The Perfect Storm

By the time Gloucester knows that its fleet is in trouble, about three quarters of a million square miles are under gale-force conditions, and by the morning of October 31st, the storm has stalled off Long Island, its winds raking across Gloucester. At first, on this mildly sunny morning, there’s no other indication of the coming storm than the huge swells echoing along the coast. By midafternoon, though, hurricane-force winds are slamming into the town, flooding beaches, breaching sea walls, and tearing up sections of road. Hundreds of homes are destroyed, a few of them swept out to sea.

By nightfall on the 31st, the Coast Guard is dealing with two search-and-rescue missions: for the Andrea Gail and for Rick Smith. Just before evening, a plane spots emergency green dye in the water, which was possibly released by Smith, and there appears to be a dark shape in the center of the dye. The plane drops rescue supplies, and other planes and the Tamaroa begin converging on the spot. It’s later clarified, though, that what the pilot probably saw was not a person but a life raft, and that the dye was released by a Coast Guardsmen marking a spot.

By the morning of November 1st, conditions are finally beginning to calm down, and John Spillane is evacuated by helicopter for an emergency blood transfusion. The search for Rick Smith continues. Even if Smith could survive for several days at sea, he would eventually die of dehydration. When the Tamaroa makes port on Long Island, Rick Smith’s wife, Marianne, tells the PJ supervisor that if they haven’t found Rick by now, she believes he is dead. She hasn’t slept in days and is nursing a three-week-old baby. After nine days, the Coast Guard finally suspends the search. The most likely explanation is that he was knocked unconscious when he jumped and subsequently drowned.

Meanwhile, 15 aircraft are still searching for the Andrea Gail. On November 1st, Albert Johnston is heading home on the Mary T when he drives through a bunch of blue fuel barrels with AG marked on the side—a bad sign. A few days later, the Coast Guard finds the Andrea Gail’s propane tank and radio beacon near Sable Island. Finally, on November 5th, the Andrea Gail’s EPIRB washes up on Sable Island. It's switched off, which nobody can explain. Almost two weeks after the Andrea Gail was first reported missing, the search is called off.

Chris Cotter visited the Gloucester pier a lot, fighting off morbid thoughts about Bobby’s last moments. A memorial service is held for the entire crew a few days later, followed by a weekend-long wake that drifts between the Crow’s Nest and people’s homes. The men just disappeared—saying goodbye to them takes a special effort. Murph’s three-year-old son, Dale, Jr., dreams of his father months later and can’t grasp his mother’s explanation that his dad is “fishing in heaven.”

Weeks later, family members receive a letter from Bob Brown asking them to exonerate him from any responsibility—the Andrea Gail, he claims, was fully seaworthy. Several of the bereaved decide to sue Brown, but a deposition only proves that the Andrea Gail was altered and tested to the same degree that most fishing vessels are—that is, it wasn’t overseen by a marine architect, but was nevertheless considered to be in “top of the line” condition. In the end, the case is settled out of court.

Junger observes that “the effects of a storm go rippling outward” in people’s lives for years after the fact. Judith Reeves recalls falling into a depression after surviving her ordeal on the Eishin Maru. A psychic on Long Island claims that Rick Smith is still alive, prompting a renewal of the search, but Marianne Smith finally accepts the loss and goes back to school to become a lawyer. A freighter called the Gold Bond Conveyor is the only ship to be caught in both “The Perfect Storm” and a horrific nor’easter, 18 months later, that nearly challenges the Halloween gale’s status as the storm of the century; 33 men abandon ship and are never seen again.

The following spring, Adam Randall takes a job on a tuna longliner called the Terri Lei. One morning east of Charleston, South Carolina, the Terri Lei is hauling in its gear in choppy seas. An EPIRB distress signal is soon picked up by the Charleston Coast Guard. It doesn’t seem like conditions are severe, and no other boats are in trouble. Still, the Coast Guard duly responds—and all they find is a life raft and some scattered gear. Nobody escaped the Terri Lei alive.