A short story of food and misadventure - but all’s well in the end:

Almost exactly 400 years ago a group of “Adventurers” (venture capitalists) was given a charter by King James to form the Virginia Company. (The Brits were keen to grab North America before the Spanish did.) Eight ships headed west and on board the Sea Venture was William Strachey, who was to become the Governor of Virginia.  In June “a dreadful storm and hideous began to blow from out of the north-east”.  Strachey describes the storm at length, but then it gets worse “Fury added to fury, one storm urging a second more outrageous than the former….It could not be said to rain the waters like whole rivers did flood in the air.”

Not surprisingly, the Sea Venture sprang leaks, which the crew attempted to stop with pieces of beef. Amazingly the ship was carrying a staggering 12,000 lbs (5,400 kg) of biscuits (they had obviously over-provisioned) which almost caused their ruin as, made wet by the deluge of rain and sea water, they practically turned in to cement and clogged the pumps.  Just as everyone was making their peace with their maker, land was spotted (Bermuda), but attempting to find refuge the Sea Venture struck a reef.  Fortunately, is was wedged between two rocks, which meant that not only was everyone able to get ashore, including the ship’s dog, but the crew were able to salvage the cargo and strip the vessel of useful timbers.  The ship’s ribcage obligingly then rolled over and sank. The following year Deliverance, built using timbers from the stricken ship, along with the newly built Patience successfully arrived in Jamestown, Virginia.