Product Description

On the night of January 31 1998, the fishing vessel La Conte took on water and sank off the coast of Sitka, Alaska, in what was to be the worst storm in the state's history. Abandoning ship, the five-man crew desperately clung to life - and each other - in ferocious 90 foot seas, and freezing water. All would surely have perished were it not for the efforts of the Coast Guard Search and Rescue teams who flew their choppers into the heart of the storm with little hope of rescuing anyone.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #314263 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

Dont read this if your on SAR duty.
I started reading this book on SAR duty on the atlantic coast of Ireland. My advice is dont. It made me feel like closing the curtains, unplugging the SAR alarm and not answering the phone.
The book will put the shivers up the spine of any SAR pilot. It is excellently written in a fashion that is easy to read and very quick paced. The discriptions of the highs and lows of the rescue are brilliantly put together. Only I had previously heard about this operation I would have thought this book was a fantastic work of fiction.
I feel what I found best about the book was to hear the side of the survivors in the water. To put a human side on the 'casualties' that SAR crews often rescue. It really showed that half the work is done by the casualties just to survive long enough to survive. It also shows what some would call heroisim, what some would call recklessness and what some would call all in a days (nights) work.
This book is thrilling. It will bring you to the top of triumph only to throw you into a pit of dispear as you follow the rescue of this crew.
I do however have a small problem with the book. When you read the synopsis it is about he rescue, however, when you enter the book it is set into to books. Book1 is mostly about the area and some of its inhabitants. Although this is interesting reading it is afurther 90 pages before you arrive at book2 and the start of the rescue.
Overall an excellent book and well worth a read.