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Episode 129: The Mystery of the Itata - El último viaje (The Final Voyage)

By Duolingo on Thu 16 Feb 2023

Ricardo Bordones and Carlos Cortés are caught in a huge storm and fear they may suffer the same fate as the passengers of the Vapor Itata. How much will they risk to find the sunken shipwreck?

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Transcript

Martina: Hi everyone, a quick note before we begin. This season of the Duolingo Spanish Podcast is serialized. So if you haven’t heard the previous episodes yet, go back and listen to them first.

In our previous episode, Carlos and Ricardo made a desperate attempt to find the sunken Vapor Itata. And they found themselves stranded in the middle of the ocean, wondering if they would meet the same fate as the passengers of the Itata.

The wind was growing stronger, and the waves were rocking their boat side to side. They were in the middle of the ocean, together with their captain, Freddy…in a small boat with a broken motor…more than 100 miles from the coast. Carlos didn’t know how they would survive.

Carlos: Yo sentía que la tormenta podía voltear el barco en cualquier momento. Ese día de agosto de 2017 entendí cómo se pudieron sentir los pasajeros del Vapor Itata momentos antes del naufragio en una tormenta tan grande. Y nosotros estábamos en un bote tan pequeño.

Martina: Carlos and Ricardo dropped an anchor into the sea, to try and stabilize the boat. Meanwhile, Captain Freddy was trying to fix the broken motor. Carlos and Ricardo looked at each other and put on their life jackets.

Carlos: Si Freddy no arreglaba el motor, teníamos que saltar al agua y esperar la ayuda. Eso sería más seguro que quedarnos en el barco.

Martina: But right when they were about to jump overboard and abandon ship, Captain Freddy, who was still working frantically on the motor, told Carlos to try and start the engine.

Carlos: Yo intenté encenderlo, pero nada pasaba. Freddy insistió y me dijo: “¡Intenta otra vez!”. Pero otra vez, nada. No teníamos otra opción. Yo empecé a caminar, listo para saltar al agua, pero… Freddy me dijo: “¿Lo puedes intentar otra vez, Carlos?”.

Martina: Carlos turned the key…

Carlos: ¡El motor se encendió! En ese momento, me puse a llorar de felicidad y abracé a Ricardo. Casi perdimos nuestras vidas buscando el Itata, pero no íbamos a parar. Esta experiencia nos hizo más fuertes porque la peor situación había pasado. Estábamos vivos después de algo tan terrible y eso nos dio la motivación para buscar el barco… una última vez.

Martina: Welcome, les damos la bienvenida a “The Mystery of the Itata,” a special serialized season of the Duolingo Spanish Podcast. I’m Martina Castro.

In this very special season, we're taking you to Chile, to follow two people who dedicated a decade of their lives to investigating the true story of a lost ship…in hopes of honoring the 500 people who lost their lives at sea when it sank.

This is our sixth and final episode. To bring you this miniseries, we’ve dug through history books, newspaper archives, and consulted with historians.

As always, our characters will be using intermediate Spanish, and I’ll be chiming in for context in English. Keep an ear out for the Chilean accent in this series, where the S is often silenced, especially at the end of a syllable, so the word buscar will sound like “buHcar.”

If you miss something, you can always skip back and listen again. We also offer full transcripts at podcast.duolingo.com.

Here we go… Our sixth and last episode: El último viaje, The Final Voyage.

Martina: Even after almost losing their lives, Carlos and Ricardo were sure that the remains of the Vapor Itata were located in the area called Bajo 6.1. Earlier in their search, the Navy had warned them against exploring that area, because of its dangerous rocks. But then a tip from a fishing captain convinced them that those rocks were actually the hull of the Itata.

Carlos: Habían pasado más de diez años desde que comenzamos a buscar el Itata y ya no teníamos más dinero para continuar. Habíamos sacrificado muchas cosas por esta misión. Por ejemplo, tiempo con la familia, nuestros trabajos y mucho dinero. Por esas razones, decidimos que esta era la última oportunidad para encontrar el Itata.

Martina: Carlos and Ricardo felt they needed to properly search Bajo 6.1, one last time. But they didn’t have any more money. So, Carlos thought their best option was to ask the Universidad Católica del Norte, where he worked, if they could borrow its research boat, the “Stella Maris.”

Carlos: Le explicamos que encontrar el Vapor Itata era importante para la universidad, pero también para todo Chile. La universidad dijo que nos iban a prestar la Stella Maris, pero solo por dos días. Nos sentimos tranquilos y seguros porque no teníamos que volver al mar con el bote pequeño, sino con un barco de verdad. Ahora era el momento de regresar a aquel lugar.

