The Perfect Storm

Still out to sea and heading home, Billy Tyne, on the Andrea Gail, receives a fax about the developing storm. The crew begin to batten down the hatches, to stow everything away in preparation for the storm. To the south, Hurricane Grace is bearing down. A cold front is moving east from Canada. These weather systems are pointed at the North Atlantic, where a half-dozen ships are either still fishing or heading for home.

The low-pressure system follows the Canadian border and then heads out to sea, where, near Sable Island, it hits the Andrea Gail with high winds—104 miles an hour by 9pm. South, on the Satori, Karen Stimpson begins to feel the effects of the storm. By Monday morning, it’s a full-blown gale. On Albert Johnson’s boat, to the east, the crew are so terrified they just watch videos. Junger speculates that because of the size of the waves, Billy Tyne would have been forced to bring the Andrea Gail around, a dangerous maneuver in such high seas. For comparison, Junger includes the log from the Contship Holland, a giant container ship that could easily carry the Andrea Gail on her decks. Even such a big ship, almost ten times the size of the Gail, is struggling in this storm. All ships are at the mercy of the weather. Junger speculates that at this point, the Andrea Gail is still upright and managing. The most likely scenario is that she’s taken a beating: the windows are out, the electronics are dead, and the crew is terrified.