘Riddle of the Sands’, but frankly this is a period in the book where not a lot is happening, and we’re essentially gearing up for the main spying action starting on October 15. Having been stood up by a man who may (or may not) have had a boat in Norfolk that looks a bit like Dollmann’s Medusa, Lloyd (notDavies) and Tim (notCarruthers) decide to go on a ‘test adventure’ in another part of the world. We’re going back in the book to September 25 when Carruthers set off from London Victoria to catch the Flushing steamer. Can you still do this trip? Is there even a train line anymore, let alone a steamer? We find out. VIDEOS OF THE TRIP COMING SOON AT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcWszEM8KPjYDc01Isxo97g Lloyd (notDavies)’s deep knowledge of train timetables gets us as far as Sittingbourne (04:45); we arrive at Queenborough harbour (06:54); we find the old trainline (07:45); we find the steamer pier! (10:15); we smoke a pipe and talk of encounters with an invading German sailor and a peregrine-protecting birdwatcher (13:35). This is exactly the kind of adventure btw you can expect to be have access to every day in September & October if you pledge some money at http://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands CLUB BUSINESS: John on how to recognise the Kaiser (22:19); Kevin shares our enthusiasm for the actress who plays Frau Dollman in the movie of ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ (23:17); Emma remembers that she borrowed a Rippingille stove from Lady Rozelle Raynes (24:52) Janet warns us against sailing beyond the Elbe in October (26:53); Ian writes a fabulously supportive blog post about the Adventure Club (30:08); ahoy to the Literary Platform for highlighting the Club (31:20); Nick offers to do some legwork on Juist this summer, and we encourage him to row to Memmert (33:30) MISSIONS FOR NEXT WEEK: Wangerooge, pink gin, sluices and fog (36:24) MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea) is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

As we enter a 10-day period of relative quiet in the Sands (story-wise)relating to October 6 - 15, we use the spare time to go to the movies. Thanks to Arthur Beale, we got to watch the 1978 film version of The Riddle of the Sands with 40-50 other ROTS fans, and the bulk of this podcast is dedicated to celebrating what turned out to be an excellent evening. First up, though, we urge you again to pledge your support for the Adventure Club - just £25 gets you the Handbook Edition of this classic adventure book, a ‘field’ audio book and access to a month-long web adventure. http://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands (01:20) A tip of the hat to our hosts Arthur Beale and the purchase of a 1-3/8-inch galvanised rigging screw (06:04); Lloyd (notDavies) runs us through some basic facts about the 1978 film version of The Riddle of the Sands(07:29); we meet the composer of the movie soundtrack, Howard Blake, who gives us some insight into how movie music gets made(09:11); Lloyd gets to meet Club Member Aunt Liz, who disses him about his rope skills (14:55); another treat from Film Club night - maritime artist Martyn Mackrill brings along a wonderful painting of ‘The Dulcibella’ and briefly talks us through its conception (16:47). Someone attending the Film Club night reveals they own a Rippingille stove!(21:16); a discussion about ‘the row to Memmert’ and the perils of running too far ahead in the story (22:24); our main impressions of the film, starting with the rather obvious anti-German tropes and the shadow of two world wars.(25:27); the stepmother (26:40); the radical changes to the story in the opening and the ending of the film (27:01). Club member Kevin challenges the presence of the Kaiser in the film (28:20) and uses a detailed knowledge of times and dates to identify Tirpitz as a much more likely person to be involved in a nefarious naval plan in October 1898 (31:33); Lloyd gets upset about the number of deaths in the film and we discuss the merits of murder in action movies (35:14). NEXT WEEK: there's talk of a trip to Norfolk to see a man with a boat that is a bit like The Medusa, plus a visit to a clothes shop that might kit us out in Norfolk jackets (37:41); ahoy to Oliver at Brooks who is focussing our minds on the cycling element of our proposed Adventure - can two men like us really complete the long bike trip that our trip to Germany will involve? (38:43). MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea) is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. A sample of Howard Blake's excellent soundtrack of the movie: https://youtu.be/3WSoYUiMcoA

