Ten Hours Until Dawn: The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy Aboard the Can Do

I'm almost done with a recently released book I was given for Christmas, "Ten Hours Until Dawn." I began reading it but two days ago and don't want to put it down! A great read for the winter house-bound mariners up here, or for the most uninitiated landlubber. It's one of, if not the, best sea tales I've ever read. It's the true story of the disasterous "Great Blizzard of '78" here at Ground Zero on the North Shore of Massachusetts, the grounding of the oil tanker Global Hope about two or three miles from us, and the rescue attempt turned disaster in the worst winter storm in over 100 years. Between the herculean and selfless efforts of our local Coast Guard out of Gloucester and pilot boat captain Frank Quirk and his volunteer crew of his Can Do, the nail-biting descriptions of the almost unbelievable conditions out there in my sailing grounds, histories of similar marine crises, and the detailed but easily comprehensible explanations, it's one of those books that keeps you awake after midnight to read "just one more chapter." This story holds a special significance for me not only because I'm so familiar with the locale and sail it every weekend during the season. During that historic storm I was living-aboard an old wooden 46' power boat tied up to our slip on D dock at Beverly Harbor Marina. Conditions got so bad by early evening that a group of us live-aboards got together with all the lines we had among us and we could get our hands on, tied off our dock to pilings and telephone poles and buildings in the parking lot above us. Above us, until the high-tide surge, when our floating dock rose above the hinged ramp, above the stationary wharf thereby stranding us on our boats, above even the sea wall and parking lot. We watched helplessly from our "island" as the rollers swept across the parking lot to our snow-buried cars! Two of the nearby boat-laden docks broke lose! The snow was so deep that if you didn't walk carefully down the very center of the rolling dock in the howling wind, it'd tip and dump you off. Word had passed around in our marina that an oil tanker was aground just outside Beverly Harbor and that a rescue effort was underway. We saw the Coast Guard's 41-footer make it in to the Jubilee Yacht Club just next door. But we didn't learn about the tragedy just a few miles out until a day or two later; we were too busy ourselves that night to think to turn on the VHF radio. This is the first time I've learned the details -- and they were incredible, horrific! I probably knew a few of the Coast Guardsmen quoted throughout who were out there facing death. During the summer of 1977 the Coast Guard used to love "boarding" us. Our boat had become a magnet for some of the ladies of an all-women's college just up the coast, and we four young live-aboards usually had a contingent of them aboard. When off-duty, a few of the Coasties would sometimes come down to the boat for a visit and a few brewskies, hoping we had company aboard.

Having lived in the Boston area during the Blizzard of 1978 I was very intrigued with this topic. I was not disappointed. I have read other books and articles by Tougias and am always taken by his writing. Tougias traces the day and evening of the blizzard, comparing the storm to other sea disasters and the amazing swell of activity in Gloucester harbor and sea. The characters Tougias describes in the book brought every aspect of the events out in a very personal, human way. I received this as a Christmas gift and could not put it down until I reached the end. It is a most engaging read!

This story of the 'Can Do' must have come up during Mr. Tougias' research into his previous book, 'The Blizzard of '78,' (which is still available). The previous book takes place on land, a lot of people stranded on the freeways. This one takes the reader to sea aboard the 'Can Do.' 'Can Do' is the motto of the Navy Seabees, and the captain/owner was a retired Seabee. He must have felt that he 'could do' what the Coast Guard in their 44 footer couldn't do. Although the 'Can Do' was a 49 foot steel hulled ex-pilot boat, it just wasn't up to 40 foot waves and 100 mph winds. When the engine was killed, the boat and its crew were doomed. The 'Can Do' was a strong boat, but the Coast Guard 44's are damn strong. Further the Coast Guard boats are designed for this kind of storm. I'd have been pretty scared to take anything but a submarine out in that kind of weather. This book is based on the recorded radio messages received from the 'Can Do.' The radio kept working up until the very end, providing an in depth look at a disaster that is rarely seen.

When I opened the package that contained this book as a Christmas present, I looked at the giver, my wife, and said, "You know about this?" She replied that it was recommended to her by a friend and that inasmuch as we have a boat on the ocean that she thought I would like it. I did. However, this is a tough book to read whether you have ever slipped from a safe anchorage and ventured out into the ocean or not. Frank Quirk, the owner and captain of the "Can Do" (he was a SeaBee and that is their motto) is a person we would all want to have known. Brave, humble, already a hero, a family man and to all who knew him a caring friend, he left his home port of Gloucester, Massachusetts as a winter storm approached to go to the aid of a tanker that had called for help from Salem. Quirk's boat was a pilot boat, but being steel built and having done this before and believing he could help sent him into a storm that no one could have imagined. The Blizzard of '78 is a legend in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The rest of New England was spared its awesome wrath and for that reason, being from Maine I have no particular memory of this storm which caused such devestation to the south of us. I somewhat understand what motivates people to leave a safe haven and venture into a malestrom in order to assist others in peril. The Coast Guard has a saying: "You have to go out, but you dont (necessarily) have to come back." Frank Quirk was not on a CG vessel, nevertheless he launched because he thought he could be helpful as he had in the past. Little did he realize what he was steaming into. Michael Tougias has crafted a haunting book about the Blizzard of '78'.It is not an easy read, but it is very worthwhile to learn of lives well led, of family devotion, of uncommon bravery and in the end how this storm continues to claim it's victims. It is a well done chronicle of bravery and loyalty which we all should reflect on.

Mesmerizing true tale of men and the sea during the great blizzard of February 1978. If you have ever gone to sea in stormy weather you will be awestruck by this story of the bravery and desperation of seamen engaged in a monumental rescue attempt. Surpasses "The Perfect Storm" in my opinion. A definite candidate for the big screen.