In Peril: A Daring Decision, a Captain's Resolve, and the Salvage That Made History

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.

>Ron Berthel, Books Editor, AP Weekly Features<br>>50 Rockefeller Plaza<br>>New York, NY 10020 <p>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.<br>The book's subtitle _ "A Daring Decision, a Captain's Resolve, and the Salvage That Made History" _ pretty much sums it up.<br>On Nov. 15, 1994, the tanker Cherry Valley was transporting 10 million gallons of fuel oil from New Orleans, La., to Jacksonville, Fla.<br>Prentice "Skip" Strong III, then 32, was making his second trip as captain of the 688-foot vessel.<br>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 aluminum space-shuttle fuel cell. The value of the fairly lightweight but bulky cargo was more than<br>$50 million.<br>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.<br>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.<br>The tug's skipper broadcast a distress call, requesting assistance from any nearby ship.<br>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<br>cables and winches needed for towing another vessel in a storm, and its crew of 25 had no training in rescue procedures.<br>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.<br>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.<br>As a result of their action, Strong and his crew were awarded the American Merchant Marine Seamanship Trophy.<p>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.<p>"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.

Unlike the other readers comments, I knew nothing about maritime life but found myself riveted to the challenges confronted by the oil tanker and the great heroism shown be the crew as they answered the call from the ship in distress. I have much more appreciation for maritime life and have gained some knowledge of that life at sea. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a great, well written adventure story. Nancy Day

I first heard this story from the horse's mouth while on the homeward leg of a pilot run in Maine's Penobscot Bay. It astounded me then and astounds me even more now that I've had a chance to mull over the details in the author's new book, "In Peril." Great story. Well told by people who've been there and know a thing or two about the briny depths and the ships that sail them. Other books claim to be great maritime narratives but are told by writers who couldn't tell a monkey fist from a monkey wrench. I highly recommend this book to professional mariners, maritime students, yachtsmen, airmchair seafarers, and anyone who wants to know about the movement of oil on the high seas, marine salvage, admiralty law, and what it's like to take a 668' tanker into the jaws of danger and the annals of nautical history.

In Peril is as difficult to put down as any book that I have read for some time! The story, which began as a routine delivery of a ship's cargo - 10,000,000 gallons of oil - to a Florida power plant, became supercharged when the ship was hit by Tropical Storm Gordon - twice - while accepting the challenge of answering a Mayday call from ship in distress. It's a factual chronical of a modern day high seas adventure and salvage operation, followed by a courtroom battle over salvage rights, which will keep any reader who enjoys maritime stories thoroughly engaged. A quick read, it is very exciting and reminded me often of Farley Mowatt's great maritime writing The Grey Seas Under.