Martina: Their new mission was set: They would have two days aboard the Stella Maris, to search Bajo 6.1 for the Itata shipwreck. But before they left, Ricardo wanted to invite someone special on the expedition. His name was Matthias Gorny, and he was a veteran sea explorer. Matthias was from Germany, had lived in Chile for many years, and he knew the depths of the Pacific better than most.

Ricardo: Yo conocía a Mathias, desde hacía muchos años porque a ambos nos interesaba el mar. Una vez, le hablé sobre la investigación del Itata y él me dijo: “Cuando tengas las coordenadas exactas, llámame y yo te voy a ayudar.”. Él era un explorador como nosotros, así que cuando tuve la información, lo llamé.

Martina: Matthias also had a special piece of equipment that could help them find the shipwreck. An underwater drone, or dron submarino.

Ricardo: El dron submarino era un cuadrado grande de metal. Tenía cámaras, luces y una tecnología que podía resistir a más de 200 metros por debajo del nivel del mar.

Martina: On November 5th, 2017, the Stella Maris left the dock at the university. Once again, they sailed toward the dangerous, rocky area. But this time, Carlos felt optimistic.

Carlos: Cuando llegamos al Bajo 6.1, el mar estaba tranquilo y no había nubes en el cielo. Era un día soleado. Las condiciones eran completamente diferentes de cuando estuvimos en el pequeño barco, en medio de la tormenta.

Martina: When they arrived, the drone was carefully lowered into the water. Inside the research boat, Carlos sat next to Matthias in front of two computer screens, or pantallas. There, they could follow what the underwater camera was seeing…in real-time.

Carlos: Al principio las pantallas estaban negras y no veíamos nada. Pero cuando la cámara se encendió debajo del agua, fue muy emocionante. Debajo del agua, casi todo se veía marrón por la arena.

Martina: The screens showed fish, seaweed, a few rocks, and a lot of sand, or arena…but nothing that resembled a shipwreck. After several hours of searching, Carlos and Ricardo were starting to lose hope, or esperanza.

Carlos: Estábamos perdiendo la esperanza. Cada minuto que pasaba era una oportunidad para encontrar el barco. ¡Pero era muy difícil porque el mar es enorme!

Martina: The first day passed with no sign of the Itata. With only one more day to find the shipwreck, Carlos was getting worried.

Carlos: ¡Era muy frustrante! No veíamos nada y no sabíamos si el Vapor Itata de verdad se había hundido ahí. Parecía que había desaparecido y teníamos poco tiempo para explorar esa enorme zona.

Martina: Carlos realized they needed more time, so he called his contact at the university and asked them to extend their deadline. The director hesitated, but gave them two more days with the boat.

Carlos: Pasamos el segundo día buscando pero sólo vimos peces y arena. El tercer día fue igual. Pero… al cuarto, algo ocurrió…

Martina: On their fourth and final day, they lowered the drone into the sea again. And after a few minutes, something on the screen caught their attention. It stood out in the sand, because it was lighter, almost white. It looked like a bone, or un hueso. They zoomed in…

Carlos: ¡Era un hueso humano! Podía ser de cualquier naufragio, pero teníamos la esperanza de que fuera del Vapor Itata.

Martina: And suddenly, they saw what looked like a very large pole… No one knew what they were looking at, but Carlos started shouting one word…over and over.

Carlos: Solo podía decir una cosa: “¡Mástil! ¡Mástil!”.

Martina: The pole was one of the Itata’s masts, or mástiles. It was the exact same kind of mast that a steamship like the Vapor Itata would’ve had, and that they had seen in photographs.

Ricardo: Sorprendido, yo miré a Carlos. ¡No lo podía creer! Después de diez años, ¡habíamos encontrado el Vapor Itata! Era una estructura muy grande. Creo que antes era de color oscuro, pero después de tantos años en el agua, ahora era de color azul. Los huesos humanos, el mástil confirmaron algo… Este era sin dudas el Vapor Itata.

Martina: For several moments, Carlos and Ricardo stared at the screen. They didn’t want to miss anything. But finally, they turned to each other and embraced. Carlos was flooded with emotion.

Carlos: Fue un abrazo muy sentimental y empezamos a llorar. Buscamos por tanto tiempo, y por fin habíamos encontrado este barco de casi cien años. Éramos solamente dos hombres comunes con un sueño. Encontrar el barco fue una enorme satisfacción, pero también nos hizo sentir muy tristes. En ese momento, nos sentíamos conectados con las víctimas y entendimos verdaderamente esta enorme tragedia.

