The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against The Sea by Sebastian Junger

"It’s now way too late for anyone to back out. Not in the literal sense—any one of them could still take off running out the door—but people don’t work like that. More or less, they do what others expect them to. If one of the crew backed out now he’d sit around for a month and then either go to a welcome-home party or a memorial service. Either would be horrible in its own way. Half the crew have misgivings about this trip, but they’re going anyhow." - Sebastian Junger, The Perfect Storm

I saw the film The Perfect Storm  when it was released back in 2000 and the film has stayed with me all these years.   I have now gotten around to reading the bestselling book by Sebastian Junger and it was everything I hoped.

The Perfect Storm is a true story.  In October 1991 multiple weather systems converged in the North Atlantic with devastating results. Its been called the storm of the century with waves reaching 100 feet.  No one knew a storm of this magnitude was coming and so fishing boats went out to sea in the North Atlantic not knowing the life-threatening danger they would be facing.

One of those boats was The Andrea Gail.  The six men on this boat were sword fisherman: Billy Tyne Jr, Dale Murphy, Michael Moran, Alfred Pierre, Bobby Shatford and David Sullivan.  They never made it home.

Billy Tyne was the Captain of the Andrea Gail and at 37 he was the oldest person on the boat.  Billy treated his men well and he loved fishing.  For his crew though fishing was a job that they were not thrilled about.  That surprised me because I assumed fishermen love being out at sea but as Junger explains it, fishing is grueling, dangerous work.  And as David "Sully" Sullivan said before his final voyage on The Andrea Gail: "It's the money ... If I didn't need the money I wouldn't go near this thing."

And the risks aren't only that the boat might break apart and sink in a bad storm.  Being on deck is dangerous as well due to all the equipment on board.  Fishing hooks for example can go flying about and end up seriously injuring the crew.  And then there are the fish themselves.  The Andrea Gail was a boat that caught swordfish and they are dangerous animals.

The Perfect Storm also tells the story of some of the other boats that were in danger in the North Atlantic when the perfect storm hit.  We learn about The Satori and its crew members who were stranded in the middle of this storm.  Their boat was breaking apart but fortunately a coast guard team was able to locate and rescue them.  One of the brave coast guard members was Dave Moore who was dropped from an aircraft into the middle of this storm:

"He just skimmed over the top of the water, flying towards us,” says Stimpson. “When he gets there he says, ‘Hi, I’m Dave Moore your rescue swimmer, how are you?’ And Sue says, ‘Fine, how are you?’ It was very cordial. Then he asks who’s going first, and Sue says, ‘I will.’ And he grabbed her by the back of the survival suit and skimmed back across the water.” Moore loads Bylander into the rescue basket, and twenty seconds later she’s in the helicopter .... Moore’s the last one up, stepping back into the aircraft at 2:29"

That was a great outcome.  Sadly for the men of The Andrea Gail no one was able to locate and rescue them.  And also Sgt. Rick Arden Smith USAF who was on a rescue mission died n the storm as well.  

One final thing needs to be said about Captain Billy Tyne Jr.  When I saw the movie the image I got was that he was reckless.  A captain who ignored the bad weather report because he wanted to stay out longer so that he could increase his fish haul.  But the book does not show that. In the book by the time Billy Tyne got the warning that a very bad storm was coming the Andrea Gail was already on their way home.  Billy Tyne wasn't reckless.  The Andrea Gail was just unlucky that they were in the worst place they could be when the storm hit.  

I highly recommend The Perfect Storm.  You will learn about the lives of fishermen and their families, meteorology the town of Gloucester and the brave officers of the Coast Guard and USAF who put their lives at risk to rescue others in danger at sea.