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Inspirational Presentation
"Survival Lessons"


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Quabbin Tour

Read the Fatal Forecast Court Case

 

 

New program for businesses, organizations and employees to maximize performance and decision-making "Survival Lessons"

New Book

 

Recent Release



To order your personalized autographed copy send a check for $24.00 plus $2.00 postage to:

Michael Tougias
PO Box 72
Norfolk, MA  02056

Audio book (in CD format) available for $19.95 & $3.00 postage

"Tougias spins a marvelous and terrifying yarn.... this is a breathtaking book." -- The Los Angeles Times

"Ernie Hazard's experience, as related by Tougias, deserves a place as a classic of survival at sea." -- The Boston Globe

On a cold November day, two fishing vessels, the Fair Wind and the Sea Fever, set out from Cape Cod to catch offshore lobsters at Georges Bank. Soon after the boats reached the fishing ground, they were hit with hurricane force winds and massive, sixty-foot waves that battered the boats for hours. The captains and crews struggled heroically to keep their vessels afloat in the unrelenting storm.  One monstrous wave of 90 to 100-feet soon capsized the Fair Wind, trapping the crew inside.  Meanwhile, on the Sea Fever, Captain Peter Brown (whose father owned the Andrea Gail of Perfect Storm fame) did his best to ride out the storm, but a giant wave blew out one side of the pilothouse, sending a crew member into the churning ocean.

Most amazing is the story of Ernie Hazard, who managed to crawl inside a tiny inflatable life raft--only to be repeatedly thrown into the ocean--as he fought to endure over fifty hours adrift in the storm tossed seas.  By turns tragic, thrilling and inspiring, Ernie’s story deserves a place among the greatest survival tales ever told.

 

 

 

 

 

 


To order your personalized autographed copy plus 15% off the $25.00 cover price, send a check for $21.00 plus $4.00 postage to:

Michael Tougias
PO Box 72
Norfolk, MA  02056 

Blackstone Audio has released Ten Hours Until Dawn as an unabridged audio book which includes the actual radio communications from the boats in distress.  To order (9 CDs) send a check for $29.95 plus  $5.00 postage to M. Tougias, POB 72, Norfolk, MA  02056

"The best story of peril at sea since Sebastian Junger's Perfect Storm, a superb narrative.".....  Booklist Review

Selected by the American Library Association as one of the Top books of 2005.  "A white-knuckle read, the book of its kind!"

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Ten Hours Until Dawn (Description):

In the midst of the Blizzard of 1978, the tanker Global Hope floundered on the shoals in Salem sound, off the Massachusetts coast.  The Coast Guard heard the mayday calls and immediately dispatched a patrol boat.  Within an hour the Coast Guard boat was in as much trouble as the tanker, having lost its radar, depth finder, an engine power in horrendous seas.  Pilot boat captain Frank Quirk was monitoring the Coast Guard efforts by radio and when he heard that the patrol boat was in jeopardy, he decided to act.  Gathering his crew of four, he readied his 49-foot steel boat, the Can Do, and entered the maelstrom of the blizzard.

Using dozens of interview and audio tapes that recorded every word exchanged between Quirk and the Coast Guard, Tougias has written a devastating true account of bravery and death at sea.

 

 


Biography

Michael Tougias pronounced "Toe - gis" is a lecturer and author of 16 books.  His latest book Ten Hours Until Dawn: The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy Aboard the Can Do is a Boston Globe Bestseller.  Ten Hours Until Dawn was also selected by the American Library Association as one of the "Top Books of the Year" and described as "a white-knuckle read, the best book of its kind".

On a lighter note, Tougias chronicled his misadventures at his remote cabin in Vermont in his award-winning book There's A Porcupine In My Outhouse: Misadventures of a Mountain Man Wanna-be.  This book won the Independent Publishers Association Award for the "The Best Nature Book of the Year."

This website allows visitors to order autographed or personalized copies of Michael's books, view the topics of his presentations, and find upcoming presentations.

Because Michael frequently travels for book assignments, he prefers that correspondence be sent to his post office box which he checks weekly and responds to immediately.

Michael Tougias
P. O. Box 72
Norfolk, MA  02056