Hola,
I live in MA, just a piece down the road from Gloucester. The entire region is overrun with Perfect Storm fever, which made me wonder if the teeming millions had any opinions as to what REALLY happened to the Andrea Gail?
Pal
Well, as another resident of Mass. and someone who just finished reading “The Perfect Storm” I can honestly say that I have no idea. It seems the Andrea Gale’s last radio contact with other people happened long before Sebastian Junger speculates that they went down. In that time period a lot could have happened. The could have even gone down right after their last radio message, but Junger does state rather convincingly that given what we know of the boat, it is likely they stayed afloat for a while. The only real mystery in my mind is why their emergency radio beacon was turned off.
I am looking foreward to the movie. There are one or two things I want to see how they handle.
I’ve been wondering about the EPIRB too. I think Junger mentions that there was no reason in the world why it would have been turned off altogether because it had its own power supply, so it’s not like shutting it off would have saved power. FWIW, my cousin John skippers the Hannah Boden now, and used to crew on the AG with Billy Tyne, and he says it would have been totally unlike Billy to screw around with the beacon in the first place. He also said the AG was a rustbucket.
The movie should be interesting. I’m told that they have Linda Greenlaw as a semi-romantic interest for Billy Tyne in the film, which is a scream to anyone who knows either of them.
Pal
Disaster movies like this give me nightmares - I wont ever see this one, even on video (still havnt seen titanic!)
Do they die? Do they get rescued?
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
kelli - I hate to be the one to tell you but the Andrea Gale was lost at sea. None of the crew members made it back to shore. Still, there are some amazing rescues detailed in the book, and presumably the movie. I realize you probably still won’t want to see it, but maybe the book would be more to your taste.
I thought one theory is that the antenna was knocked off with the first big wave, thereby knocking the beacon out of commision.
sigh It figures.
Thanks Trion. And I wont be reading the book either. (nightmares)
I did some searches on the ‘Andrea Gail’ and came up with the same info - sad. If anyone is interested in sea disasters, there is a doozy of one from my home provine, on June 20, 1959 35 men and boys were lost at sea. Its here:
http://cnet.unb.ca/nb/hardwicke/escdismus/ Notice the same last names, these were fathers and sons, brothers, cousins…
Tragic.
What REALLY happened to the Edmund Fitzgerald?
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they call gitchigoome.
StG
quote:
“I thought one theory is that the antenna was knocked off with the first big wave, thereby knocking the beacon out of commision.”
endquote.
The EPIRB emergency beacon is a separate entity from the radio gear - the antennae aren’t related to it at all. The only explanation that I can come up with for its non-activation is that the AG was completely submerged and quickly sunk by a humongous wave. Now, the EPIRB is supposed to go off automatically when it gets wet, but if it were stuck to the boat and the boat went down fast enough…
Frankly, for the sake of the crew and their friends and family, I hope it happened quickly. I’m 20 pages from finishing the book (which is very compelling) and I plan to see the movie (which looks to be almost as compelling as the book), but the thought that the AG’s crew would fight
the storm for a long time only to lose in the end is
heartbreaking.
It’s possible, but unlikely. EPIRBS have ring switches on them which have to be physically placed in the On, Off, or Standby positions. They’re usually set to standby (where they will activate if submerged). The AG’s EPIRB was found with the switch in the OFF position. It’s very unlikely that the action of the boat sinking, or anything hitting the unit could have switched it from STANDBY to OFF. One theory floating around these parts (I think it’s in the book too) is that the Canadian coast guard DID get the signal from the AG beacon, but didn’t answer it because the storm was so fierce. Then, the story goes, when the beacon was found someone from the CCG moved the switch to OFF.
Who knows …
Pal
Palimpsest:
I just finished the book at lunch and got to the part where it’s mentioned that the CCG found the AG’s EPIRB washed up on Sable Island - with the ring switch in the OFF position. The speculation that the CCG switched it to OFF is intriguing, but as you say…Who knows?
Junger also makes mention of an AG fish-finder beacon being found in addition to the EPIRB and some fuel drums. As if the crew were trying to surround themselves with as many electrical signals as possible - seemingly indicating that they were in deep shit and knew it.
Obviously, the AG went down…but as to exactly how she went down, no one will ever really know.
What an extremely sad story.
One word:
Illuminati.
I read the book a few months ago, and absolutely loved it.
But, does anyone else get the unfortunate feeling that Hollywood is going to give this sucker a happy ending?
The author was worried about that too, really worried that Hollywood wouldnt kill off a big name star.
He is no longer worried.
(according to one of the sites I found under the search “Andrea+Gail”)
SOME SPOILER INFO STOP READING NOW IF YOU CARE!
Nope. They follow the book at least as far as the AG goes. I was an extra in the memorial scene. Sebastian Junger was really concerned about not giving the movie a happy ending. Gonna go see it at the local premiere tomorrrow!
Pal
Spoilers:
What really happened to the Andrea Gail was that it sank.
What really happened to the Edmund Fitzgerald was that it leaked like a sieve and sank.
Any guesses what REALLY happened to the Titanic?
Yup, alien abduction.
what’s with the anger?
but this zombie thread interests me because I loved the book - awesome. ironically, all the “people” story Junger put in, about the crew members, is the least interesting part. it’s the* technical* stuff I found fascinating.
It sunk.
End of story.
The guy he is cursing out hasn’t been here in 12 1/2 years…
I thought I cleared that up in 2000. 