Ten hours until dawn : the true story of heroism and tragedy aboard the Can Do

In the midst of the Blizzard of 1978, the tanker __Global Hope__ floundered on the shoals in Salem Sound off the Massachusetts coast. The Coast Guard heard the Mayday calls and immediately dispatched a patrol boat. Within an hour, the Coast Guard boat was in as much trouble as the tanker, having lost its radar, depth finder, and engine power in horrendous seas. Pilot boat Captain Frank Quirk was monitoring the Coast Guard's efforts by radio, and when he heard that the patrol boat was in jeopardy, he decided to act. Gathering his crew of four, he readied his forty-nine-foot steel boat, the __Can Do,__ and entered the maelstrom of the blizzard. Using dozens of interview and audiotapes that recorded every word exchanged between Quirk and the Coast Guard, Tougias has written a devastating, true account of bravery and death at sea, in __Ten Hours Until Dawn__. Reconstructed series of events in an aborted rescue attempt at sea during the Blizzard of the Century. Syndicated newspaper columnist Tougias looked again at his Blizzard of ’78 (2002) and thought he saw the kernel of another whole tome in the exploits of Massachusetts pilot-boat skipper Frank Quirk and his crew. In 1978, during what turned into a February maelstrom that people who lived through it on the New England coast still vividly remember, Quirk voluntarily put to sea from Gloucester in his 49-foot, steel-hulled Can Do. His aim, with the five who agreed to accompany him, was to offer assistance to Coast Guard units already dispatched to aid an oil tanker, the Global Hope, reported by its panicked captain to have drifted from anchorage and possibly run aground off Salem, down the coast. The author has ably put together the ensuing scenario from taped radio communications and extensive interviews with “Coasties” who were also at sea and with others monitoring the situation that night; but, since the reader already knows full well there’s a tragedy in the offing, the suspense is minimal. Everything is bad, the appalling weather and what its prevailing sea conditions did not only to the Can Do but to the much larger CG vessels. Fleshing it out to 320 pages, however, requires that Tougias abruptly and too frequently digress from the ongoing emergency—which it is from the outset—to present historical notes, shipwreck lore, meteorological perspectives, specifications and missions of various Coast Guard vessels, etc., etc. The net effect is the rather unfortunate one of postponing the inevitable. The notion, raised locally after the fact, that Quirk never should have been where he was is dismissed by the author in favor of the act’s apparent raw heroism. A must—maybe—for marine disaster buffs; others should watch out for the rocks. Documents The Rescue Efforts Of Pilot Boat Captain Frank Quirk And His Four-man Team, Who, During The Blizzard Of 1978, Endeavored To Save The Crew Of A Floundering Tanker Off The Massachusetts Coast As Well As A Coast Guard Team That Was Endangered During A Failed Rescue Attempt. In The Midst Of The Blizzard Of 1978, The Tanker Global Hope Floundered On The Shoals In Salem Sound Off The Massachusetts Coast. The Coast Guard Heard The Mayday Calls And Immediately Dispatched A Patrol Boat. Within An Hour, The Coast Guard Boat Was In As Much Trouble As The Tanker, Having Lost Its Radar, Depth Finder, And Engine Power In Horrendous Seas. Pilot Boat Captain Frank Quirk Was Monitoring The Coast Guard's Efforts By Radio, And When He Heard That The Patrol Boat Was In Jeopardy, He Decided To Act. Gathering His Crew Of Four, He Readied His Forty-nine-foot Steel Boat, The Can Do, And Entered The Maelstrom Of The Blizzard. Using Dozens Of Interview And Audiotapes That Recorded Every Word Exchanged Between Quirk And The Coast Guard, Tougias Has Written A Devastating, True Account Of Bravery And Death At Sea. The Gathering Storm -- The Coast Guard Responds -- Frank Quirk And Charlie Bucko -- Rogue Waves And Dead Engines -- Rescue Of The Chester Poling -- A Storm Like No Other -- Swept Over With A Crash -- A Family's Anxious Wait -- Time Is The Enemy -- Heading Northeast -- Pursuing Life's Pathway -- In Shoal Waters -- Troubles On The Cape George -- Silence -- Beyond The Realm Of Experience -- The Anchor -- The Breakwater -- Desperation -- Dawn's Dim Light -- The Search -- The Global Hope -- Devastation -- Discoveries -- The Week After -- Wrecked Boat, Wrecked Lives -- Crossing The Bar -- Brian And Farewell -- Epilogue. Michael Tougias.

In the midst of the Blizzard of 1978, the tanker Global Hope floundered on the shoals in Salem Sound off the Massachusetts coast. The Coast Guard heard the Mayday calls and immediately dispatched a patrol boat. Within an hour, the Coast Guard boat was in as much trouble as the tanker, having lost its radar, depth finder, and engine power in horrendous seas. Pilot boat Captain Frank Quirk was monitoring the Coast Guard's efforts by radio, and when he heard that the patrol boat was in jeopardy, he decided to act. Gathering his crew of four, he readied his forty-nine-foot steel boat, the Can Do, and entered the maelstrom of the blizzard.

Using dozens of interview and audiotapes that recorded every word exchanged between Quirk and the Coast Guard, Tougias has written a devastating, true account of bravery and death at sea, in Ten Hours Until Dawn.

During the height of the blizzard of 1978, a tanker foundered off the Massachusetts coast. With the Coast Guard boat also in trouble, Captain Frank Quirk took his boat and crew into the storm to help the tanker, Can Do. That morning at three, Frank's hand-held battery-powered radio fell silent. This is the true account of bravery and death at sea Frank Quirk, Jr., often spent the night aboard the Can Do, and on the morning of February 6, 1978, he awoke on his vessel wondering when it would snow.