Overboard - nightmare sail to Bermuda, a book review
by . on 3 May 2010
Almeisan seen from the deck of the Navy Ship Seay - SW
Two days after Captain Tom Tighe, first mate Lochlin Reidy and three paying crewmembers aboard the Almeisan set sail from Connecticut to Bermuda, they pass by another sailboat heading in the opposite direction. The captain aboard that boat warns them they’re heading straight into a developing low-pressure system. Tighe, 65, who has made the voyage more than 48 times, says, “We’ll take the good with the bad.”
And so begins the sailing nightmare that awaits the five people aboard the 45-foot Hardin ketch in author Michael Tougias’ recently released nonfiction book “Overboard! A True Blue-Water Odyssey of Disaster and Survival,” published by Simon and Schuster.
The radio conversation adds to sailing newcomer Kathy Gilcrest’s apprehension, which started even before she stepped foot on the boat on May 3, 2005. Gilcrest, who signed on for the trip to gain experience in offshore cruising after taking Tighe’s Bermuda Bound Blue-water Sailing seminar, told the captain she thought May might be a little too early for her first trip to Bermuda. With his reassurances that it was a good month to sail to Bermuda and promises that he’d be on deck during her watches, she met up with the rest of the crew at the Black Rock Harbour in Bridgeport, Conn.
But again, apprehension overcomes her as she steps aboard the boat and is greeted by Tighe, Reidy, 58, and fellow paying crewmembers 34-year-old Chris Ferrer and 70-year-old Ron Burd.
Burd and Ferrer, who owned their own boats, signed on to gain experience in blue-water offshore sailing in the hopes of making the trip to Bermuda with their sailboats someday. Tighe prepared the novice crew with the 300-page Almeisan cruise manual detailing every aspect of sailing and operating the safety equipment on the Almeisan and the crewmembers’ duties. In a section in the book on passage dynamics, Tighe wrote: “You will surely wonder why you made the trip when we encounter heavy weather. When the weather is good you will be glad you made the trip and think it is a great experience. Your recollection of the trip later will most likely only include the good times.”
A few days into the voyage, the Almeisan is battered with massive 30-foot waves in an unrelenting, ferocious storm that eventually knocks down the boat. As the weary, injured crew prepares to abandon the severely damaged sailboat, a 50-foot rogue wave hurls the captain overboard and rips the lifeboat and Reidy from the Almeisan.
Tougias’ story details Reidy’s and Tighe’s efforts to survive in the water separated from the sailboat and lifeboat and the simultaneous story of the three novice crewmembers attempting to survive aboard the deteriorated sailboat in the fierce storm.
“This story has more twists, turns and surprises. Truth is stranger than fiction,” said Tougias, who is also the author of three other nonfiction sailing disaster books: “Ten Hours Until Dawn: The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy Aboard the Can Do,” “Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea” and “The Finest Hours: The True Story of the Coast Guard’s Most Daring Rescue.”
“What makes this different is that it’s written in the present tense. When I was interviewing the people it was still very raw in their minds,” he said of the rescue that was selected from among thousands that year as the Coast Guard’s most dangerous.
Tougias interviewed more than 70 people for the book, including the survivors, family members, rescuers and the passengers on another boat, At Ease, that also got caught in the same low-pressure system. As an occasional sailor who has never owned his own boat, Tougias said the sailing disaster books are meant for readers who aren’t looking for a technical-laden sailing story, though he said they’re equally compelling for sailing and boating enthusiasts as well.
The amazing stories of survival, he said, also provide lessons for us all. “It makes you realize that maybe we can all do something extraordinary under difficult situations.”
If 'Overboard' is not available yet at your local bookstore, you can purchase it from http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Overboard/Michael-J-Tougias/e/9781439145746!Barnes_and_Noble, or from http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&rh=i:aps,k:overboard%20tougias&page=1!Amazon
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