A Storm Too Soon: A True Story of Disaster, Survival and an Incredible Rescue by Michael J. Tougias (Author). Seventy-foot waves batter a torn life raft 250 miles out to sea in one of many world’s most harmful places, the Gulf Stream. Hanging on to the raft are three males, a Canadian, a Brit, and their captain, JP de Lutz, a dual citizen of America and France. Their capsized forty-seven-foot sailboat has stuffed with water and disappeared below the tempestuous sea. The giant waves repeatedly toss the lads out of their tiny vessel, and JP, with 9 broken ribs, is hypothermic and on the verge of death. The captain, nevertheless, is a remarkably tough character, having survived a brutal boyhood, and now he must depend on the same inside strength to outlast the storm.
Making an attempt to succeed in these survivors before it’s too late are four courageous Coast Guardsmen battling hurricane- drive winds in their Jayhawk helicopter. They know the waves shall be excessive, however once they arrive they are astounded to find that the monstrous seas have waves reaching eighty feet. Lowering the wind-whipped helicopter to drop a rescue swimmer into such chaos will likely be extraordinarily dangerous. The pilots surprise if they have a realistic likelihood of saving the sailors clinging to the damaged life raft, and if they may be capable to even retrieve their very own rescue swimmer from the towering seas. Once they decide to the rescue, they discover themselves in almost as a lot trouble as the survivors, facing one life-and-death second after the next.
As one the miraculously rescued victims torn in-extremis from the wrath of un-forecasted, post-named ST Storm Andrea, I've hesitated to supply my so clearly biased opinion of the book. Commander Nevada Smith who led his crew into this unexpected maelstrom has opened the path. It's 5 going on six years since a series of miracles enabled us to relate our ordeal.
Not the least of those miracles was the engagement in a totally unexpected scenario of this United States Coast Guard crew, 4 males who went beyond the decision of duty to perform one of the daring USCG rescues. The honors bestowed to them from two nations understate their feat, their commitment.
Michael Tougias' A Storm Too Quickly captures this story in as gripping a trend as the hurricane had captured us (we measured over 85 knots before stepping as much as a life-raft already in a mangled half destroyed state as my s/v Sean Seamour II slipped under seventy foot waves).
Having read most of his books, bias aside this one is particularly riveting.
Greay job by Mike Tougias.
I stood obligation for 13 years as a USCG H60 Search and Rescue pilot but solely enountered these situations once on the morning of 7 May 2007. Nothing else got here near eighty knot winds and 70 foot waves. A must-read for any sailor or armchair adventurer. From the raft to the helicopter to the stress-filled properties of the households, Mr. Tougias takes you there with layers of detail.
This is the second ebook I've read by this author. I hate it. By that I imply, I hate that I can not put his books down. I read this in a day. His technique of writing grips you and won't let go. I've always lived by the ocean in New England, and love true stories akin to this - you may image the seas as he explains them - it's all so very real. And for these of you who dwell landlocked and away from the ocean (you may have my sympathy) you too will really feel part of the story. Hats off to the Coast Guard and all others concerned in rescues at sea; I can not think about anybody with the intestinal fortitude to place himself in such a place to be at mercy with the seas. Fabulous read.
A Storm Too Soon: A True Story of Disaster, Survival and an Incredible Rescue
Michael J. Tougias (Author)
224 pages
Scribner (January 15, 2013)
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