A Storm Too Soon – A True Story of Disaster, Survival and an Incredible Rescue
By Michael J. Tougias
Scribner, 2013
208 pages
Award winning author Michael J. Tougias is well known for his fast-paced maritime disaster stories. Overboard!, Fatal Forecast, and The Finest Hours are all gripping true stories of strength and survival, and his newest, A Storm Too Soon, may prove to be the best yet.
In May 2012 a professional yacht captain and his crew left Florida for a trans-Atlantic passage aboard their 47-foot sailboat Sean Seymour II. After just five days into the voyage, they were caught in a violent storm that left Sean Seymour II capsized and the crew clinging to their life raft, and their lives. What they did not know was that their EPIRB was defective.
Other sailboats were caught in the storm and as the U.S. Coast Guard searched the sea, they spotted Sean Seymour II’s life raft in the maelstrom. What follows is one of the most complex and dangerous rescue efforts in Coast Guard history.
Tougias’ narrative is riveting and filled with painstakingly researched detail, a testimony to his skill as a journalist and an engaging storyteller. This is a true sea story that is not to be missed.