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

A true story of catastrophe and survival at sea, Fatal Forecast is a spellbinding moment-by-moment account of seventy-two hours in the lives of eightyoung fishermen, some of whom would never set foot on dry land again.

On the morning of November 21, 1980, two small Massachusetts lobster boats set out for Georges Bank, a bountiful but perilous fishing ground 130 miles off thecoast of Cape Cod. The National Weather Service had forecast typical fallweather, and the young, rugged crewmen aboard the Sea Fever and the Fair Wind had made dozens of similar trips that season. They had no reasonto expect that this trip would be any different.

But the only weather buoy on Georges Bank was malfunctioning, and the NationalWeather Service had failed to share this fact with the fishermen who dependedon its forecasts. As the two small boats headed out to sea, a colossal storm wasbrewing to the southeast, a furious maelstrom the National Weather Service didnot accurately locate until the boats were already caught in the storm's grip,trapped in the treacherous waters of Georges Bank.

Battered by sixty-foot waves and hurricane-force winds, the crews of the FairWind and the Sea Fever (captained by Peter Brown, whose father ownedthe Andrea Gail of Perfect Storm fame) struggled heroically to keep their vessels afloat. But the storm soon severely crippled one boat andoverturned the other, trapping its crew inside.

Meticulously researched and vividly told, Fatal Forecast is first andforemost a tale of miraculous survival. Most amazing is the story of Ernie Hazzard, who managed to crawl inside a tiny inflatable life raft and then spentmore than fifty terrifying hours adrift on the stormy open sea. By turns tragic,thrilling, and inspiring, Ernie's story deserves a place among the greatestsurvival tales ever told.

Equally riveting are the stories of the brave men and women from the Coast Guardand the crew of a nearby fishing boat who imperiled their own lives that day inorder to save the lives of others.

As gripping and harrowing as The Perfect Storm - but with a miracle ending - Fatal Forecast is an unforgettable true story about the collision of two spectacular forces: the brutality of nature and the human willto survive.

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Highly Derivative, 2008-09-09
Reading this book brought back memories... of reading The Perfect Storm.

Obviously differing in the details, it's the same story, told in much the same way.


3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Death and Survival on the Georges Bank, 2008-01-20
The Georges Bank lies about 120 miles east of Cape Cod. It is no place to be in a small boat; especially when the weather turns bad. Wind-driven waves building from the fetch of the Atlantic collide with the shallows beyond the continental shelf and can build to frightening proportions. And weather in the month of November on the Georges Bank can be extreme. Ordinarily, automated buoy data provide the National Weather Service with information that enables relatively accurate forcasting. But in November 1980 the National Data Center's Georges Bank Buoy, located 170 nM east of Hyannis, MA, was not functioning. It had not been for some time. With inadequate data, the National Weather Service issued a benign forecast. Based on this forecast, four deep sea lobster boats headed for the Georges Bank. They did not expect a killer storm packing 100 knot winds and 50-60 foot seas. One boat pitch-poled; it's lone survivor spent 50 frightening and misearable hours in a rubber raft before rescue. Another boat badly damaged by a rogue wave and leaking badly fought on and eventually limped back to port. Brave men and women of the U.S Coastguard, in spite of fatique and grave danger to themselves, doggedly attempted to rescue the crews of these vessels. Fatal Forecast is a story of survival, duty and triumph of the human spirit. The book is well-written and grabs you from the Prologue and does not let go. In fact, I read this book at a single sitting. I could not put it down. When I got to the end I read the Epilogue and even the author's notes. I did not want it to end.


6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

Powerful account of nature's strength and man's incredible will to survive, 2007-12-28
Probably my favorite catastrophe book yet! Very well written, making it so hard to put down once you start reading. I got this for Christmas and finished it within 3 days! Tougias not only rendered an awesome account of a real life dramatic fight for survival but also relayed vividly the other events that occurred in the lives of the men and families affected by the disaster at sea. A must read for those who enjoy seeing man triumph over the most trying adventure.


8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

Gripping story, but not quite The Perfect Storm, 2007-10-10
Well written, gripping account of tragedy at sea. Worth reading if you like the "disaster book" genre, but not quite as good as The Perfect Storm.


10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

Gripping adventure, 2007-10-02
If you liked "The Perfect Storm," you'll love "Fatal Forecast."

Michael J. Tougias' book is a gripping page-turner about fisherman 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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