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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9781592285945
ISBN number: 1592285945
Label: The Lyons Press
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 280
Printing Date: January 01, 2005
Publishing house: The Lyons Press
Sale Popularity Level: 68993
Studio: The Lyons Press
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'Strong and Braden's tale of an imperfect storm, three ships, and a daring rescue comes to vivid life in this gem of a book.' -Publishing houses Weekly
'A marvelous yarn about an incredible rescue.' -The Bangour (ME) Daily News
When Skip Strong, a thirty-two-year-old captain of the 688-foot oil tanker Cherry Valley received the call, all he knew was that an oceangoing tug with five men aboard was in distress off Florida's east coast. Caught in an unusually powerful storm, the tug's engines failed, and as the winds gusted to more than sixty miles per hour and the sea whipped into a frenzy, the tug and the barge it was pulling were in danger of being swept ashore.
Captain Strong also knew without a doubt that he would follow the thousandsyear- old tradition of the sea and come to the aid of the crew, the tug, and its cargo, despite the fact that he would have to maneuver his ship, laden with ten million gallons of oil, in extremely hazardous conditions. One mistake and Strong would be responsible for an ecological disaster on Florida's beaches equal to that of the Exxon Valdez.
What Captain Strong didn't know was that the tug was carrying a 150-foot steel fuel cell worth upwards of $50 million. And that in the instant he decided to rescue the tug and its crew he was opening the door on a dramatic and tense legal struggle that would pit him against the U.S. government for salvage rights.
IN PERIL is a taut, well-paced, and riveting drama wrapped around a seagoing world few people have the opportunity to glimpse.
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Rated by buyers 
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This is a fantastic book. If you work on the water or enjoy stories about the sea, you will enjoy this great adventure. Capt. Bill Miller
Rated by buyers 
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I love books like this, any adventure against good old mother nature with a significant amount of danger and big machines tossed in for effect. That is why I thought I would love this book. I did enjoy it and I found that I learned a great deal about everything from the NASA Space Shuttle to oil tanker operations. I also got a good dose of what it is like to be in the merchant marine. The issue I had with the book is that I did not think it lived up to the description on the dust jacket. I thought there would be far more "seconds away from death" type adventure.
The book covers the three days period of time when an oil tanker came to the rescue of a tug boat pulling an external fuel tank for the shuttle during a topical storm. Sure it sounds like an odd bunch of vehicles, but that adds to the charm of the story. That sounds like some excitement and to be fair the book did have a good amount, but perfect storm it was not. I just thought that outside of a large monetary loss, the outcome of the rescue had it not worked would have been only property damage to one specialized gas tank. I was just expecting and I guess looking for more excitement. To give the book credit though it was interesting and had exciting parts. It just was not a top tier nail biter type book.
Rated by buyers -
As a student of maritime salvage, I read whatever is available on this subject.
I enjoyed this book as much as my two favorite books on the subject; "Grey Seas Under" and "Serpents Coil" by Farley Mowat.
All three of these books are writen with a flair of adventure and keep the reader hooked till the end.
This author "lived" the experence and did a wonderful job of writing his adventure...... A warning however: This book will keep you up late at night in order to see what happens next...
Rated by buyers -
This is one of those "can't put down" books we all look for and so infrequently find. The story will hold your attention and the writing moves along with an economy of words. It's not clipped but the pace is quick. Despite this, the reader gains an insight into the inner workings of the modern maritime industry.
If you like true-to-life stories of danger and adventure, then you'll love this.
Rated by buyers -
>Ron Berthel, Books Editor, AP Weekly Features
>50 Rockefeller Plaza
>New York, NY 10020
In their book, "In Peril," Skip Strong and Twain Braden present a dramatic narrative of events that occurred only 10 years ago but are rooted in ancient seafaring traditions and practices.
The book's subtitle _ "A Daring Decision, a Captain's Resolve, and the Salvage That Made History" _ pretty much sums it up.
On Nov. 15, 1994, the tanker Cherry Valley was transporting 10 million gallons of fuel oil from New Orleans, La., to Jacksonville, Fla.
Prentice "Skip" Strong III, then 32, was making his second trip as captain of the 688-foot vessel.
Also sailing from New Orleans was the 114-foot tugboat J.A. Orgeron, en route to NASA at Cape Canaveral, Fla., and towing a barge loaded with a 150-foot steel space-shuttle fuel cell. The value of the fairly lightweight but bulky cargo was more than
$50 million.
Both the Cherry Valley and the J.A. Orgeron had left the Gulf of Mexico and were navigating north in the Atlantic Ocean about 10 miles off Florida's east coast when they ran into Hurricane Gordon.
In the midst of torrential, blinding rain and wind gusts of 40-60 knots, one of the tugboat's engines failed. The sea and wind pummeled the helpless tug and its valuable tow and pushed them toward the potentially deadly Bethel Shoal, off Fort Pierce.
The tug's skipper broadcast a distress call, requesting assistance from any nearby ship.
Only the Cherry Valley was close, but it was not a good candidate for offering aid. Being a tanker made the Cherry Valley unsuited for any type of salvage work. Also, it lacked the
cables and winches needed for towing another vessel in a storm, and its crew of 25 had no training in rescue procedures.
What's more, the Cherry Valley was a single-hull tanker built before the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 made double-hull construction mandatory. Therefore, to try a rescue operation with such a large and fairly unwieldy ship during a hurricane and near a lee shore was a risk its captain could easily have avoided.
But Strong was not that sort of captain. Answering the centuries-old unwritten law demanding that sailors help each other in times of danger, he immediately set his course for the distressed tug and barge. The Cherry Valley was eventually able to take them in tow and move them from the shallow waters that endangered all three vessels.
As a result of their action, Strong and his crew were awarded the American Merchant Marine Seamanship Trophy.
In keeping with long-established practices, Keystone Shipping Co., owner of the Cherry Valley, applied for the salvage award. A dispute led to legal action, resutling in a judgment against NASA for almost $5 million_ the most in U.S. maritime history.
"In Peril" offers illuminating details about merchant marine practices in the waters off theSoutheast, life aboard merchant ships and the highly specialized field of maritime law.
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