Rescue in the Pacific by Tony Farrington

229 pages

"In June 1994 a dangerous 'bomb' storm caught dozens of cruising sailors by surprise as they voyaged north from New Zealand. This is the true story of how nine yachts struggled to survive the hurricane-like conditions. Boats were battered by fierce winds and capsized by seas towering well over 50 feet high. Masts collapsed, rudders broke, and sailors lost steering control when they needed it most. This book details the story of the heroic men and women on the yachts, in the planes, on the ships, and on land who took part in this sea drama--find out what really happened and what it was like out there. This is both a shock course in survival for bluewater voyagers and a riveting human drama for sailors and non sailors alike." -Back Cover

Every now and then the topic of going on a cruise comes up with friends or family and I always say that going on a cruise is something that I have no desire to do. I remind them that every movie I've ever seen with a ship (Titanic, Under Siege, The Perfect Storm, the list goes on) ends badly. Now, I realize that no one would watch a movie about a ship if nothing suspenseful or bad happened, but still, it's a constant reminder that really bad things can happen on a ship on the ocean. This book is yet another reminder of that.

People who have the desire to take a small yacht out onto the vast ocean and try to conquer mother nature in that way are a different breed of people. They are people with adventurous hearts and probably extra doses of courage. I am not a water lover in any way and I like to keep my firm firmly planted on dry ground. I did go out on a boat when we were in Seattle this summer and I was nervous for a large part of the trip. I really should have learned how to swim.

This book tries to convey the fact that no one had any idea how big this storm was going to turn out to be. Many of the people on the yachts thought they could weather it out or avoid it by sailing a certain way and then found themselves caught in the middle. When you read that a 60-foot yacht was battling waves that were well over 50-feet tall and a sea that would toss their boats around, sometimes capsizing them multiple times, it's frightening. I watched YouTube videos of comparable storms. It was scary to say the least. The ocean is a powerful thing.

A lot of the boating terminology went over my head. When the people would radio in and report their boat's status to Kerikeri Radio, I'd sort of skim over that. What I took away from this book is the fact that there are many brave men and women who risk their lives to help other people who are in trouble on the ocean. The pilots stayed out in fierce winds and flew dangerously low to give the people hope and a connection with others. The couple who ran Kerikeri Radio stayed up for long hours and kept in constant contact with all of the ships so that they could help rescuers know their situations. The men on the shipping vessels answered the call for help and then risked their lives to get men and women off the yachts. The men and women--husbands and wives, friends, family--on the yachts seemed to do their very best to stay safe and keep calm. They seemed to care about everyone else and be realistic in how dire their circumstances were so that the rescue crews could help those in the most need first. Many of them had their whole lives invested in those boats and yet most of them didn't take unnecessary risks to salvage them when they were rescued. It's really amazing that there weren't more lives lost in this storm.

There are a lot of people and boats to keep track of in this book. The beginning gives a summary of each boat and its crew and I had to flip back to this a couple of times to remind myself of who people were. It was well written and gives some additional information at the end of the book that was interesting.