I was 17 years old, a senior in Gloucester High School. My first class of the day was Mrs Daly’s English Lit class. I remember looking out those old windows from the second floor of that old, brick building and not believing what my eyes were seeing. Even from a distance I could see the white, foamy pillows of waves just washing over the breakwater (think big granite jetty) like it was not even there. This was October 30-31 of 1991. High tide was still hours away. This is something you very rarely ever saw, especially during low tide. My friends and I dipped out of school and proceeded to drive around the back shore and Shore Rd in Magnolia until they closed them all off. I REALLY WISH that cell phone cameras were a thing back than, because the sights I saw that day….. and the day following; will live with me for the rest of my life. It was awe inspiring and absolutely horrifying all at the same time! Found out later that day my good friends brother was first mate on the Andrea Gail and that added an additional layer to it all. Absolute sadness for my friend and his family. They were well known and well loved members of our community. Just thinking back almost 32 years ago now, and how much life has changed since than. But one thing remains true and always will….. Don’t ever turn your back on the Ocean. It giveth yet it also taketh… God Bless
@@bhall4996 aye she could! But she loved me! I was her ace! But not your typical ace! I ran with a troubled crowd! But Literature and writing were my thing and I enjoyed her humor! She was a truly great woman and teacher! And also equally loved was Mr. Erik Dahlgren! The man who inspired me to write. And I thank him immensely for pushing me to follow through! Two of the greatest teachers to have ever walked those halls in my opinion!! Thank you both for fostering and helping me ignite my passion for poetry and song AND great literature!
Living on Long island at the time, We surfed that storm for a solid week, some of the biggest waves we ever caught. The horror the crew on the Andrea Gale must have gone through.... And don't forget the Air National Guard rescue helicopter out of West Hampton, NY ....RIP Rick Smith...You are gone, but never forgotten 💔
My gf and I were renting a house right on the seawall, in Marshfield, Mass., you stepped out sliding glass doors to a deck that butted right up against the seawall, at high tide the ocean came halfway up the wall, so the waves start coming over the wall onto the deck, and she said we should go, noway I'm missing this, the ocean was wild but it was beautiful, little by little the waves start crashing on the house, then they started crashing on the roof, beautiful dark green ocean water running down the windows, mesmerizing, then a wave picked up a boulder smashed sliding glass doors, time to go, but it was too late, in the car it was flooded on both sides, now it's life threatening, I back the car up as far as I could away from the waves, now crashing over the roof onto the telephone poles and wires, blue sparks running up and down the wires, so we watched for 10 hours as the ocean took the house right in front of us, down to the foundation, we survived but lost all our stuff, 1991 the perfect storm
Thankyou for this documentary. Ive always been fascinated by this story and watch the movie frequently. This is a powerful story with real people and real experiences. Please give my heartfelt regards to the families of lost ones and credit to all who rescued some of the victims of that horrendous storm. RIP to all that lost their lives.
"The fog's just lifting. Throw off your bow line; throw off your stern. You head out to South channel, past Rocky Neck, Ten Pound Island. Past Niles Pond where I skated as a kid. Blow your air-horn and throw a wave to the lighthouse keeper's kid on Thatcher Island. Then the birds show up: black backs, herring gulls, big dump ducks. The sun hits ya - head North. Open up to 12 - steamin' now. The guys are busy; you're in charge. Ya know what? You're a goddam swordboat captain! Is there any thing better in the world?" RIP
This storm was part of freak weather that was happening all across North America. On October 31st 1991 a freak storm hit us hard in southern New Mexico. This was a heavy snow storm that laid a 24" blanket of snow over town. It was a blizzard. There was lightning flashing at the same time. That day, towards the evening after 5pm we got to the Aurora borealis in the north sky. That was so odd. It continued for 2 days with the heavy snow. Haven't seen anything like it since
On October 28, 1991, the American commercial fishing vessel, Andrea Gale, sank with all hands. Her six-man crew foundered 180 miles northeast of Sable Island.
The 'Tamaroa' will forever live on in history as a supreme workhorse that took all the storm threw at her and managed to save precious human lives. She is now resting on the ocean bed after being scuttled on a reef. Edit: Her crew that night were so courageous and selfless and deserve all the accolades they receive.
I remember reading about her and thinking, damn, that's a tough ship and crew that will go into the teeth of that sort of weather and bull its way through. Good work, Tamaroa, you are still a bastion of life.