It’s October 4 in the classic spy thriller ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ and our heroes Carruthers and Davies have finally got to the other end of the Kiel Canal at Brunsbüttel. Awaiting them is the mighty river Elbe, a first encounter (for Carruthers) with the ‘Sands’ - and also a personal enquiry from Clara Dollmann, a young modern German woman who Davies has taken quite a shine to. In what seems like a fair division of labour, Tim (notCarruthers) is going to spend a lot of time in this podcast talking about sporty women of the age - British, American and German. Meanwhile Lloyd gets to look over maritime charts to work out where we’re going, and what we’re going to come up against when we set out into the Sands for real in the autumn. PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT at http://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands We start with a reminder that Film Club is happening very soon now: there's still time to book a seat (02:43); Lloyd introduces Brunsbüttel and a famous daughter of the town, the heptathlete Jennifer Oeser (04:54); Tim takes the cue to talk about sporty women, starting with a description of the new German 'damen' of 1903 in Jerome K Jerome's 'Three Men on the Bummel' (05:35). We discuss what kind of woman Clara Dollmann is meant to be (07:34); cyclist Annie 'Londonderry' Kopchovsky as a model for the 'new woman' (08:18); how sports clothing drove new fashion trends for feminists (10:36); a few 'outdoorsy' American feminists Molly Childers might have known (13:50); Lady Henry and the Womans Signal feminist newspaper (14:30); was Clara rather shoehorned - or 'spatchcocked' - into this story? (16:03); a tenuous Heidi connection (17:03); a Mata Hari connection (20:17) Lloyd takes us out on to the Elbe and consults a few digital charts (23:52); we are diverted to Cuxhaven to talk about zeppelins (26:21); a surprise Childers connection with Cuxhaven (27:51); another diversion to Heligoland (30:04); a short talk about holidaying in Borkum from Club member Ed (33:22). Club business: Kevin on new women & bamboo bicycles (39:50); JerseyCityFrankie on the Asgard & fruit salts (40:59); Tony on head cheese (41:55); Jon on sausages & wurst (42.17); Liz on tin storage on boats (44:03); John on events in the South China Seas (45:45); 'Ahoy' to edwardianculture.com. Missions for next week: watch the film & help us to navigate the sands on the way to Wangerooge. MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea) is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. Borkum - The Island of my Dreams - https://youtu.be/7_BJoKEm1zk Das Rätsel der Sandbank Trailer - https://youtu.be/XwmmjEpQIuc

It’s October 3 and we’re being towed slowly down the Kiel Canal, preparing for our boating adventure in the Frisian sands, whilst staring out at the ‘vast plains of Holstein'. We explain the benefits of *pledging your support* to the Club at unbound.co.uk (01:22); Lloyd offers a reading recommendation - 'The Year of Reading Dangerously' (4:21); Tim has a proper small boat adventure on the Dengie peninsula with Club member Tom Loosemore (04:50) - sailing to West Mersea, trudging across the marsh, towing the boat in knee-deep water, rowing home against the tide, ruining a pair of flannels. PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT at http://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands Lloyd gives us the lowdown about the East Frisians (17:20), with much talk of the Inselbahn island train service (20:02); Tim offers what he knows about Holstein (24:26) and asks the question: why did Childers fail to write about all the animals of the region? Gulls & seals (25:15), Holstein cows including a famous presidential pet (26:05), Holsteiner horses (28:22); a few salient facts about Rendsberg (30:15); Holstein’s greatest literary figure with a (sort of) Childers connection - Theodor Mommsen (30:40). Musical interlude: the Schleswig Holstein Festival Choir, and the sad tale of Eric Whitacre's ‘Seal Lullaby’, based on a Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book story (34:03); we sample cigars and schnapps of the region, and of the period (33:45) - and then on to Club Business (40:10)/ John Ironside’s family connections (40:18); Erskine Childers shares with us a link to his great grandfather’s WW1 notebooks (41:08); Patrick on mooring Baltic-style and drinking at the British Kiel Yacht Club (41:34); Ian on the resting place of Esterhazy the spy (44:37); Sam on reading ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ in exotic locations - where and when did you last read this great book? (43:50); ahoy to Porter of the Bookseller for commissioning an article about our project - http://www.thebookseller.com/futurebook/digitally-book-mapping-line-sands-can-unbound-crowdfund-riddle(47:27). Next week: What do we know about Dollman’s boat ‘The Medusa’? What do we know about Dollman’s daughter Clara? We propose a discussion about attitudes towards women who like to sail alone - both now and in 1903; how are we going to get from Brunsbüttel to Wangeroog? MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea) is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. The Seal Lullaby at Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival 2013 - https://youtu.be/3w7q1Db0IfI

In which we discuss our plans to re-enact the classic spy novel ‘The Riddle of the Sands’, following the route of Carruthers & Davies day by day through Germany. This week we’re concentrating on October 2 in Kiel, with our heroes waiting to go through the Holtenau Lock. They pass the time with stocking up on supplies, including 'weird brands of sausages and tinned meats'. DON’T FORGET – you can support this project by pledging to pay for access to the live web adventure in the autumn, and acquire a beautiful Handbook Edition of ‘The Riddle of the Sands' which we are threatening to write. For full details go to: http://www.unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands. Spread the word. We can’t go on our adventure without you! In the podcast we discuss: the shopping list (01:23); differing opinions about what we will be eating on the real adventure in the autumn (02:16); Lloyd tells us about the state of the Kiel Canal (3:06) and the existence of a short ancient British film of the canal opening (05:46); our own plans for filming & live streaming (07:44). Tim on our approach to 'dressing up' (08:47); clothes shopping (09:36); the uselessness of old sea boots (10:10); secret messages in sweaters (11:46); Lloyd eats sausage and tinned meat (aka brawn or 'head cheese')(13:29); a musical interlude from Die Toten Hosen (18:50). Club Business – Tony on his experience of going through the canal (23:50); Patrick on a trip through the canal 50 years ago on his way to Finland (25:26); Martin on his painting of the Dulcibella, which he's going to bring to Film Club night on July 2 - join us! (26:52); Kevin points to an old picture of steamers in Flensburg harbour (28:07); Patrick has an excellent system for rating difficult boat tasks (28:38); Kevin reveals the existence of a railway to Juist - in 1898! (29:26); Kevin goes into fantastic detail about the clothes we should be wearing, including, maybe, a 'Dollman' (30:49); Ian has a job which is made easier by 'My Lady Nicotine'..?(34:01). MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea) is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. Die Toten Hosen - Eisgekühlter Bommerlunder - https://youtu.be/UmPgLCezAGw

