Dead Men Tapping : The End of the Heather Lynn II

Rating:
Summary: From A Different Perspective
Review: Although I understand and can empathize with the grief experienced by the families at the loss of their loved ones, I am still stung by the spin this book portrays about the Coast Guard. The book appears to be written to evoke sympathy for the lost fishermen, although I have to believe that by the mention of the author's fiance and father-in-law as direct players in this unfortunate accident, that there was more a personal gain at stake here than an attempt to tell the real story. Through her writing style and bias, she compels the reader to go along with the belief the fishing community in the Northeast holds about the Coast Guard, in that they decide when the Coast Guard should help them out and when they should be left alone. And when all hell breaks loose, they want to point the finger at the Coast Guard for not doing enough. Let's not forget that these same fishermen blatantly ignored prudent seamanship and navigation (as well as the tug) by not manning the pilothouse or tracking other contacts in the area. Since when is it the Coast Guard's job to assume responsibility for a poorly trained and ignorant fisherman who chooses to ignore simple basic rules of safe seamanship???

The book does a real poor job of accurately portraying the confusion and chaos the duty officer was going through in trying to determine the best way to get rescue response out to the stricken vessel. Instead, the author portrays the individual, along with the station duty officers and crew, as bumbling fools without a clue. It's no wonder, as the book stated, the duty officer refused to talk to the author.

The commercial salvor at the heart of the attempted rescue is nothing more than a cowboy, who is purely lucky by the grace of God that nothing bad has happened to him up to this point. Instead, the author attempts, successfully in a sort of "stick-it-to-the-Coast Guard-fashion", that there is glory in being a Rambo-like savior of the sea, and that if he somehow fails in the future, all those rescues and salvages he performed in the past will somehow validate his one failure. Yet if the Coast Guard, for all its thousands of successful rescues and lives saved, screws up once, none of those successes are even given an afterthought. It was amazing how quick she forgot just how easily fishermen put others at danger. Had the fishing boat she wrote of early on in the book hit her boat, I wonder who she would blame...the Coast Guard for not being there to prevent the collision? Given the tone of her book here, that story just might be the sequel.....

Rating:
Summary: Gripping. Insightful. Riveting. Disturbing.
Review: Gripping, Riveting. Great for anyone interested in tales of the sea, but is AN ABSOLUTE MUST-READ for recreational boaters and working mariners. Kate has done a wonderful job explaining and tying together many complex and even frustrating story-lines to shed light on the way these tragic events unfolded. Aside from the accident and subsequent rescue attempts, she provides great,well-researched insight into the privatization of the marine salvage/towing industry and subsequent policy changes within the Coast Guard. Great Work.

Rating:
Summary: Nailed it
Review: I was present during the latter stages of the Heather Lynn incident, and (being from Gloucester)have seen both the Coast Gaurd and Mike Goodridge work several other of the accidents portrayed.

Kate Yeomans has nailed perfectly the people and events that I know personally... so I assume the rest of the book. is similarly accurate.

This book is more than a sea story.. it's about the difference between people who know what they're doing and people who take far too seriously the whole idea of credentials and protocol.

Mike Goodridge may well someday be hurt.. but if so.. it will be because he attempted a rescue that the professional heros either wouldn't or couldn't.

Rating:
Summary: This Book hits Home in so many ways
Review: Thanks for giving me more insight to how my Friend J'Michael died. This book brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't even begin to imagine how these Men suffered such a horrible death.

Rating:
Summary: You have some nerve...
Review: The fact that someone would read this book and regard Captain Mike Goodridge as a cowboy clearly shows your lack of competence related to the marine salvage industry. Anyone who reads his resume would clearly see that he is regarded as one of the best commercial salvors in the country and is consulted on many cases up and down the coasts. Had Mr. Goodridge been called by the Coast Guard when they knew divers were needed he clearly would have been there in time, to first stabalize the vessel, and then rescue the trapped men with spare air tanks. The reviewer who regards him as a cowboy either has a personal vandeta against Goodridge, which is the most likely, or probably has never seen a salvage situation and therefore has no idea what it takes to complete an operation like this. Capt. Goodridge has stabalized and saved hundereds of boats from sinking while running Marine Services and Tow Boat US. The Coast Guard knew this but still danced around the red tape, fearing they would be up-ended by a civilian. This incompetence, which is still present today, cost three men their lives, and the family and friends a life of heartbreak. Shame on you for regarding this hero as a cowboy.

Rating:
Summary: I knew these men
Review: This book is a must read for all who knew Jeff, John Mike, and Kevin. I know I felt as many others did, That we needed to know why there rescue went wrong. Although it was a very hard book to read. Kate Yeomans did a very fine job on her research. I'd like to thank her for telling their story. They deserved it.

Rating:
Summary: Dead Men Tapping: The End of the Heather Lynne II
Review: This book was awesome. Ms. Yeomans writes a terrific story that will have you sitting back totally buried in the story she tells. Having had many friends and acquaintances in the fishing industry who have had similar experiences, most of them fatal, I can only surmise that the entire United States Coast Guard needs to be revamped, all its employees trained, and that the Guard MUST be held accountable for the actions that they take, or in this case, that they refused to take by not allowing Mike Goodridge to assist in the rescue. Had he been able to communicate with the Coast Guard and been given the real truth about what was going on, I feel certain that these three men would not have drowned. As to the comment that Mr. Goodridge is a cowboy, I can guarantee that everyone of the fishermen I talk to and work with would call him or a member of one of his franchises (SeaTow) in a heart beat, rather than taking the chance that the Coasties would not appear on time.
A must read for anyone involved with the commercial fishing industry. Well read, excellent plot, extremely well researched and heartbreaking. I would recommend this book to anyone who wanted to find out about the perils of maritime salvage, commercial fishing, and just for a plain old damn good read.