Known as the Perfect Storm (Andrea Gail) in Minnesota and the Twin Cities, it is referred to as the Halloween Blizzard of 91. Over a couple days 36" of wet snow was followed by a month of freezing temps turning roads into ice rinks
I remember the "perfect storm" of Halloween 1991 like it was just yesterday. This storm dropped a crazy amount of rain on Philly that night and dragged a really good cold front behind it cause i remember it being unusually cold for that time of year
Terrible theory about Mike Smith the PJ and what happened to him was that as he jumped he realized he hadn't released his safety line and was just dangling under the helicopter helplessly until it ran out of gas and crashed down on him, taking him to the bottom.
May the crew of the swordfish vessel Andrea Gail RIP. Your crew and your skipper, Billy Tyne, were hard-working men of the sea just trying to make some money to make ends meet and start families. I highly recommend the book The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger and the movie based on that book starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg. Also, made that Coast Guard man, and all the other victims, who were lost in the storm rest in peace.
I guess the storm just surrounded their boat. Legend is that the boat went down near the Titanic. If true, you're talking over a thousand feet. The bodies of the crew would have been crushed because of the water pressure.
Yeah, the storm pretty much formed over them. But they didn't sink near the Titanic. The Titanic sits at ~13,000 feet, MUCH further to the East, the Andrea Gail went down somewhere on the Scotian Shelf, in 600-900 feet of water. It wouldn't be enough to crush the bodies, but they'd definitely be gone at this point.
The warnings issued for the fishing fleet vastly under-reported the conditions of the weather and came far too late for the Andrea Gail. The boat was taken by surprise and overwhelmed by the storm within 6 hours
@@pc_buildyb0i935 it wasn't by surprise. The fleet was out there and all in contact with each other and they knew the weather was going to be terrible.
@@benjalucian1515 It was absolutely by surprise. The AG was already halfway home when the initial forecast was released. NOAA's initial forecast was only calling for 12-22ft seas and 35-45 knot winds. That's nothing. By dawn on the 28th, way too late for the AG to turn around or avoid the storm, the forecast was upgraded to 25-35ft seas and 55-65 knot winds. Had Billy had that foresight, he probably would have headed back for the Grand Banks
@@pc_buildyb0i935 Billy was in constant contact with the fleet. Did you watch the documentary? Other fleet captains said they were plotting their own weather tracks based on what other boats were telling them. Ship captains did not have a lot of faith in what the weather bureau was saying. What was a surprise was that the storm shifted and he was running home right into middle of it.
@@benjalucian1515 You have your timetable off. Billy spoke with Linda on the evening of the 27th, two days into their steam home and nearly halfway back to Gloucester. The NOAA had just released the first forecast, calling for the conditions I just described. Linda called Billy, as he was the westernmost boat of the fleet, and asked for a weather report - Billy said the weather looks crappy, gave her a list of supplies he needed her to call Brown about for when they got in port, and the two signed off. As I said, the initial forecast only called for mild weather. Billy gives Linda his coordinates, which we aren't sure of because she doesn't remember. Then, at dawn on the 28th, the entire fleet and the rest of the boats out there all receive the updated weatherfax. It's now calling for much more serious weather, and at this point no matter what happens, the Andrea Gail (and the Eishin Maru, the Zara, the Holland, and a few other boats) are right in the path of the weather and will not be able to escape it. Tommie Barrie of the Allison radios Billy, also knowing he's the westernmost boat of the fleet, and also asks for a weather report - Barrie is gauging whether he can set gear that evening or whether he should hold off. Billy gives him the weather update as 30ft seas and 50-80knot winds and his coordinates as 44N, 56.4W, headed West. Take a look at these coordinates on a map - this is not the heading of a boat travelling to Gloucester. Instead, this heading would put Billy into Halifax or Louisberg, which the Andrea Gail had apparently visited numerous times before. This is a departure in heading from what Billy initially told Linda the night before. Maybe he figured the colder seas further north wouldn't get as big, maybe he was low on fuel, maybe he wanted to seek shelter closer to shore, we don't know. All we know is that during this final radio contact, Billy indicated bad weather and a departure from his original heading. It's almost certain he did this after realizing how bad the weather was actually going to be.
