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

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

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 on-board 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 sword-fisherman, 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

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 storyconversations, personal thoughts, day-to-day routinesto 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.