Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea

On the morning of November 21, 1980, two small Massachusetts lobster boats set

out for Georges Bank, a bountiful but perilous fishing ground 130 miles off the

coast of Cape Cod. The National Weather Service had forecast typical fall

weather, and the young, rugged crewmen aboard the Sea Fever and the

Fair Wind had made dozens of similar trips that season. They had no reason

to expect that this trip would be any different.

But the only weather buoy on Georges Bank was malfunctioning, and the National

Weather Service had failed to share this fact with the fishermen who depended

on its forecasts. As the two small boats headed out to sea, a colossal storm was

brewing to the southeast, a furious maelstrom the National Weather Service did

not accurately locate until the boats were already caught in the storm's grip,

trapped in the treacherous waters of Georges Bank.

Battered by sixty-foot waves and hurricane-force winds, the crews of the Fair

Wind and the Sea Fever (captained by Peter Brown, whose father owned

the Andrea Gail of Perfect Storm fame) struggled heroically to

keep their vessels afloat. But the storm soon severely crippled one boat and

overturned the other, trapping its crew inside.

Meticulously researched and vividly told, Fatal Forecast is first and

foremost a tale of miraculous survival. Most amazing is the story of Ernie

Hazzard, who managed to crawl inside a tiny inflatable life raft and then spent

more than fifty terrifying hours adrift on the stormy open sea. By turns tragic,

thrilling, and inspiring, Ernie's story deserves a place among the greatest

survival tales ever told.

Equally riveting are the stories of the brave men and women from the Coast Guard

and the crew of a nearby fishing boat who imperiled their own lives that day in

order to save the lives of others.

As gripping and harrowing as The Perfect Storm - but with a miracle

ending - Fatal Forecast is an unforgettable true story about the

collision of two spectacular forces: the brutality of nature and the human will

to survive.