I heard Judiths story when she told it to NWS researchers. She said one of the Nips said in near perfect English if this keeps up kiss your ass goodbye...
Say wat u will about Miss Judy but that lady is tough & cool under pressure. She didn't freeze up or just start screaming bloody like women at a chaotic scene. She'd make a decent Skipper - I'd crew up on her boat
@@bhall4996 not sure what ur smoking she never crewed a day in her life the only job on the vessel she could be qualified for is cook if she was captain that ship would have gone down in the first few hours of the storm
@KWAHU93 You never been on a boat gettin battered down in a brutal storm.. I did , I could barely operate. It's real hard to keep your head. Terrifying shit. She did OK.. She's a tough Canadian chick..
My god, the courage and selflessness of those rescuers, is just incredible. God bless them.
I was 17 years old, a senior in Gloucester High School. My first class of the day was Mrs Daly’s English Lit class. I remember looking out those old windows from the second floor of that old, brick building and not believing what my eyes were seeing.
Even from a distance I could see the white, foamy pillows of waves just washing over the breakwater (think big granite jetty) like it was not even there. This was October 30-31 of 1991. High tide was still hours away. This is something you very rarely ever saw, especially during low tide.
My friends and I dipped out of school and proceeded to drive around the back shore and Shore Rd in Magnolia until they closed them all off. I REALLY WISH that cell phone cameras were a thing back than, because the sights I saw that day….. and the day following; will live with me for the rest of my life. It was awe inspiring and absolutely horrifying all at the same time! Found out later that day my good friends brother was first mate on the Andrea Gail and that added an additional layer to it all. Absolute sadness for my friend and his family. They were well known and well loved members of our community.
Just thinking back almost 32 years ago now, and how much life has changed since than. But one thing remains true and always will….. Don’t ever turn your back on the Ocean. It giveth yet it also taketh… God Bless
@@bhall4996 aye she could! But she loved me! I was her ace! But not your typical ace! I ran with a troubled crowd! But Literature and writing were my thing and I enjoyed her humor! She was a truly great woman and teacher! And also equally loved was Mr. Erik Dahlgren! The man who inspired me to write. And I thank him immensely for pushing me to follow through! Two of the greatest teachers to have ever walked those halls in my opinion!! Thank you both for fostering and helping me ignite my passion for poetry and song AND great literature!
@@Glostahdude
Greatest gift is a teacher who opens the right doors for you. Fuller, O'Maley & ghs were blessed with some very dedicated teachers.
What's your opinion on the movie The Perfect Storm?
@bhall4996 wasn't asking you
@@thechadalorian2866
I won't charge you for it
Living on Long island at the time, We surfed that storm for a solid week, some of the biggest waves we ever caught. The horror the crew on the Andrea Gale must have gone through....
And don't forget the Air National Guard rescue helicopter out of West Hampton, NY ....RIP Rick Smith...You are gone, but never forgotten 💔
My gf and I were renting a house right on the seawall, in Marshfield, Mass., you stepped out sliding glass doors to a deck that butted right up against the seawall, at high tide the ocean came halfway up the wall, so the waves start coming over the wall onto the deck, and she said we should go, noway I'm missing this, the ocean was wild but it was beautiful, little by little the waves start crashing on the house, then they started crashing on the roof, beautiful dark green ocean water running down the windows, mesmerizing, then a wave picked up a boulder smashed sliding glass doors, time to go, but it was too late, in the car it was flooded on both sides, now it's life threatening, I back the car up as far as I could away from the waves, now crashing over the roof onto the telephone poles and wires, blue sparks running up and down the wires, so we watched for 10 hours as the ocean took the house right in front of us, down to the foundation, we survived but lost all our stuff, 1991 the perfect storm
So you almost got you and your GF killed because you didn't take the storm seriously.
lots of people mis judge storms, some aren't so lucky. Did you have a radio telling you how bad it was or did it just come up too quickly?
Wow you're a fool nearly got your girl killed
@@benjalucian1515What a pathetic comment to make.
@@jase4270 What else is pathetic? Staying put during a bad storm.
Thankyou for this documentary. Ive always been fascinated by this story and watch the movie frequently. This is a powerful story with real people and real experiences.
Please give my heartfelt regards to the families of lost ones and credit to all who rescued some of the victims of that horrendous storm.
RIP to all that lost their lives.
