The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea

200 Pages·1999·1.77 MB·English

by  Sebastian Junger

EXTRAORDINARY PRAISE FOR
SEBASTIAN JUNGER
AND
THE PERFECT STORM
"Ferociously dramatic and vividly written. . . . The Perfect Storm is not just the
best book of the summer. It's an indelible experience."
—Entertainment Weekly
"You know from the start that the Andrea Gail is doomed, but Junger keeps the
suspense level high nevertheless, putting you onboard and making the lure of
fishing understandable, the fate of these men memorable."
—Men's Journal
"One powerful piece of journalism. ... A high-seas adventure complete with
romance and heartbreak, heart-stopping danger and thrilling rescues."
—Houston Chronicle
"Harrowing, relentless . . . and thoroughly enjoyable. Sebastian Junger's
chronicle of a tragedy never fails to thrill. The perfect book for the beach. It is
the skillful telling of this tale that makes it so compelling."
—Kansas City Star
"Powerful. . . . Gripping."
—New York Times
"There is nothing imaginary about Junger's book; it is all terrifyingly, awesomely
real."
—Los Angeles Times
"Among the most important books ever written about the sea. Using gripping
narrative and mesmerizing detail, Sebastian Junger's first book will make you
respect the power of the ocean. Incredible imagery. . . . For anyone who sails,
boats, swims, or even takes a ferry ride, this book is a must read."
—Waterbury Republican (CT)
"Rich, compassionate characterization, as well as taut, suspenseful prose. A tale
that doesn't skimp on facts, yet keeps you turning pages from beginning to end."
—Seattle Times
"Riveting.... The natural upheaval holds center stage and acts as a character, but
the story converges upon human beings— in this case, the six-man crew of the
doomed Gloucester swordfishing boat Andrea Gail. Plausible and affecting."
—Boston Globe
"A thrilling read. . . . Junger masterfully handles his account of that storm and its
devastation."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Takes readers into the heart of the maelstrom and shows nature's splendid and
dangerous havoc at its utmost. Every boater is drawn to storm-at-sea stories, and
this one beats them all. ... Junger treats readers to some splendidly vivid writing
and imbues the story with all the suspense it deserves."
—Philadelphia Inquirer
"An important work to be especially appreciated by local people. . . . An
impressive account and an incredible read about the place we call home."
—Gloucester Daily Times
"The book builds as the storm builds, full of wonderful detailed and to-the-point
information, always powered by a stern suspense."
—Newsday
"A harrowing tale of tragedy and struggle, of great heroics, and of circumstances
and situations beyond the control of any of the players."
—Sailing
"During the long drawn-out and wholly convincing climaxes one reads with the
most intense concern, anxiety and concentration; and if one knows anything at
all about the sea one feels the absolutely enormous strength of the hurricane
winds and the incredibly towering mass of the hundred-foot waves."
—Patrick O'Brian
"A fascinating book, not just about a storm, but about the hard-drinking,
fatalistic lives of commercial fishermen and the families and friends they leave
behind with each dangerous voyage."
—Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Spellbindingly captured . . . Junger's fine dramatic style is complemented by a
wealth of details that flesh out the story. . . . Reading this book is likely to make
the would-be sailor feel both awed and a little frightened by nature's remorseless
power."
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"The pages of this book crunch with salt.. . . Good reading."
—Boating
"A vivid and damp-chill-to-the-bone account. . . . Convincing. . . . Whether he's
tackling the mechanics of waves, the dangers of swordfishing, the construction
of the ship or the inexact art of navigation, Junger knows how to use a precise
detail or tight anecdote to make a point."
—Detroit Free Press
"A terrifying, edifying read. Like victims of a perfect crime, readers of The
Perfect Storm are first seduced into caring for the book's doomed characters,
then compelled to watch them carried into the maw of a meteorological hell.
And all the while, Sebastian Junger's compassionate, intelligent voice instructs
us effortlessly on the sea life of the swordfisherman, the physics of a sinking
steel ship, and the details of death by drowning."
—Dava Sobel, author of Longitude
"A journalistic triumph, the perfect meeting of the awesome power of a storm at
sea and our own fascination with it."
—Arizona Republic

