Cheating death amid a perfect storm

In November 1979, I signed on as crew on a sailboat bound for Bermuda from Newport, R.I. Five days after setting sail, we were rescued by the Coast Guard 300 nautical miles due east. Our boat had fallen apart in a bad storm, the rudder separated from the wheel, the engine quit, we had a knock-down -- the boat went 180 degrees upside down in the water and then righted again -- the life raft was missing the inflation valve, and we did not have enough life jackets to go around. My five crewmates and I were lucky to survive. The experience changed my life in ways both prosaic and profound. First, I would never go on a sailboat again, but more important, I would never again be unappreciative of warmth, dry land and simple, day-to-day existence.

One year after my seafaring disaster, on Nov. 21, 1980, four lobster boats motored out to Georges Bank, off Cape Cod. It was a beautiful day with a clear forecast. The captains had many years of experience. The crews had fished these waters together for the entire season. But, due to a malfunctioning weather buoy and a negligent National Weather Service, a winter storm came up faster and harder than expected. Winds gusted at 100 mph. Waves reached 60 feet high. In the frigid waters death from hypothermia could happen in minutes. The boats were tossed about like walnut shells. Four men died, and the others would never be the same. "Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea" is their story.