L
It was truly something to behold! Awe inspiring and yet absolutely terrifying all in the same breath
The most moving documentary I've seen!
"The fog's just lifting. Throw off your bow line; throw off your stern. You head out to South channel, past Rocky Neck, Ten Pound Island. Past Niles Pond where I skated as a kid. Blow your air-horn and throw a wave to the lighthouse keeper's kid on Thatcher Island. Then the birds show up: black backs, herring gulls, big dump ducks. The sun hits ya - head North. Open up to 12 - steamin' now. The guys are busy; you're in charge. Ya know what? You're a goddam swordboat captain! Is there any thing better in the world?"
RIP
Thank you for showing this. So overwhelming.
This storm "The Perfect Storm" took place on 31 October 1991
The Andrea Gail sank on the 28th. The weather noted on Halloween was when the storm made it to shore. It had been raging for over 48 hours beforehand
This storm was part of freak weather that was happening all across North America. On October 31st 1991 a freak storm hit us hard in southern New Mexico. This was a heavy snow storm that laid a 24" blanket of snow over town. It was a blizzard. There was lightning flashing at the same time. That day, towards the evening after 5pm we got to the Aurora borealis in the north sky. That was so odd. It continued for 2 days with the heavy snow. Haven't seen anything like it since
This was 1991. I was 10 and lived 20 miles from the ocean in Massachusetts it's called the perfect storm it was crazy
This was an absolutely great documentary. Those men on the rescue helicopter have an episode of ‘I Shouldn’t Be Alive’, it’s also very well done.
On October 28, 1991, the American commercial fishing vessel, Andrea Gale, sank with all hands. Her six-man crew foundered 180 miles northeast of Sable Island.
Well yeah that's what was in the story. Duh
I saw this many years ago and I have been looking for it for years m. I was really happy to find it. It's really well done.
Excellent documentary 👏🏼
The sea's power will never cease to amaze me.. the sheer force of water in motion is mind blowing...
Humbling experience. Thank you for the opportunity to watch.
RIP to all the lost souls out at sea…
Those old discovery channel commercials... wow, hilarious.
The 'Tamaroa' will forever live on in history as a supreme workhorse that took all the storm threw at her and managed to save precious human lives. She is now resting on the ocean bed after being scuttled on a reef. Edit: Her crew that night were so courageous and selfless and deserve all the accolades they receive.
I remember reading about her and thinking, damn, that's a tough ship and crew that will go into the teeth of that sort of weather and bull its way through. Good work, Tamaroa, you are still a bastion of life.
Known as the Perfect Storm (Andrea Gail) in Minnesota and the Twin Cities, it is referred to as the Halloween Blizzard of 91. Over a couple days 36" of wet snow was followed by a month of freezing temps turning roads into ice rinks
I ain’t seen junkyard wars for a long long time
This is what took the Andrea Gail.
I remember the "perfect storm" of Halloween 1991 like it was just yesterday. This storm dropped a crazy amount of rain on Philly that night and dragged a really good cold front behind it cause i remember it being unusually cold for that time of year
Terrible theory about Mike Smith the PJ and what happened to him was that as he jumped he realized he hadn't released his safety line and was just dangling under the helicopter helplessly until it ran out of gas and crashed down on him, taking him to the bottom.
Fuck really … hell of a way to go
@@mataafa1 IKR? It was one theory.
@benjalucian1515 I mean it's certainly possible but man that just gives me the shivers..what a brutal way to go
Those 5 coastys are absolute heroes of men
May the crew of the swordfish vessel Andrea Gail RIP. Your crew and your skipper, Billy Tyne, were hard-working men of the sea just trying to make some money to make ends meet and start families. I highly recommend the book The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger and the movie based on that book starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg. Also, made that Coast Guard man, and all the other victims, who were lost in the storm rest in peace.
I guess the storm just surrounded their boat. Legend is that the boat went down near the Titanic. If true, you're talking over a thousand feet. The bodies of the crew would have been crushed because of the water pressure.
Yeah, the storm pretty much formed over them. But they didn't sink near the Titanic. The Titanic sits at ~13,000 feet, MUCH further to the East, the Andrea Gail went down somewhere on the Scotian Shelf, in 600-900 feet of water. It wouldn't be enough to crush the bodies, but they'd definitely be gone at this point.
We should listen to the warnings issued. But nobody listens.
