Rating: 
Summary: Ship and the Storm
Review: A book as powerful as the ever-changing sea. A journey that starts on a love boat lapped by milky sapphire Carribean waters and ends with a descent into the hell of a gargantuan tempest. Not only is this a sensual, heartrending, and fascinating story, it is also serious investigative journalism at its best. It is revealing without being preachy or didactic, yet full of interesting history and detail. The story unfolds slowly and with majesty like the monster storm that killed thousands in Central America. Nature allures with its sheer magnitude and finally devastates and destroys all. Bravo!
Rating: 
Summary: The Imperfect Storm
Review: A journalistic look at a cruise shipwreck caused by Hurricane Mitch, Carrier's book delves into the history of the Fantome, an old tall ship that sank with 30 men aboard due to bad luck and, in hindsight, a misplaced desire to save property at the expense of human life. Larded with too much inane chatter saved off the Internet while the drama played out, the book is further flawed by excess padding about the storm's aftermath on the obscure western Caribbean islands where the Fantome sailed. Too long by a third, the tale needed a sharper editor. Still, what Carrier conveys about the ship and its Miami-based company is compelling enough to make up for his reporter's tendancy to include too much unnecessary flotsam about what survivors dreamed as their loved ones died, what the dead men left as their last requests, and what the howling storm sounded like to the many British and American expats who dug holes in the ground to wait out Mitch on islands devastated by the Category 5 storm. What the book makes clear is how stupid the management of Windjammer Cruises was for not canceling the boat's final cruise before the storm got out of control. Evidently, there were many opportunities for the crew to anchor and let the storm possibly damage the ornate boat, but at least their lives would have been saved. Comparisons with "The Perfect Storm" are silly. Both books are interesting reads. So what if this one followed the bigger bestseller? It is overlooked, but should not be.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommend
Review: An excellent read. Could not and would not put the book down.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommend
Review: An excellent read. Could not and would not put the book down.
Rating:
Summary: The Real Story of 'Ground Zero' during Hurricane Mitch
Review: As a new jammer, having sailed on the SV Polynesia in January 2002, I gained a real appreciation for what the passengers must have felt like prior to being put ashore in Belize. But more importantly, as the mother of a young man, who with his girlfriend, weathered the storm on the Island of Utila (the western most bay island) during Hurricane Mitch, I have seen the true horror that this incredibly powerful storm wrecked on the Central American coast. I also gained some understanding of the difficulty in predicting the path of this storm and the reason that it was so difficult to get tourists evacuated from these tiny islands.The crew of the Fantome, whether led by a captian that was being directed from Miami, or one that used all of his experience and wiles to try and outwit a monster storm, were indeed brave souls. Carrier's book does something that few can. He takes us into the heart of the storm and tells a story that was truly one of man against the worst that nature can trow at us. A fabulous read, particularly if you plan on cruising the Carribean in the summer or fall. This is not the sappy 'perfect storm' with an ending that is so predictable, but a story of human suffering and emotion that cannot be duplicated.
Rating:
Summary: Well researched; non-judgmental
Review: Carrier's book is well-written, blending the track of Hurricane Mitch with the track of the doomed Fantome. Carrier makes the Windjammer crew and company come alive, but at the same time reminds us that the larger tragedy took place on the mainland (Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala) where more than 20,000 lost their lives. Carrier doesn't really point fingers, nor does he totally exonerate the Windjammer company in the tragedy (old, underpowered ship, plus questionable decision-making in starting a cruise with a hurricane lurking nearby). In the manner of the best reporting, he lets readers come to their own conclusions. As a passenger on Windjammer ships myself (but not the Fantome), I realized how well he captured the essence of a Windjammer cruise without ever having been on one. This made me trust his reporting on the other matters more.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling
Review: Exactly one year prior to Hurricane Mitch, I traveled to Belize to scuba dive. On our first day of diving we were joined by a couple sailing on the Fantome. There was also had a woman from the US State Department who was traveling around Central America gathering maps for reference in case of natural disasters. After the dives, we dropped the couple off at the ship and I had the opportunity to see the ship up close. We saw it several other times in the next few days. It was a beautiful and magnificent ship with its four masts. Little did I know how these chance meetings would haunt me 12 months later.
Jim Carrier brings the horror and devastation of Mitch home. He describes the history of the ship, from its early days as a luxury yacht to its final service as a cruise ship. It's as if you've experienced a passage yourself, learning about the crew and the families they loved and supported. But it's not just about the ship and her crew. It's about many more people who went through days of hell as this massive storm tore apart the Bay Islands and deluged the mainland of Honduras with massive flooding. Villages were literally wiped out of existance. The statistics of Mitch's destruction are staggering. Carrier provides insight as to what actually happens around the eye wall of a category five. His account proves how fragile we still remain, despite all the technology developed over the past century.
Rating:
Summary: The Ship & The Storm -- The twain shall ever meet
Review: Having sailed in many, many storms, a typhoon and a few hurricanes, I found the accuracy of detail from the National Hurricane Center, the reports in the aftermath and hurricane hunters bolstering and compelling. The statements from crew and ex-crew were true-to-life. The facts of the scenario were played out in careful succession and segments broken up so as to give the reader a broader picture of the goings-on. While I am biased where it comes to the crew, I'm also biased where it comes to weather details and having sailed with Captain Guyan during the 1997 season in Belize, the entire story is close to my heart. In the book, several rumors are put to rest, second-hand stories of goings on are discussed and a lot of blanks are filled in. I commend Mr. Carrier for his outstanding investigation to the Mitch disasters while he remained unopinionated and professional throughout.
Rating:
Summary: Brought back the memories
Review: Having sailed on 16 "Barefoot Windjammers", the book was an accurate accounting in all respects. From the "Snacks and Swizzles" at happy hour to the "Bloody Marys" the next morning, Mr. Carrier has done his homework. I loved his insight on the inner working of Windjammer Inc. and criticize Windjammer on their choice of some embarkation ports. One trip we were on resulted in our being robbed in Marguerita, Venezuela prior to boarding. On the bright side,in those 16 years of my sailing, I was fortunate to have booked on the Fantome 3 times. I was on the "Polly" out of St. Martin on the others. Would do it again in a heartbeat.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read!
Review: I read this book several years ago, and I just checked Amazon to see if the author had written anything else in the genre of fact-based disaster story (didn't find anything). I don't know why, but I really enjoy reading about human struggle against the elements. Anyways, I've read a lot of this type of book, and I think this one is a standout. The story is fascinating, the book seems to be very well-researched and it is very well written. I highly recommend it.
|
