The Grand Banks are a biologically rich, storm-prone fishing ground located 1200 miles from Gloucester, Massachusetts, and east of Newfoundland. The Grand Banks were the Andrea Gail’s destination and the site of the storm that led to her sinking.
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The timeline below shows where the term Grand Banks appears in The Perfect Storm. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Gloucester, Mass., 1991
...to be on the Andrea Gail, a swordfishing boat, for a month-long trip to the Grand Banks . When Chris finally wakes up, she notices Bobby’s eye and wonders how she did...
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...for 10 or 20 days. Sword boats follow the swordfish population to the North Atlantic’s Grand Banks in the summer and to the Caribbean in the winter. These boats can bring in...
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...In one instance in November 1880, two men were thrown from their dory on the Grand Banks . While both managed to scramble back into the boat, one of them only survived...
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Worse could befall a fisherman on the Grand Banks , though. Because of the meeting of the warm Gulf Stream and chilly Canadian currents...
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God’s Country
Europeans, especially Portuguese, began codfishing off the North Atlantic’s Grand Banks in the 16th century. Codfish was easy to transport because it could be salted and...
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The Grand Banks , a major North Atlantic fishing ground, are especially dangerous. That’s because the spot is...
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...Nowadays, fewer boats fish Georges Bank; most of them make the week-long journey to the Grand Banks instead, 1200 miles away. The cold Labrador Current creates the perfect environment for sea life...
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During the journey to the Grand Banks and back, the crew generally sleeps, because once they reach the fishing grounds, they work...
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...September 26th or 27th, the Andrea Gail has made it to the “Tail” of the Grand Banks , about 300 miles off the coast of Newfoundland. Here plentiful swordfish can be found—fearsome...
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Around this time, the Andrea Gail, still on the Grand Banks , gets slammed by a rogue wave while the crew is hauling in their gear....
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The Andrea Gail spends another week fishing off the Grand Banks ’s Tail, but the trip is shaping up to be a bust. Around the middle...
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The Flemish Cap
...protected channel between Sable Island and Nova Scotia. Instead, he decides to cut across the Grand Banks ’s Tail and then head due west to Gloucester once he’s clear of Sable Island....
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