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RickJ · Dec 20, 2008, 07:37 AM

I watched this premier episode last night:

Sharon Novak did a 171 day solo sailing trip and web-cammed it for [to the best of what I remember) some organization or website that she was a part of or headed.

It fascinated me.

The problem is that the show (including what they tried to make viewers think was real webcam stuff) was a reenactment.

They showed the shadow of some huge sea creature swimming about her boat after she got into the water to find out why the motor stopped working after something hit the boat. In the end, she fell overboard after something again hit her boat (while checking out the abandoned boat of someone who had put in a distress call about some creature in the water. The boat supposedly had blood all over it) and perished.

I've googled and googled and found nothingabout the real story. My opinion of the family of Discovery Channels has dropped several notches.

Does anyone know the real story?

I'll be the first to apologize if the true story can be found and it turns out that the Lost Tapes episode was at least partially and fairly based on a true story.

Couchcarrot · Dec 22, 2008, 10:48 PM

Here is a link from Wikipedia, a generally reliable source, which seems
To confirm your suspicion:

Lost Tapes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

RickJ · Dec 23, 2008, 06:09 AM

I'm surprised that snopes does not have anything on this story. I hunted at snopes.com looking for a way to suggest an entry but did not find one.

Maybe this thread will be a prompt for them to get something there :)

Bustinka · Jan 28, 2009, 05:34 AM

I watched a repeat of the Monster of Monterey Bay, and it occured to me that as the boat was sailing away, the sail was trimmed and tight. In previous shots, it was loose and flapping, and in fact, was the problem which made her attempt to fix it just before she was knocked off the boat. The shot of the supposed pleisiosaur seemed fake.

RickJ · Jan 28, 2009, 05:56 AM

It was all fake... all reenactments. For what the show proposes, I'd think they'd show some actual footage... especially in this case where the whole story was supposedly based on the girl's filmed trip.

Broccoli · Feb 24, 2009, 12:15 PM

I also watched the episode of Lost Tapes with Sharon Novak. At first, I thought it seemed staged, but the supposed purpose of having webcams onboard was so that she could "broadcast" to people (I believe on the web only) everything that she did during her trip. So, I thought, "OK, it seems staged because she is "putting on a show" for viewers." I could accept that. However, two BIG points stick out that make the validity of this story questionable. First, when she falls off the boat and her boyfriend tells her (via speaker? ) to cut herself loose and swim to the back of the boat because she is too weak to pull herself up on the side of the boat. What kind of an idiot would tell someone to cut themselves free of a tether meant to keep them from floating away from the boat in the first place? Second, as previously mentioned by another answer, the sail was miraculously fixed so that the wind caught it causing the boat to float away so fast that Sharon couldn't keep up.

This is just another case of the "entertainment" industry assuming that viewers are stupid.

NeedKarma · Feb 24, 2009, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by Broccoli

...but the supposed purpose of having webcams onboard was so that she could "broadcast" to people (I believe on the web only) everything that she did during her trip.

And everything that is webcast can be recorded very easily so that's another area of wonder. Too many red flags about this voyage of hers.

RickJ · Feb 24, 2009, 12:41 PM

Yep. There's not a hint, anywhere on the web, that Novak is a real person or that her voyage was "broadcasted" anywhere.

Sadly, I'm seeing more and more crap like this even on the History Channel and the Science Channel.

Like just last night there was a SUPERBLY STUPID show on about the "Lost Book of Nostradamus".

What a bunch of HOOEY it was!

Broccoli · Feb 24, 2009, 12:54 PM

The "entertainment" industry seems to have run out of original ideas, so they are putting out a bunch of crap. Over the last few years I have been finding fewer and fewer programs that actually hold any interest for me.

RickJ · Feb 24, 2009, 12:58 PM

It's too bad that the likes of the Discovery, History and Science channels can't stick to good stuff like... well, like History and Science!

Sheesh.

NeedKarma · Feb 24, 2009, 01:03 PM

We still have Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters!

Broccoli · Feb 24, 2009, 03:41 PM

RickJ, I totally agree with you. I remember when the Discovery Channel first became available in my area back in the 80's. It was all about documentaries and truly interesting stuff. Now, I can barely stomach most of the programs it puts out.

Tantar · Feb 24, 2009, 08:02 PM

I watched the show today and feel that it was fake as well. I have lived in Monterey my whole life, but I don't recall this story being in the local news. But then again I don't watch the news every day.

I do know that there is a story of a sea monster called BOBO: The Old Man of the Sea.It's very popular in Monterey. I did a report on this story when I was in grade school.

Here is a link to a history of the monster. I hope this helps with your search!

Monster Swell by | Page 1 | October 25, 2007 | Monterey County Weekly | The tale of Bobo, Monterey Bay's sea creature,

RickJ · Feb 25, 2009, 06:10 AM

Originally Posted by NeedKarma

We still have Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters!

Thankfully YES :)

And How it's Made, Deconstruction, Digging for the Truth, etc...

And my most recent favorite: Brink: Science Channel

NeedKarma · Feb 25, 2009, 06:34 AM

Shoot I don't get that show 'cause it's on the Science Channel and I have a pretty basic cable subscription.

I was oddly infatuated with a show about vermin infestations and the extermonator company that took care of it, the show seems to be off air now.

Found it: Verminators : Discovery Channel

aimeeg · Jul 8, 2009, 01:35 PM

Although the situations are real and this may have happened to other sailors in the waters of Monterey, Sharon Novak may not be real. I have yet to find any information on Sharon. If she had been a real person who was lost at sea, there would have been information on the news, there would be information on Google. She was a reporter so I assume there would be information on her even before she set sail. This story is interesting to many people so if it were true, not just animal planet would have information on sharon's disappearance. The show "the lost tapes" claimed that Sharon documented her sail through monterey with web cams so people could follow her journey. If this was true, where are those tapes? Where is the information on that? I believe the story of Sharon Novak was solely inspired by the stories of other people lost at sea. I believe much of what the show will air are stories inspired by events that we are not fully aware of.

ArmchairDeity · Jul 30, 2009, 12:42 AM

"This story is inspired by the possibility that such creatures exist." That's the "disclaimer" at the beginning of the show. Lost Tapes is an entirely fictional show. It's not based on a true story and it's got nothing to do with anyone who's ever lived for real. So no, Sharon Novak didn't sail around the world and the whole story is fiction.

RedGummies · Oct 25, 2009, 03:10 PM

Honestly, I think they made the series based on the theory of if these animals really do exist, what would happen if we met up with them. I'm not a biblical person, so when I hear how Jesus did this, or that and they only have like journals of what happened then, I'm a little skeptic. It's hard to dismiss and eyewitness but at the same time maybe people might exaggerate. I'm not sure how to properly answer you. It could all just be theory, and if we have the technology, finding such things is a large possibility.

tattooedmom80 · Oct 26, 2009, 12:25 PM

When I first saw the trailer of this show, I was so excited. But then after watching it, I was really disappointed. Why would they call it " lost tapes" when none of the footage seems to be from any lost, or found, tapes. I honestly thought that it would be a show of tapes found from people who have had encounters with these creatures or whatever that do or don't exist. They should change the name to " found tapes of bad re-enactments about things that may or may not be real"

RickJ · Oct 27, 2009, 04:11 AM

Yeah, I just saw a new ad for the series and in the ad they implied very strongly that the "tapes" were actual video from the people that were involved. Seems like false advertising to me...