About

Most podcasts are recorded in padded rooms by people who have never been chased by pirates. This one is different. Cap'n Davo's True Tales comes directly from the people who build, test and deliver the Noordic — a range of performance motor boats built for the real waters of Southeast Asia. Not the brochure version. The actual version. With the chop, the heat, the shipping lanes, and the occasional crocodile.

Every episode is a true story from the field — from sea trials gone sideways, deliveries that took unexpected detours, and anchorages that turned out to be someone else's territory. The names have been changed. The boats have not. The squid was, unfortunately, exactly as described.

Boat companies don't usually make podcasts. They make brochures with photos of people in white linen holding wine. We tried that. It was boring. So instead we turned the actual chaos of building and running boats around Southeast Asia into a comedy-adventure series — and somehow that felt more honest.

The Noordic range is built by people who spend real time on the water, in real conditions, making real decisions. Some of those decisions are excellent. Some of them become podcast episodes. You can probably guess which ones end up here.

The show is styled after 1950s pulp adventure magazines, old maritime charts, and the general attitude that life is more interesting with the throttle open. Original artwork. Professional voice acting. Sound design that takes the whole thing far more seriously than the subject matter strictly warrants.

Cap'n Davo, Finnigan, the Lady in Red, the harbourmaster with the clipboard, the pirates who really should have picked a different grey boat — every character in this show is inspired by someone real. The kind of people you meet day by day on the water across Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Some are barely disguised. Several have listened to the episodes and recognised themselves. None of them have complained. The pirates have not been contactable for comment.