I finished this book in tears, with that hellish lump in the throat that no amount of ‘haruphing’ will dislodge. What a great – and needless - tragedy the author, a local journalist, describes here, in a vivid picture of the battle between the storm of 1978, with blizzards of forty inches and pure hurricane strength winds, and in the forty-foot waves are the men who are fighting to save others and all too soon, themselves.

The Can Do was a steel-hulled Pilot boat out of Gloucester, that home-port of so many brave and lost seamen, and was named as an expression of attitude of the owner, Frank Quirk who with four mates, volunteers to “take a look” to see if he could help men stranded on a tanker in Salem bay.

Conditions were so bad that Coast Guard boats and even cutters were soon in great peril themselves. The tanker was aground, hard set on a ledge and going nowhere – the captain had cried “wolf” in his incompetence and five families lost their men while many of them actually listened to the gradually dying radio transmission from the battered boat. One of the family members who did so - by making a difficult trip in the blizzard to the region's Coast Guard station - was Frank's younger son who idolized his father. A little while he took his farther's gun and added to the tragedy and deaths by taking his own.

Well written, interspersed with snippets from Gloucester history, a worthy read.

Tougis was obviously influenced by Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger when he wrote Ten Hours Until Dawn. There have been many comparisons made of the two ocean-tragic books. In listening to the audio version of Ten Hours Until Dawn I appreciated the detail with which Tougis recounted the Can Do's final hours thanks to actual radio transmission transcripts. In addition Tougis included many stories of other rescues and tragedies to illustrate his point of just how dangerous the ocean could be. The arch enemy of a boat is wind and the blizzard of 1978 produced winds topping 100 miles an hour. Seas were well over 40 feet. Tougis paints a touching biography of Frank Quirk, the civilian pilot-boat captain who gathered four other men to brave the blizzard elements to assist in the rescue of two other boats in peril that day. My only "complaint" would be of myself. Because Tougis includes many different rescues to illustrate different points (the bravery of a certain man, an example of fierce weather, the sea worthiness of a boat) if I wasn't paying attention I would get confused as to which tragedy Tougis is recounting. He frequently bounces between the "current" action of the Can Do and other incidents that happen before and after 1978. ( )

I listened to this book as I drove home from school at night. It was a truly amazing account of those brave fisherman aboard the 'Can Do' during the Blizzard of '78. The descriptive writing of the author and the intense emotions in narration made you feel like you were there on the boat with them. Listen to this one! ( )

This book shares many parallels with The Perfect Storm... I get the feeling that Tougias' has tried to structure the book in a similar way. Unfortunately, I don't think he has quite enough to build the book around. As such, he tends to lose rhythm in telling the story, jumping from disaster to disaster to extend the drama. However, this has the opposite effect. All in all though, it's a gripping story that depicts amazing acts of bravery and an incredible weather event. ( )

I was school-age when the Blizzard of '78 unleashed its fury on New England. It was an historically powerful storm, bringing hurricane force winds and three feet of snow. The blizzard raged for a day and half when it stalled off the coast.

For most kids this was a wonderful time. Our street was unplowed for a week until a front end loader finally managed to clear the snow. School was closed for weeks. Huge drifts of snow made for great sledding.

But for many, the Blizzard brought destruction and death. Michael Tougias tells one of those stories in Ten Hours Until Dawn.

The most devastation from the Blizzard fell on the coast. The high winds and length of the storm lead to huge waves and violent seas. The tanker Global Hope was trying to ride out the storm under anchor in Salem Sound. The ship's anchor started dragging, the ship began floundering on the shoals and the captain sent out a mayday.

The ninety-five foot Coast Guard cutter Cape George from Boston and the 210 foot Decisive from Provincetown fired up their engines and made way to the incident. Closer by, the Coast Guard sent a forty-one foot utility boat and a forty-four foot motor lifeboat from Gloucester Harbor. They set out into violent waters churned by the blizzard. The two smaller boats took a beating as soon as they passed the breakwater in Gloucester Harbor.

Also hearing the call was Frank Quirk. He sat back waiting for the Coast Guard to do their job. Using his forty-nine foot Can Do, Quirk delivered pilots to incoming cargo ships. He was also a diver and had participated in rescue attempts. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the coastal waters.

When the smaller boats got in trouble, Quirk fired up the engines and gathered a few friends. They headed out into the beast of storm slamming against the New England coast.

The obvious comparison for this book is Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm. Both books involved boats that left Gloucester Harbor and got caught in the teeth of a vicious storm. Junger crafted a story around the issues confronting swordfisherman, but had little information about what actually happened. The Andrea Gail and her crew were never heard from again.

Ten Hours Until Dawn recreates the Can Do's battle with storm. Tougias had copies of radio transmissions to help him structure the story. He was also able to interview the participants and spectators to the events that took place in Salem Sound during the Blizzard of '78. It's a compelling story. ( )