Author(s): Sebastian Junger

Travel

October 1991. The 'perfect storm' was that rare event, a once-in-a-century gale of such immense power and ferocity that it was perfect - that is, it could not have been any worse. One-hundred-foot waves and winds of 120 miles an hour transformed the ocean into a lethal maelstrom, the kind of nightmare sailors only witness once in a lifetime. Aboard the Andrea Gail, a sword-fishing boat a month out from Gloucester, skipper Billy Tyne and his crew find themselves heading unwittingly towards its frenzied centre.