THE
PERFECT
STORM
A TRUE STORY
OF MEN AGAINST
THE SEA
SEBASTIAN
JUNGER

Insert credits: Pages 1 (bottom), 2, 3, 4 (bottom), 6, 8 © TEUN VOETEN/HH;
pages 4 (top), 5 courtesy of the Crow's Nest; pages 1 (top), 7 courtesy of the
Gloucester Daily Times.
A hardcover edition of this book was published in 1997 by W.W. Norton &
Company. It is reprinted here by arrangement with W.W. Norton & Company.
THE PERFECT STORM. Copyright © 1997 by Sebastian Junger. All rights
reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be
used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except
in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For
information address HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New
York, NY 10022.
HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales
promotional use. For information please write: Special Markets Department,
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022.
First HarperPaperbacks edition published 1998. First HarperPerennial edition
published 1999.
Book design and illustration by Margaret M. Wagner Map by Paul J. Pugliese
ISBN 0-06-097747-7
OO OI O2 03 /RRD IO 9
Scanned and converted by Kelzan!
04/15/2003 - Kelzan - Version 1.0

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO MY FATHER, WHO FIRST INTRODUCED
ME TO THE SEA
FOREWORD
RECREATING the last days of six men who disappeared at sea presented some
obvious problems for me. On the one hand, I wanted to write a completely
factual book that would stand on its own as a piece of journalism. On the other
hand, I didn't want the narrative to asphyxiate under a mass of technical detail
and conjecture. I toyed with the idea of fictionalizing minor parts of the story—
conversations, personal thoughts, day-to-day routines—to make it more
readable, but that risked diminishing the value of whatever facts I was able to
determine. In the end I wound up sticking strictly to the facts, but in as wide-
ranging a way as possible. If I didn't know exactly what happened aboard the
doomed boat, for example, I would interview people who had been through
similar situations, and survived. Their experiences, I felt, would provide a fairly
good description of what the six men on the Andrea Gail had gone through, and
said, and perhaps even felt.
As a result, there are varying kinds of information in the book. Anything in
direct quotes was recorded by me in a formal interview, either in person or on
the telephone, and was altered as little as possible for grammar and clarity. All
dialogue is based on the recollection of people who are still alive, and appears in
dialogue form without quotation marks. No dialogue was made up. Radio
conversations are also based on people's recollections, and appear in italics in the
text. Quotes from published material are in italics, and have occasionally been
condensed to better fit the text. Technical discussions of meteorology, wave
motion, ship stability, etc., are based on my own library research and are
generally not referenced, but I feel compelled to recommend William Van Dorn's
The Oceanography of Seamanship as a comprehensive and immensely readable
text on ships and the sea.
In short, I've written as complete an account as possible of something that can
never be fully known. It is exactly that unknowable element, however, that has
made it an interesting book to write and, I hope, to read. I had some misgivings
about calling it The Perfect Storm, but in the end I decided that the intent was
sufficiently clear. I use perfect in the meteorological sense: a storm that could
not possibly have been worse. I certainly mean no disrespect to the men who
died at sea or the people who still grieve for them.
My own experience in the storm was limited to standing on Gloucester's Back
Shore watching thirty-foot swells advance on Cape Ann, but that was all it took.
The next day I read in the paper that a Gloucester boat was feared lost at sea, and
I clipped the article and stuck it in a drawer. Without even knowing it, I had
begun to write The Perfect Storm.
THE
PERFECT
STORM
GEORGES BANK, 1896
ONE midwinter day off the coast of Massachusetts, the crew of a mackerel
schooner spotted a bottle with a note in it. The schooner was on Georges Bank,
one of the most dangerous fishing grounds in the world, and a bottle with a note
in it was a dire sign indeed. A deckhand scooped it out of the water, the sea grass
was stripped away, and the captain uncorked the bottle and turned to his
assembled crew: "On Georges Bank with our cable gone our rudder gone and
leaking. Two men have been swept away and all hands have been given up as
our cable is gone and our rudder is gone. The one that picks this up let it be
known. God have mercy on us."
The note was from the Falcon, a boat that had set sail from Gloucester the year
before. She hadn't been heard from since. A boat that parts her cable off Georges
careens helplessly along until she fetches up in some shallow water and gets
pounded to pieces by the surf. One of the Falcon's crew must have wedged
himself against a bunk in the fo'c'sle and written furiously beneath the heaving
light of a storm lantern. This was the end, and everyone on the boat would have
known it. How do men act on a sinking ship? Do they hold each other? Do they
pass around the whisky? Do they cry?
This man wrote; he put down on a scrap of paper the last moments of twenty
men in this world. Then he corked the bottle and threw it overboard. There's not
a chance in hell, he must have thought. And then he went below again. He
breathed in deep. He tried to calm himself. He readied himself for the first shock
of sea.