In which we discuss our plans to re-enact the classic spy novel 'The Riddle of the Sands’, following the route of Carruthers & Davies day by day through Germany. This week we’re concentrating on October 1, the day that Davies reveals what this duck shooting holiday is really all about. He recounts his first encounters with the duplicitous Dollman and honourable German naval officer von Brüning. To celebrate the arrival of the ‘baddies’ and their boats, we consider who might have been the real-life inspirations for these two men. Importantly, we discuss how we’re going to get to Kiel - and exactly what kind of apples, the bargeman Bartels would be taking to Kappeln. DON’T FORGET - you can support this project by pledging to pay for access to the live web adventure in the autumn, and acquire a beautiful Handbook Edition of ‘The Riddle of the Sands which we are threatening to write. For full details go to: http://www.unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands. Spread the word. We can’t go on our adventure without you! In the podcast we discuss: how you can support us and why it’s worth doing so (01:22); how we’re going to play with live streaming technology such as Periscope and Google Hangouts (01:54); how we might use Open Street Maps to chart our route and the practicalities of cycling from Flensburg to Kiel (03:05). Lloyd on real-life Dollmans(05:45); the possible influence of the Dreyfus affair, with Esterhazy as Dollman (05:58); enter spymaster Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming, another Dollman-like figure (08:42); another British agent, William Melville, inspiration for 'The Secret Agent', acquaintance of Harry Houdini and the original ‘M’ (11:24). So who are the real-life von Brünings? (15:29); Tirpitz & the SMS Blitz (15:45) why all this talk about torpedo gunboats?(18:38); Hipper the ‘baby killer’ (19:17); the musical interlude - the story of Colonel Bogey (21:56); a *real* von Brüning (24:57); even the apples in this story lead double lives… (26:26). Club Business - Kevin on the workings of the Edwardian civil service (30:38); Liz corrects Lloyd’s story about Childers rowing from Newhaven (32:27); Film Club night is looming, see http://www.eastcoasteventsguide.co.uk/arthur-beale-events-riddle-of-the-sands for details (32:58); Jeff on the different kinds of map in The Riddle of the Sands (33:29); Jerry is looking for crew (35:11). Missions for next week: tinned meats, mud-coloured clothes, the Holtenau lock and how to enter the Kiel Canal (33:56). MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea) is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. The Band of HM Royal Marines, Plymouth Division conducted by Major F.J. Ricketts, with "Colonel Bogey" - https://youtu.be/SERBukoIjM0

In which we discuss our plans to re-enact the classic spy novel 'The Riddle of the Sands’, following the route of Carruthers & Davies day by day through Germany. This week we’re concentrating on September 29 & 30, in which we arrive at the Schlei Fjord for a spot of duck shooting, beer and music. We also talk at length about how you can support this project by pledging to pay for access to the live web adventure in the autumn, and acquire a beautiful Handbook Edition of ‘The Riddle of the Sands which we are threatening to write. For full details go to: http://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands. Spread the word. We can’t go on our adventure without you! In the podcast we discuss: how you can support us and why it’s worth doing so (01:12); the fate of Childers’s real-life Dulcibella (5:51), including details about such characters as Claude ‘Happy’ Hapgood (11:11); the discovery of a decent ‘theme tune’ for the Dulcibella, arranged by Britten (14:04); a brief but spooky listen to German music boxes of the late 1800s (15:24); Vikings make an appearance and reinforce worries about the Germans (20:45); the low-down on what kind of ducks Carruthers would have been shooting (24:37). Club Business - Erskine Childers’s great grandson sets us straight on an episode in Cambridge (28:27); Tony kicks on with the centreboard vs leeboard debate and alerts us to the British Army Sailing Club (30:03); Amanda tells us about her mother-in-law, who has stories to tell about spending every summer in Norderney for most of her life (31:55) Missions for next week (33:56) - information please about Bartels, Baddies, Boats… and Babes (33:54) MUSIC CREDITS Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea Great_Open_Sea) is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. Symphonion Antique Disc Music Box, c. 1895 - https://youtu.be/zj1n4iDoXfA Demonstrating an antique Symphonion Music box (24cm) - https://youtu.be/HXxphL2j6mo Polyphon Music Box - https://youtu.be/ebFlmFk9pGM Dulcibella, Whene’er I Sue For A Kiss, Z485 - https://goodmorningbritten.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/listening-to-britten-purcell-dulcibella-wheneer-i-sue-for-a-kiss/