In Peril : A Daring Decision, a Captain's Resolve and the Salvage That Made History

by Strong, Skip; Braden, Twain

• ISBN13: 9781592281053
• ISBN10: 1592281052
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-11-01
• Publisher: Lyons Press

Summary

"Strong and Braden's tale of an imperfect storm, three ships, and a daring rescue comes to vivid life in this gem of a book." -Publishers Weekly "A marvelous yarn about an incredible rescue." -The Bangor (ME) Daily News When Skip Strong, a thirty-two-year-old captain of the 688-foot oil tanker Cherry Valley received the call, all he knew was that an oceangoing tug with five men aboard was in distress off Florida's east coast. Caught in an unusually powerful storm, the tug's engines failed, and as the winds gusted to more than sixty miles per hour and the sea whipped into a frenzy, the tug and the barge it was pulling were in danger of being swept ashore. Captain Strong also knew without a doubt that he would follow the thousandsyear- old tradition of the sea and come to the aid of the crew, the tug, and its cargo, despite the fact that he would have to maneuver his ship, laden with ten million gallons of oil, in extremely hazardous conditions. One mistake and Strong would be responsible for an ecological disaster on Florida's beaches equal to that of the Exxon Valdez. What Captain Strong didn't know was that the tug was carrying a 150-foot aluminum fuel cell worth upwards of $50 million. And that in the instant he decided to rescue the tug and its crew he was opening the door on a dramatic and tense legal struggle that would pit him against the U.S. government for salvage rights. IN PERIL is a taut, well-paced, and riveting drama wrapped around a seagoing world few people have the opportunity to glimpse.

Author Biography

SKIP STRONG was thirty-two when he started sailing as captain of the Cherry Valley. He is now a ship pilot on Penobscot Bay.

TWAIN BRADEN has worked as a navigation instructor and captain aboard traditionally rigged sailing vessels from Maine to the Caribbean. He now operates the vintage wooden schooner Bagheera, a 1924 John Alden design, out of the Old Port in Portland, Maine.

Table of Contents

Prologue	xi
Part I
1. A Life at Sea	1	(6)
2. Three Years Later	7	(8)
3. The Poseidon and ET-70	15	(6)
4. Preparing for the Tow	21	(8)
5. Loading Cargo	29	(12)
6. Crossing the Gulf	41	(14)
Part II
7. Storm Clouds Building	55	(10)
8. Small Vessels in a Big Ocean	65	(8)
9. Heavy Weather	73	(4)
10. Swiss Cheese	77	(8)
11. A Call for Help	85	(10)
12. The Sea Claims Two	95	(8)
13. Bethel Shoal	103	(10)
Part III
14. Plan A	113	(10)
15. The Unmanned Barge	123	(4)
16. The Last Chance	127	(8)
17. Calling the Office	135	(4)
18. The Tug that Couldn't	139	(12)
19. A Measure of Relief	151	(6)
20. Waiting for Gordon to Pass	157	(10)
21. Race Against the Sands	167	(4)
22. The Firat Floats Free	171	(10)
Part IV
23.In Peril	181	(8)
24. Alongside at Fort Pierce	189	(4)
25. The Case for Salvage	193	(8)
26. Trial in New Orleans	201	(8)
27. A Bucket of Seawater and a lot of Facts	209	(16)
28. A Significant Reward	225	(6)
29. Barbecued Shrimp and an Appeal	231	(8)
30. The End of My Salvage Career	239	(6)
Epilogue	245