TOP TEN SEA BOOKS
1. THE PERFECT STORM, SEBASTIAN JUNGER (1997)
SJ AND SMH
In the October of 1991, a storm of rare wickedness hit the North Atlantic. Caught up in it was the sword-fishing boat Andrea Gail, which went down with the loss of all hands. At that time, the author was working as a tree surgeon in the boat’s tough home port of Gloucester, Massachusetts and was fascinated by the story. With some trepidation (tough, recently bereaved fishermen are prickly interviewees), Junger gained the Gloucester men’s confidence and wrote this incredibly detailed account of events. Junger’s secret is to take nothing for granted. Where lesser authors may settle for “he drowned”, Junger talks to the experts and produces a 10-page account of that process. The two chapters on downflooding, angles of vanishing stability, free-surface effect and the inherent qualities of wood and steel as hull materials are a lesson in how to make a thriller from technical material, without forgetting for a moment that these were real people who lost their lives. It is among the very best non-fiction books in any genre.
