Welcome • User Guide
ToS • Privacy • Canary
Donate • Bugs • License

©2025 Poal.co

1.2K

My dad escaped the iron curtain by hiding aboard his best friends ship (they were merchant marine officers), and a week into their voyage when they stopped near Istanbul, they shimmied down the anchor line and swam 4 miles to the shore in freezing waters, TL;DR version.

I want to honor his memory by writing a book about what lead him to that moment and about that night specifically when they made their escape.

So AMA? I've grown up hearing the story many times, and before he passed I sat down and mined it for as many details as he could recall.

Any questions in this post will help me in writing the book specifically, what people want to learn about and what interests people about the story.

My dad escaped the iron curtain by hiding aboard his best friends ship (they were merchant marine officers), and a week into their voyage when they stopped near Istanbul, they shimmied down the anchor line and swam 4 miles to the shore in freezing waters, TL;DR version. I want to honor his memory by writing a book about what lead him to that moment and about that night specifically when they made their escape. So AMA? I've grown up hearing the story many times, and before he passed I sat down and mined it for as many details as he could recall. Any questions in this post will help me in writing the book specifically, what people want to learn about and what interests people about the story.

(post is archived)

You are currently inside a comment thread.
Click here to see all the comments (21).
[–] [deleted] • 1 pt

Bioluminescent Phytoplankton in freezing waters?

Cool story, bro.

[–] • 0 pt

hey This just in from "I shouldn't care but I'll go the extra mile today Island":

I looked up, the term bioluminescent phytoplankton. But you know what? he never said it was phytoplankton. He said the waters lit up from bioluminescent as they swam away.

You have the tact and grasp of a jogger.

[–] [deleted] • 0 pt

Maybe you should omit that part from the story line because 70 degree bath water hardly classifies as freezing, especially when swimming 6 gorillian miles to shore.

Or, just stick to writing Romance Novels.

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

Ahh yes, me with my lived experience and you with your impressive and deep knowledge of all the localized hydrographic biomes of the world. How could I ever compete, I've been (((found))) lmfao. Yes, it is possible to die from exposure to cold waters, freezing is a relative term because it WAS near istanbul, not greenland, and it says right here in my bullshit meter that you're a faggot. I am thoroughly unimpressed! Thanks for playing though.