The Perfect Storm: The World of the Living Summary & Analysis

Albert Johnston gets hit by the storm a few hours after the Andrea Gail did, but the center of the Sable Island storm skirts back toward the coast of Newfoundland, probably sparing his life. He keeps fighting northward so as to avoid the Gulf Stream. Having closely monitored the weather, Johnston isn’t surprised when Hurricane Grace slams into the Sable Island storm on the evening of October 29th. By October 30th, the Sable Island storm is stuck between the hurricane and the Canadian high pressure system. The two outer systems are spinning in opposite directions “like huge gears that catch the storm between their teeth.” The effect is called a retrograde, and it’s only seen about once a century. Watching all this come together back in Boston, Bob Case thinks, “this is the perfect storm.”

Most of the swordfishing fleet escapes the worst of the storm because they’re farther out, while those closer to shore are hit badly. One of them is the Satori. In spite of Ray Leonard’s insistence, the storm only worsens. Karen Stimpson clips herself into a safety line and fights to control the boat. Sue Bylander begins putting together a survival bag in case they have to abandon ship, but soon she looks outside and discovers that the life raft has been blown away. At her lowest point, Stimpson writes down some goodbyes and stows them in a Ziploc bag. She believes they’re not going to make it.

At 11:15 p.m. on October 29th, Stimpson, with Leonard’s sullen permission, calls in a mayday. The information is relayed to the Boston-based Coast Guard, and a cutter called the Tamaroa, along with a Falcon jet, head out into the storm. The Satori crew have no idea if they’ve been heard until, half an hour later, the jet appears through the clouds and begins talking with Bylander over the radio. Stimpson feels as if she’s “rejoined the world of the living.” The Tamaroa won’t be there for 12 hours, so the Falcon pilot coaches the women through the night as they fight to keep the boat afloat. Leonard stays slumped in his bunk, privately deciding he’s going to go down with his ship.

Eventually, the next morning, two life rafts are dropped from an H-3 helicopter, but the rafts explode when they hit the water. The Satori crew now has to wait for the Tamaroa’s arrival. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard grants a “manifestly unsafe” designation for the Satori so that Leonard can be forced off the sinking vessel. The Tamaroa finally arrives in the afternoon, and it’s crucial that a rescue take place before dark falls in a few hours. When the Tamaroa sends a motorized life raft with survival suits for the Satori crew, the Satori punctures the raft—meaning that now the rescuers need rescuing.

Next, the H-3 helicopter tries dispatching a rescue swimmer named Dave Moore, who’s never undertaken a major rescue job before. Moore jumps 10 feet down from the helicopter, landing in the lukewarm waters of the Gulf Stream, and swims up and down the massive waves before deciding there’s no way he can catch the Satori in these conditions—he’s hauled back up to the helicopter in a lift basket. The Coast Guard tries a different approach—having the Satori crew put on their survival suits and jump into the sea. Then Moore will swim over to them and help each crew member into a lift basket. This is their last shot.

When the Satori crew prepares to abandon ship, Leonard is so distraught he punches himself in the head. But gradually all three crew members work up their nerve to leap into the ocean. Stimpson recalls that when Dave reached them, he said, “‘Hi, I’m Dave Moore, your rescue swimmer, how are you’ […] It was very cordial.” Once each person is loaded into the basket, they’re aboard the helicopter within a matter of seconds. Leonard takes the longest because he’s so upset he practically has to be lifted into the basket. No sooner has this been achieved than Moore has to venture back out to save the Coast Guard rescuers.

Stimpson remembers the intense, sincere concern of the Coast Guard rescue team, but she also recalls that by the time she collapsed into a seat on the helicopter, she was almost delirious from lack of sleep. She hallucinates off and on during the journey back to Boston. After they arrive at the Cape Cod Air Station and change into dry clothes, Stimpson wanders around talking to reporters, too wired from everything that’s happened to fall asleep. She tells a reporter that Leonard didn’t want to leave the Satori because it was his home, his whole life. Not much later, the Coast Guardsmen are abruptly summoned—another water rescue is needed.