The Ship and the Storm: Hurricane Mitch and the Loss of the Fantome

Rating:
Summary: OK, but a little cheesy
Review: I'm sorry to say I thought that this smacked of [not do good] journalism, of pumping up the drama by turning up the volume on it instead of simply letting the story speak for itself. The Fantome's story has plenty of power in it without the artificial assist of over-invested weight and phoney spirituality. On the other hand, the simple factual description of the aftermath of the storm on the islands was moving and well told.

Rating:
Summary: The Human Wreckage of Hurricane Mitch...
Review: In "The Ship & the Storm" Jim Carrier has given us a valuable memorial to a tragic loss of life. Additionally, it is an exciting page turner which vividly describes the experience of a killer hurricane.

Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras in October 1998. As readers discover in this book, it also amazed seasoned hurricane researchers with it's unpredictability & bizarre readings. In 24 hours Mitch exploded from being a tropical wave that weathermen were writing off as it weakened, into a killer Category 4 hurricane that would become one of the strongest ever recorded.

Meanwhile, off the coast of Honduras, Windjammer Cruises' flag ship "the Fantome" was herding it's flock of vacationers thru the Bay Islands of Honduras. The Captain, Guyan Marsh, was the "golden boy" of Windjammer, beloved by both crew & passengers. Jim Carrier introduces us to Guyan & the crewmembers. We come to know them as individuals & care about them. We also get to experience Fantome's last 2 cruises day by day thru the eyes of her passengers.

"The Ship & the Storm" builds suspense inexorably, alternating between the Fantome & the hurricane watchers in Miami. When Mitch & Fantome do meet, the descriptive passages of what the experience of a Category 5 hurricane is like will terrify you.

The author is extremely fair, refusing to assign blame for the loss of the Fantome to anyone. The most valuable aspect of "The Ship & the Sea" tho, is as a memorial to the wonderful crew of Fantome. Guyan Marsh & his men sound like exceptional people, & the world is a lesser place for having lost them.

Rating:
Summary: The Human Wreckage of Hurricane Mitch...
Review: In "The Ship & the Storm" Jim Carrier has given us a valuable memorial to a tragic loss of life. Additionally, it is an exciting page turner which vividly describes the experience of a killer hurricane.

Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras in October 1998. As readers discover in this book, it also amazed seasoned hurricane researchers with it's unpredictability & bizarre readings. In 24 hours Mitch exploded from being a tropical wave that weathermen were writing off as it weakened, into a killer Category 4 hurricane that would become one of the strongest ever recorded.

Meanwhile, off the coast of Honduras, Windjammer Cruises' flag ship "the Fantome" was herding it's flock of vacationers thru the Bay Islands of Honduras. The Captain, Guyan Marsh, was the "golden boy" of Windjammer, beloved by both crew & passengers. Jim Carrier introduces us to Guyan & the crewmembers. We come to know them as individuals & care about them. We also get to experience Fantome's last 2 cruises day by day thru the eyes of her passengers.

"The Ship & the Storm" builds suspense inexorably, alternating between the Fantome & the hurricane watchers in Miami. When Mitch & Fantome do meet, the descriptive passages of what the experience of a Category 5 hurricane is like will terrify you.

The author is extremely fair, refusing to assign blame for the loss of the Fantome to anyone. The most valuable aspect of "The Ship & the Sea" tho, is as a memorial to the wonderful crew of Fantome. Guyan Marsh & his men sound like exceptional people, & the world is a lesser place for having lost them.

Rating:
Summary: A gift from Carrier to all who sailed the Fantome
Review: It's hard to be unbiased having honeymooned on the Fantome, but I think most readers will agree - this is a good book. For me, it brought some closure to the story that I have followed since first hearing that Fantome was missing. I had searched the internet, the wire services, Windjammer's chat room for news as the drama of Mitch unfolded. Like flotsam and jetsam of the wreckage, news of Fantome's demise came in incomplete pieces. This book assembles these pieces from several perspectives and does an admirable job of illuminating Fantome's storm shrouded fate. Jammers will certainly enjoy the book, but Carrier's book transcends the Windjammer audience. Carrier has crafted a compelling story illustrating the irony of judgement based on the advanced technology of hurricane forecasting to pilot an anachronistic tall ship into the eye of one of the century's most destructive storms.

Rating:
Summary: The even more "perfect" storm
Review: Jim Carrier's "The Ship and the Storm" blatantly tries to cash in on "The Perfect Storm" phenomena, but so what? His story is very similar, a bunch of hardworking mariners (in this case the crew of a cruise ship rather than a fishing boat) who get caught at sea by a rare freak-of-nature storm that causes them to vanish virtually without a trace. Carrier tells their stories as the tragedy unfolds. He also gives a good account of the power of Hurricane Mitch, the second deadliest storm ever in the Western Hemisphere and the fourth most powerful hurricane ever recorded. Carrier also provides a good account of the destruction of Honduras, which suffered catostrophic flooding and over 18,000 deaths. In fact, if the book has a weakness it's that the story of the cruise ship get a bit too much preference over the greater disater that occurred on shore.

Carrier knows how to tell a story and his prose is riveting. He places the reader right with his unfortunate protagonists. And like "The Perfect Storm," the book describes a unique seafaring way of life. Fans of the other "storm" will love it.