Martina: After 10 years of research and countless interviews and boat trips, Carlos and Ricardo had finally found the Vapor Itata: a ship that had sunk 100 years before — in a place that no one else had ever explored.

Carlos: Habíamos empezado a buscar este barco hacía diez años. Encontrarlo fue como encontrar la última pieza de un rompecabezas muy grande. Ahora solo teníamos que poner todas las piezas sobre la mesa, ¡y terminarlo!

Martina: In addition to the bones and the mast, Carlos and Ricardo discovered other remains that allowed them to verify the ship was indeed the Vapor Itata.

Carlos: Vimos una parte de la cubierta del barco, encontramos huesos de animales y las fichas que se usaban para pagarles a los trabajadores de la industria del salitre. Con esta información confirmamos que este barco era el Itata.

Martina: They also discovered bags of cement and bottles of wine — objects they had read about in Jorge X’s book and newspapers published at the time. But Chilean law prevented them from extracting any part of the shipwreck.

Carlos: Hay una ley en Chile que dice: “Los naufragios de más de 50 años bajo el agua son monumentos nacionales y están protegidos por el gobierno.”.

Martina: Even though they didn't have the physical remains of Itata, Carlos and Ricardo were lucky to have captured everything on film. Ricardo felt it was finally time to finish their documentary.

Ricardo: Nuestra misión era muy importante. Queríamos mostrar al Vapor Itata, pero también teníamos que contar toda su historia. Era una historia que nadie en el mundo conocía, ni siquiera en Chile, nuestro país. También era fundamental contar las historias de las personas que viajaron en ese barco. Ahora el libro de Jorge X tenía más sentido para nosotros.

Martina: In February of 2018, Carlos and Ricardo finished their documentary, and they organized a small screening in the town of Los Choros. They set it up right in the middle of the town’s plaza, where they put a giant curtain and a projector. Locals brought chicken soup to eat — the same soup that their ancestors had given the survivors of the Itata in 1922.

Ricardo: Todo esto fue posible gracias a la gente de Los Choros. Ellos mantuvieron esta historia viva y nosotros queríamos darles las gracias. Estaban muy emocionados, podíamos verlo en sus caras.

Martina: A few months later, in June 2018, the Chilean Navy invited Carlos and Ricardo to board their ship, “Cabo de Hornos,” for a tribute, or un homenaje.

Ricardo: Después de encontrar el Vapor Itata, la Armada de Chile organizó un evento para hacer el mismo viaje del Itata. Ellos tenían que confirmar que el barco estaba ahí, para cambiar los mapas. Además, querían recordar a las víctimas con este homenaje. Nosotros aceptamos la invitación, muy contentos.

Martina: But when they entered the ship, Carlos and Ricardo were surprised to find the descendants of the Itata’s passengers were also on board.

Carlos: En el barco nos sorprendió ver a Daniel Recassens, el sobrino nieto de Elba.

Martina: Daniel was a journalist and all his life he grew up hearing stories about his great aunt Elba. Daniel wanted to keep her memory alive by telling her story.

Daniel Recassens: Mi tía abuela, Elba, era una mujer muy inteligente que había aprendido a leer, escribir, nadar y vivir una vida completa como mujer. Y eso era muy poco común en esa época. Para mí, estar en ese barco era poder sentir un poco la historia que había escuchado durante toda mi vida.

Martina: But Daniel hadn’t made the trip alone. He was accompanied by a 16-year-old girl. He showed Carlos and Ricardo a family photo of Elba and the resemblance was striking… The girl standing in front of them had her same green eyes. She was Daniel’s daughter, and her name was Montserrat.

Montserrat Recassens: Gracias a mi padre, yo conozco esta historia desde que nací. Siempre me hizo sentir muy triste pensar que alguien de mi familia había perdido su vida en esa tragedia. Pero, cuando me subí al barco para ver el Vapor Itata, sentí la historia de una manera diferente. No era solo parte de la historia de nuestra familia, sino que era algo de todo Chile.

Martina: They spent two days in the Pacific Ocean, following the Itata’s route, and then they reached the area Bajo 6.1 — the place where the ship had sunk and where Carlos had spotted the mast and other remains of the ship.

Carlos: Cuando llegamos al Bajo 6.1, subimos a la parte superior del barco. Era… un día gris y había mucho viento. Alguien leyó un texto en honor a las víctimas. Fue un momento muy especial.

