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Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea
 
 
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Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea [Hardcover]

Michael J. Tougias (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)


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Book Description

July 17, 2007
Now in paperback, a true story as spellbinding and harrowing as The Perfect Storm, “marvel- ous and terrifying” (Los Angeles Times)—published to herald the arrival of Tougias’s new hardcover, The Finest Hours. 

On   the   morning   of November  21,  1980, two  small  boats  set out  for  Georges  Bank,  a  lucrative but perilous lobster fishing ground off the coast of Cape Cod. The National Weather Service had forecast typical fall weather, and the young, rugged crewmen aboard the Sea Fever and the Fair Wind had no reason to expect that this trip would be any different from the dozens they’d made earlier in the season. But the only weather buoy in the area was malfunctioning, and the National Weather Service had failed to reveal this critical detail. And as the two small boats headed out to sea, a colossal storm was brewing to the southeast, a furious maelstrom that would batter the boats with sixty-foot waves and hurricane-force winds. A true story of catastrophe and survival at sea, this is a vivid moment-by-moment account of seventy-two hours in the lives of eight young fishermen. Most amazing is the story of Ernie Hazzard, who spent more than fifty terrifying hours adrift on the stormy open sea. 

Gripping and heart-pounding, Fatal Forecast is an unfor- gettable true story about the collision of two spectacular forces: the brutality of nature and the human will to survive.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tougias (Ten Hours Until Dawn) narrates this dramatic, pared-down account of what happened to a pair of small fishing boats caught in the path of the devastating November 1980 storm off the coast of Cape Cod. When the storm blew up, the Fair Wind and the Sea Fever—captained by Peter Brown, son of legendarily hard-nosed Bob Brown, owner of The Perfect Storm's Andrea Gail—were fishing for lobster on Georges Bank, a plateau on the Atlantic floor that provides some of the richest fishing in the area, but is also the kind of place where boats have a way of disappearing. Due to a malfunctioning weather buoy, the National Weather Service drastically underestimated the magnitude of the storm that engulfed the two small boats. Seventy-foot waves overturned the Fair Wind, trapping inside the whole crew save for Ernie Banks, who made it into a life raft, while the Sea Fever was barely staying afloat under the watery onslaught. Tougias smartly leavens his spare narrative with similar worst-case scenarios that resulted when other seamen miscalculated the sea's wrathful power. Most astonishing of all is Banks's three-day odyssey of being tossed about like a cork in heaving, freezing seas; as related by Tougias, Banks's calm, reasoned actions in the face of astonishing adversity are practically a how-to lesson in high seas survival skills.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A passionately recounted peril-at-sea adventure...described with excruciating intensity. A blustery seafarer's delight, rendered with gusto." - Kirkus Reviews --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Scribner; First Edition edition (July 17, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0743297032
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743297035
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #469,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write on a variety of topics which could roughly be grouped as follows:
TRUE LIFE MARITIME SUVIVAL STORIES: my books include "Overboard!", "Ten Hours Until Dawn", "The Finest Hours" (co-author) and "Fatal Forecast"

HISTORY: "King Philip's War" (co-author), "Quabbin", "The Blizzard of 78"

RIVER BOOKS: "Exporing the Hidden Charles", "River Days: Exploring the Connecticut River from Source to Sea"

HUMOR AND THE OUTDOORS: "There's a Porcupine in My Outhouse: The Vermont Misadventures of a Mountainman Wannabe"

I'm not sure what I'll do next. But I'll follow my intuition. And, of course, the topic has to be something I feel passionate about. Thank you for all your support! Michael Tougias

 

Customer Reviews

19 Reviews
5 star:
 (17)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping adventure, October 2, 2007
By 
This review is from: Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea (Hardcover)
If you liked "The Perfect Storm," you'll love "Fatal Forecast."

Michael J. Tougias' book is a gripping page-turner about fishermen fighting for their lives amid a severe storm off the New England coast.

Tougias' taut storytelling puts the reader in the middle of the action. Like the best survival stories, you can feel yourself in the characters' place, trying to figure what to do next.

I also like that Tougias includes related stories of fishing boat disasters (and near-disasters).

I do have one small complaint. This book, like many of this type, includes a batch of pictures in the middle. I suppose it's cheaper to print the photos altogether like this rather than insert them at the appropriate place in the story. But in this case, if you look at the pictures (and what reader wouldn't?), some of them give away the ending of the book.

That said, it's still a great story. Allow yourself plenty of time when you pick up "Fatal Forecast" -- it's hard to put down.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars wow, July 15, 2007
This review is from: Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea (Hardcover)
I was 17 when the storm occurred and remember it as if it were yesterday. The captain of the Fair Wind was my uncle's nephew and his fiancee is my cousin so he was a very prolific part of our family. This book helped bring closure to so many things for me.

There were also so many things that I never realized about the lobster fishing industry. The research in this book is nothing short of exceptional. I also know personally how professional the author was when he did his research.

Congratulations on a job well done.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars harrowing story on the Georges Bank..., September 17, 2007
This review is from: Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea (Hardcover)
I was totally enthralled by this true story of 2 fishing boats from Massachusetts caught in a ferocious storm off the Georges Bank. A storm as severe as 'the Perfect Storm' exept no on knew this one was coming because of a malfunctioning weather buoy in the Bank. Michael Tougias writes a well-researched almost documentary style epic with no filler. The brave fishermen and heroes of the Coast Guard stand out. The will to survive and what it takes for one man to survive is amazing.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
ballast bag, survival bag, weather buoys, rescue basket, stay with the boat, survival suits
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Fair Wind, Sea Fever, Georges Bank, Coast Guard, Bob Brown, Sea Star, Hattie Rose, Billy Garnos, Grant Moore, Cape Horn, Dave Berry, Charlie Raymond, National Weather Service, Gary Brown, Cape Cod, Ernie Hazard, Rob Thayer, Peter Brown, Ocean Ranger, Gulf of Maine, Maria Pavlis, Rhode Island, New England, New Bedford, Kaisei Maru
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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