Ten Hours Until Dawn

The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy Aboard the Can Do

By: Michael J. Tougias

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

During the height of the blizzard of 1978, the tanker Global Hope floundered on the shoals off the Massachusetts coast. The Coast Guard dispatched a patrol boat, but was soon in as much trouble as the tanker. Then pilot boat captain Frank Quirk, hearing of the Coast Guard's troubles on his radio, decided to act. He gathered his crew of four, readied his 49-foot steel boat, the Can Do, and entered the maelstrom of the blizzard that was to become known as the "Storm of the Century".

Encountering one of the most monstrous seas ever recorded, Quirk struggled through the night to keep his boat from being driven to the depths of the sea, maintaining contact with a local ham-radio operator through his hand-held battery-powered radio. We know that the Can Do stayed afloat past three a.m. Then there was silence.

AudioFile Earphones Award Winner

©2005 Michael J. Tougias (P)2006 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

• AudioFile Earphones Award Winner

"Tougias balances human and technical detail to create the best book of its kind since Sebastian Jungier's The Perfect Storm." (Booklist)
"Tougias delivers a well researched, vividly written tale of brave men overwhelmed by the awesome forces of nature. An absorbing account." (Publishers Weekly)

Great book needs some editing

Interesting story well researched.

Appreciated the overview and context in which the story is set. Compelling material. The author seems deeply knowledgeable of the subject matter and invested in the people of the story.

Some commentary struck me wrong and overly familiar- especially the speculation about the thoughts of the crew during the last hours. This and some other speculation went on to long, seemingly designed to elaborate on rambling thoughts of the author not germane to the story.

Agree with several reviews that no accent is better than a poor one.

Riveting, well written account of maritime storm

Any additional comments?

Great account of the great blizzard of '78, which resulted in 99 deaths. Focuses on the martime challenges that took place, expalining many of the issues that both the coast guard and civilan crafts faced. Very well written and excellent narration. Couldn't wait for my morning and evening commute to hear what happened next.

Excellent book, terrific narration

Ten Hours Until Dawn is extremely well-researched and written with great narrative detail. The story is a tragic one, and its telling is both compelling and compassionate. The narration is excellent.

Wish it didn't end!

This story was unbelieveable! The narrator Joe Barret did an awesome job portraying the different characters! This story had to be told and the author's work payed off!! If you like adventures on the Sea I highly recommend it!!!!

Excellent Book

What made the experience of listening to Ten Hours Until Dawn the most enjoyable?

Exceptionally well researched but nicely balanced with humanity to make for a poignant and riveting read.

What about Joe Barrett’s performance did you like?

Joe Barrett kills it. Great narrator and perfect for this book. 10/10

Feel what it's like to be in a blizzard on the sea

Any additional comments?

The story is so well told I could almost feel myself aboard the Can Do trying to cope with the relentless storm. It is difficult enough to navigate a truck through a blizzard. I know that. Trying to navigate a relatively small boat in storm battered seas must be worse. An excellent book for anyone who wants to know just how hard it must be to be a sailor.

worth the credit

add blunders and courage, along with bad decisions and you get tragedy and an interesting story.

A great story gone bad

Unfortunately I (unwisely) bought several books by this author at one time. Considering the subject and available information I thought this would be right up my alley. Sadly, I was wrong. The reader was okay but had no northeastern accent and the story lost a bit from that. I found the writing tedious and boring. I wish I had selected more carefully.

Frightening

As one who has fished around Marblehead,and Beverly harbors and grew up and lobster fished in all seasons in Nahant, the book wes especally frightening and realistic. A great listen and well done!

I was there

I was in the blizzard of 78. Caught in my own issues, like trying to get home while collecting my 4 an 7 year-old children from 2 different day care locations and getting lost in the blinding snow, I never even heard of the "Can Do." I feel rather ashamed of this but everyone was busy surviving. It is a good book.