At the Mercy of the Sea

The True Story of Three Sailors in a Caribbean Hurricane

By: John Kretschmer

Narrated by: Jonathan Yen

A "normal" Caribbean hurricane travels from east to west, but Lenny was anything but normal. Spawned south of Cuba in 1999, this late-season storm defied all predictions by moving steadily east toward the Leeward Islands. Eventually building almost to Category 5 strength, Lenny squatted for two days between the Virgin Islands and St. Martin, whipping the ocean with 155 mile-per-hour winds and sixty-foot seas.

In its path in the Anegada Passage were three sailboats and their unfortunate crews: La Vie en Rose, a forty-one-foot sloop captained by ex-army lieutenant colonel Carl Wake; English Braids, a tiny twenty-one-foot racer skippered by would-be elite competitive sailor Steve Rigby; and Frederic-Anne, a sixty-five-foot schooner skippered by ambitious Guillaume Llobregat. None of the men knew each other, yet they converged by fate in a tiny circle of the sea in the midst of a storm no boat could withstand. And even as he battled for survival, Carl Wake lived the crowning hours of his life.

John Kretschmer's At the Mercy of the Sea retraces the journeys of these three sailors through life and across oceans. It is a taut, suspenseful re-creation that seeks to make sense of the improbable intersection of three lives at the height of a storm, and a gripping reconstruction of Carl Wake's search for meaning and, ultimately, for his soul.

©2007, 2008 John Kretschmer (P)2023 McGraw Hill-Ascent Audio

Articulation and story lines are gripping.

Listening to this book kept me up all night. It propels you through empathy for these characters decisions and their hurricane tribulations.

Great Story, Great Telling

Good story. Many lessons included. What a brutal and unpredictable storm. The resolve that these men must have had in order to cope is quite inspiring. This is a thorough account of all the pertinent facts. Narrator is great too.

well told account of sailing, surviving and dieing at sea.

I found the reader to be a bit stuffy and, at times off the mood of the narrative. Otherwise, a great book

Scary Story Told Well

This is a story with many moving parts but John is able to keep the listener engaged and on course throughout the tale. Sad story but well told.

a harrowing and thought provoking tale well told

loved everything, the author talks the talk AND walks the walk, I enjoyed every minute