Perfect Storm, The - DEATH ON THE HIGH SEAS

This wave measures approximately 90 feet.  It would be difficult for a 72-foot vessel to negotiate such a wave were it to develop during a storm.  Image online, courtesy NOAA.

The weather data from the buoy nearest Billy and his crew (#44139) was inconsequential on October 28 - until about 2:00 p.m. when the seas changed from calm to 12 feet. The wind was gusting to 15 knots.

Conditions improved - temporarily - until later in the afternoon when the wind changed directions. By 6:15 p.m., the Andrea Gail was in the middle of "The Perfect Storm." Billy radioed the fleet:

She's comin' on boys, and she's comin' on strong.

That was the last message anyone had from the Andrea Gail.

No one knows for sure what happened to the ship and her crew, although Billy gave Linda Greenlaw his last coordinates: 44 north, 56.4 west. Plotting that location on the graph of the storm places the Andrea Gail where no 72-foot boat would ever want to be.

At least one Canadian weather buoy reported waves of 30.5 meters (99.735 feet). It could be that tremendous seas overwhelmed the Andrea Gail. Some folks think she was lost on the Shoals off Sable Island.

She disappeared without a trace, except for some debris found floating on the surface.