Sunday, April 17, 2022

Book Review: The Gathering Wind: Hurricane Sandy, the Sailing Ship Bounty, and a Courageous Rescue at Sea (2013). Gregory Freeman.

An in-depth account of how the famous tall ship "HMS Bounty", which was built in the 1960s for the "Mutiny on the Bounty" movie of that era (with Marlon Brando), found itself right in the middle of Hurricane Sandy in the Atlantic, and what happened to the ship and its crew.   

It includes a history of the ship itself, and its various travails and maintenance issues over the ship's life, along with a balanced portrayal of the captain and crew that inexplicably ended up right in the middle of Hurricane Sandy, where they had to face the terrible storm and the ship's last hours and sinking.  

It also covers the heroic Coast Guard air rescue operation that saved all but two of the crew members, and the legal trials and aftermath of the disaster.  A howling good sea story for the modern age, with old wooden sailing ships, helicopters and C-130s, brave sailors, determined Coast Guard rescuers and an epic storm. Recommended.

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