The warnings issued for the fishing fleet vastly under-reported the conditions of the weather and came far too late for the Andrea Gail. The boat was taken by surprise and overwhelmed by the storm within 6 hours
@@pc_buildyb0i935 it wasn't by surprise. The fleet was out there and all in contact with each other and they knew the weather was going to be terrible.
@@benjalucian1515 It was absolutely by surprise. The AG was already halfway home when the initial forecast was released. NOAA's initial forecast was only calling for 12-22ft seas and 35-45 knot winds. That's nothing. By dawn on the 28th, way too late for the AG to turn around or avoid the storm, the forecast was upgraded to 25-35ft seas and 55-65 knot winds.
Had Billy had that foresight, he probably would have headed back for the Grand Banks
@@pc_buildyb0i935 Billy was in constant contact with the fleet. Did you watch the documentary? Other fleet captains said they were plotting their own weather tracks based on what other boats were telling them. Ship captains did not have a lot of faith in what the weather bureau was saying. What was a surprise was that the storm shifted and he was running home right into middle of it.
@@benjalucian1515 You have your timetable off. Billy spoke with Linda on the evening of the 27th, two days into their steam home and nearly halfway back to Gloucester. The NOAA had just released the first forecast, calling for the conditions I just described.
Linda called Billy, as he was the westernmost boat of the fleet, and asked for a weather report - Billy said the weather looks crappy, gave her a list of supplies he needed her to call Brown about for when they got in port, and the two signed off. As I said, the initial forecast only called for mild weather. Billy gives Linda his coordinates, which we aren't sure of because she doesn't remember.
Then, at dawn on the 28th, the entire fleet and the rest of the boats out there all receive the updated weatherfax. It's now calling for much more serious weather, and at this point no matter what happens, the Andrea Gail (and the Eishin Maru, the Zara, the Holland, and a few other boats) are right in the path of the weather and will not be able to escape it.
Tommie Barrie of the Allison radios Billy, also knowing he's the westernmost boat of the fleet, and also asks for a weather report - Barrie is gauging whether he can set gear that evening or whether he should hold off.
Billy gives him the weather update as 30ft seas and 50-80knot winds and his coordinates as 44N, 56.4W, headed West. Take a look at these coordinates on a map - this is not the heading of a boat travelling to Gloucester. Instead, this heading would put Billy into Halifax or Louisberg, which the Andrea Gail had apparently visited numerous times before. This is a departure in heading from what Billy initially told Linda the night before.
Maybe he figured the colder seas further north wouldn't get as big, maybe he was low on fuel, maybe he wanted to seek shelter closer to shore, we don't know.
All we know is that during this final radio contact, Billy indicated bad weather and a departure from his original heading. It's almost certain he did this after realizing how bad the weather was actually going to be.
This storm occurred in 1991, please fix your video description.
Yes this had to be sometime in the 1990's not the 80's so fix your mistake please.
Anyone else remember when the tlc channel actually stood for the the learning channel and had stuff like this on it ?
Wild.
It’s not cape sable lol it’s sable island
Does anyone know where the Love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
This had to be from 1991 so it had to be from the 1990's NOT the 1980's.
I can't beLIEVE the obnoxious monster truck interruptions. Read Junger's Perfect Storm instead; BTW, avoid the movie!
Though said interruptions do date when this program was aired on television.
I heard Judiths story when she told it to NWS researchers. She said one of the Nips said in near perfect English if this keeps up kiss your ass goodbye...
For people that don’t believe in metrology if you can’t hunker down get out….
where is george?
God Bless our Coast Guard.
👁👇wwwww
Fht
that lady is so annoying. its not your boat.😂
The woman judith reeves is super annoying.
Say wat u will about Miss Judy but that lady is tough & cool under pressure. She didn't freeze up or just start screaming bloody like women at a chaotic scene. She'd make a decent Skipper - I'd crew up on her boat
Who cares what you think about Judy Reeves? I sure don't.
@@bhall4996skipper 😂
@@bhall4996 not sure what ur smoking she never crewed a day in her life the only job on the vessel she could be qualified for is cook if she was captain that ship would have gone down in the first few hours of the storm
@KWAHU93
You never been on a boat gettin battered down in a brutal storm.. I did , I could barely operate. It's real hard to keep your head. Terrifying shit. She did OK.. She's a tough Canadian chick..