I just finished Overboard!
Aviation nerds will appreciate the chronicles of C-130 airplanes conducting searches from 400′ above the waves and spray and Jayhawk helicopters try to hover in winds gusting to 60 knots while winching up survivors.
The author, Michael Tougias, renders the events vividly and, according to the real-world survivors, accurately. This would be a great gift if you want to discourage someone from embarking on a blue-water trip in a small boat.
I would say that this book will be more satisfying in hardcover than as an eBook due to some worthwhile maps and interesting photos. Also, you’ll definitely want to give the book to a friend when you’re done.
I’m glad that I will be going to Puerto Rico on Monday on an Airbus rather than in a ship.
[The only folks who may not like this book are taxpayers; sending nearly a billion dollars worth of government ships and aircraft after a $125,000 sailboat cannot be inexpensive. It did not bother me, however, because the accomplishment was so clearcut compared to the rest of what our military does, e.g., in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also, the events happened back in 2005 when we still thought we were rich!]
Another good book on the subject is “At the Mercy of the Sea: The True Story of Three Sailors in a Caribbean Hurricane.” I dare you not to cry.
Would you rather have Coast Guard sit at the docks because the sailboat to be rescued is not expensive enough? There is no price tag attached to human life.
presidentpicker: I don’t think that an upset taxpayer would advocate spending hundreds of billions of dollars on the Coast Guard and Navy and then having them sit at the docks. I believe that the credible alternative would be to cut defense and Coast Guard expenses so that society could spend more of its wealth on other stuff, including things that would extend the average person’s life, such as more leisure time and exercise. In http://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2003/12/16/godforsaken-sea/ I review a book that discusses the Chilean military’s reluctance to spend money and risk lives to rescue blue-water recreational sailors.
No price tag attached to human life? I think that we’ve tested that philosophy with Medicare. Unfortunately, since we don’t have infinite wealth, paying for the world’s most expensive health care system forces us all to work longer hours, which makes us less healthy (see http://philip.greenspun.com/politics/health-care-reform ).
Note that I am not advocating cutting back the Coast Guard, merely pointing out that reasonable people could differ on whether it is sensible to allocate society’s resources in this manner.
The larger debate about whether we can afford a military/Coast Guard that can find and pluck anyone from the middle of the ocean in any weather does not, of course, diminish in any way the achievements and heroism of the individuals described in the book.
Phil, have you tried sailing? As a pilot you will probably appreciate the challenge of setting the optimum lift and drag forces in the sails and keel and tricking the wind into moving the sailboat in the direction you want to go. If you become a skipper you would surely appreciate the USGS, no matter how high the cost might be/ (although it’s only about 10 billion – the coast guard could comfortably operate for about 100 years on the same amount used for the one time mortgage industry bailout).
BTW, Boston area has a wonderful community sailing center, one of the best in the country. http://www.bostonsailingcenter.com/
Have I tried sailing? I have tried throwing up while on many different kinds of boats in the open ocean and believe that I have a talent for it. Most of my non-vomiting trips have involved a Sunfish and a lake or bay OR heavy drugs.
If I did buy a $125,000 sailboat and embark on the Bermuda trip I certainly would advocate that the U.S. spend $3 trillion annually on a continuous circuit of AWACS planes, a Coast Guard cutter or Navy destroyer, each equipped with rescue helicopter and swimmer, parked every 25 miles along the route, a couple of aircraft carriers for stability of helicopter launching in heavy seas, and five hospital ships to which hypothermia victims could be evacuated. There is no price tag attached to my life!