Martina: For Ricardo, returning to the area where the Vapor Itata had sunk was like closing an important chapter of his life.

Ricardo: Nunca imaginé que, después de tantos años, estaría en un homenaje para las víctimas del Vapor Itata en el lugar donde el barco se había hundido.

Martina: Toward the end of the trip, a sailor blew his whistle. At the signal, a small group threw a large bouquet of flowers into the sea, in honor of the victims. Daniel and Montserrat watched as the flowers scattered across the water.

Daniel Recassens: Fue… muy simbólico. En ese momento, se cerró, un capítulo que estuvo abierto por cien años.

Martina: One hundred years… It seemed like a long time ago. But the story of the Vapor Itata impacted so many lives — past and present — that for Carlos and Ricardo, it felt like finding the ship was merely the beginning…of a whole new journey.

Carlos: Es importante recordar… recordar, a los muertos, porque algo así no puede volver a ocurrir. Nosotros tenemos mucho trabajo. Todavía hay muchos chilenos que no saben nada del Vapor Itata.

Ricardo: Encontrar este barco fue una gran aventura para la historia de nuestro país. Pero nuestro trabajo no ha terminado. Nosotros vamos a seguir contando esta historia porque algo tan importante no se puede olvidar nunca.

Martina: Ricardo Bordones and Carlos Cortés are still good friends and they’re developing a new film about the Vapor Itata, which they hope will become a success, like the blockbuster Titanic. They’ve also started a new project to inventory everything from the Vapor Itata that’s underwater and eventually create a museum.

“The Mystery of the Itata” is a production of Duolingo and Adonde Media. Our producers this season were Tali Goldman and Laura Ubaté González. Our managing editor was David Alandete. Our senior editors were Laura Isensee and Natacha Ruck. Our managing producer was Laura Hernández. Our production manager was Román Frontini. The production coordinator was Javiera May. Our assistant producer was Andrés Fechtenholz. Audio editing and sound design was done by Andrés Fechtenholz, Daniel Murcia, and Mauricio Mendoza. Our supervising sound designer, in charge of mixing and mastering, was Antonio Romero. Our sound supervisor was Martín Cruz. Original music was composed by Nicolas Pagella. Our lead creative producers at Duolingo were Alexa Fernández and Laura Macomber.

Additional Duolingo story editing and Spanish language support was provided by Lorena Kanzki, María Mandelli, Gina Rovirosa Trujillo, Kevin Kunitake, María Abascal, Tim Shey, and Holly Munson.

Voice actors for this series were Guillermo Ugalde, Macarena Barros, Raúl Aliaga Lewis, Laura Antonia Carcelades Ocamica, Gaspar Santiago Aliaga Roccatagliata, Camilo Raúl Aliaga Roccatagliata, Ignacio Andrés Krumm León, Lorena Aida Henriquez Vera, and Estela Hidalgo May.

We’d also like to thank the recording engineers Jorge Esteban and Pablo González, and executive producer Raúl Aliaga at TOC Música, a recording studio in Santiago de Chile. And Sebastián Widner, the recording engineer at Widner Studios in Coquimbo, Chile.

Our storytellers Ricardo and Carlos would also like to give special thanks to Javier Sellanes and the Universidad Católica del Norte.

We'd love to know what you thought of this series! You can write us an email at podcast@duolingo.com and call and leave us a voicemail or audio message on WhatsApp, at +1-703-953-93-69. Don’t forget to say your name and where you’re from!

If you liked this story, please share it! You can find the audio and a transcript of each episode at podcast.duolingo.com. You can also follow us on Apple Podcasts or on your favorite listening app, so you never miss an episode.

With over 500 million users, Duolingo is the world's leading language learning platform, and the most downloaded education app in the world. Duolingo believes in making education free, fun, and available to everyone. To join, download the app today, or find out more at duolingo.com. I’m your host and executive producer, Martina Castro, ¡gracias por escuchar!

Credits

This episode was produced by Duolingo and Adonde Media.

Producer: Tali Goldman
Narrators & Protagonists: Ricardo Bordones and Carlos Cortés
Other Voices: Daniel Recassens and Montserrat Recassens
Script Editor: Natacha Ruck
Senior Editor: Laura Isensee
Managing Editor: David Alandete
Audio Editor & Sound Designer: Andrés Fechtenholz
Production Manager: Román Frontini
Production Coordination: Javiera May
Assistant Producer: Andrés Fechtenholz
Original Music: Nicolás Pagella
Supervising Sound Designer, Mixing & Mastering: Antonio Romero
Executive Producer/Host: Martina Castro