Rating:
Summary: The Ship and the Storm
Review: Jim Carrier's detailed description of the events leading to the tragic sinking of the Fantome and his insight into the lives of her crew, make this book a memorial to those sailors that were lost at sea when the Fantome disappeared during the 1998 hurricane named Mitch. This interesting and fact based account is a must for those that sailed on the Fantome for the pleasure of the sea and island adventures, and to all those interested in weather and it's effect on our lives.

Rating:
Summary: The Ship and the Storm -- Not just for nautical buffs
Review: Many of those who are not particularly interested in ships, hurricanes, Windjammer Cruises, or things nautical will enjoy reading this book. Jim Carrier has produced a tale well told, IMHO.

The only two significant shortcomings of the book from my perspective are:

1) The relatively high volume of material drawn from what I consider to be the periphery of the "human interest" category (e.g., details of the many dreams the wives and girlfriends of the Fantome crew are said to have had prior to the sinking). That said, many readers may find such material informative and gripping (although I did not).

2) The surprisingly short shrift given to the decision-making on Fantome (with the assistance by sat phone from Winjammer HQ)starting at 5 am on October 27th (the ship sank at about 4:30 PM that day). In contrast, the decisions as to where to take the ship, whether to board passengers for a scheduled cruise, whther to abandon or shift the scheduled cruise, what crew to disembark at Belize, and what specific on-board preparations to make for Mitch are well-reported and covered in detail.

The options available to Fantome (limited though they were) starting at 5 AM when she gained a lee off the SW coast of Roatan Island deserved a more detailed accounting (the pros and the cons of each) IMHO.

I speak particularly of the decision NOT to run East at 5:00 AM as soon as the lee off Roatan had been obtained, but rather the (actual) decision to tack back and forth on a roughly E-W track south of Roatan for over 8 hours until the shifting direction of Mitch's winds made it impossible for Fantome to continue to make good the western leg of her holding pattern a mile or two South of Roatan.

As it turned out, Fantome DID run to the East, but over 8 hours in which she could have made good a speed of 7.0 - 7.5 knots to the East were, IMHO, had been (injudiciously) thrown away by the time the decision to run East was made at 1:15 PM.

IMHO, it's very clear that, had Fantome run east for the additional 8+ hours, her closest distance to Mitch's center (and, more important, her minimum distnace to the eye wall) would have been increased substantially and (based upon the conditions present when the vessel DID founder) Fantome would likely NOT have sunk.

Running east from 5 AM onward would also have placed Fantome in Mitch's navigable semi-circle at a much earlier time, making for easier sailing (relatively easier sailing, anyway!).

Given the information known to those managing the Fantome ON THE 27th, I am not aware of any downside to turning East at 5 AM. Nor do the best data subsequently available and described in Jim Carrier's book(including the best analysis that could be done with hindsight)about Mitch's actual track indicate to me that there was a downside to turning East at 5 AM. In contrast, as indicated above, I think there were significant upsides to heading East at 5:00 AM. (even if Mitch's track and speed of advance turned out to be highly unusual -- just as they actually turned out to be).

That said, I think the Fantome was lost largely due to bad luck and the unusual track of Mitch, not to any major neglicence on the part of the Captain or of Windjammer.

One of the greatest ironies is that the original "escape plan" that involved sailing Fantome North from Belize (abandoned due to Mitch's expected track and the relatively slow speed of Fantome)would have kept her safe.

Jim Carrier's book is a very good one -- I am glad I bought it (through Amazon) and greatly enjoyed reading it.

Hugh Sprunt [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: A real "The Perfect Storm"
Review: Outstanding book about hurricanes, the cruise ship industry, hurricane hunters, and Central America. Not some sappy story that was "The Perfect Storm". You know how it ends but the story keeps you on edge.

Rating:
Summary: A tragic whitewash!
Review: The loss of the M/S Fantome was one of the most tragic and unnecessary marine disasters in years. Mr. Carrier sounds as if he is either best friends with Mike Burke or a Windjammer employee. He fails to deal with the facts, that the ship was 70 years old, had hull damage when she fell over during dry-docking in Martinique, had no watertight compartments, had less than minimum horsepower, and was totally unequipped for extreme heavy weather. The ship was equipped with minimum SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) gear, and was banned by US Coast Guard to carry passengers from US ports because she was unable to meet standards for International Port State Control. Further, he fails to mention Burke's style of management, to intimidate captains and crew. When captains elect prudence and good seamanship over Burke's orders, they are usually replaced. I believe that the incident could have been avoided completely and 33 souls would still be with us today if Burke had not been micromanaging the situation from his suite in Miami Beach via satellite telephone. Many were the opportunities to seek safe harbour and evacuate the crew. This book gives an accurate account of the tragedy, but fails to discuss why the tragedy really occurred, gambling with peoples lives to protect property.

Rating:
Summary: Ship and the Storm: Loss of the Fantome
Review: The story of the Fantome is a complex one, the company, the ship, the crew, and ultimately the weather all adding their own elements to her loss.Mr Carrier displays a blend of investigative journalism with a true taste of history as he follows the course of this mighty vessel to her final resting place. A heartfelt story of the seafarer's greatest Nemesis, "The Wind and the Waves".