On the Edge of Survival: A Shipwreck, a Raging Storm, and the Harrowing Alaskan Rescue That Became a Legend
Written by Spike Walker
Narrated by Robertson Dean
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Two Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopters lifted off immediately from Air Station Kodiak during the driving storm in an effort to rescue the ship's eighteen crew members before it broke apart and sank in the freezing waters. Nine of the crew were lifted from the ship and dropped aboard a nearby Coast Guard cutter. But during attempts to save the last eight crew members, one of the Jayhawks was engulfed by a rogue wave that broke over the bow of the ship. When its engines flamed out from ingesting water, the Jayhawk crashed into the sea. The seven crew members from the ship who had been hoisted into the aircraft, along with the chopper's three-man crew, plunged into the bitterly cold ocean, where hypothermia immediately began to set in.
Interviewing all the surviving participants of the disaster and given access to documents and photos, acclaimed author Spike Walker has once again crafted a white-knuckle book of survival and death in the unforgiving Alaskan waters.
Spike Walker
Spike Walker spent nine seasons as a crewman aboard some of the most successful crab boats in the Alaskan fleet. While "working on the edge," the crewmen's term for laboring in the brutal outer reaches of the Bering Sea, Spike encountered 110-mph winds, rode out one of the worst storms in Alaska's history, worked nonstop for seventy-four hours without sleep, participated in record catches of king crab, saw ships sink, helped rescue their crews, and had close friends die at sea. In addition to his crab-fishing experience, Spike Walker has worked in the offshore oilfields of Louisiana and Texas; along the Mississippi River as a certified, commercial deep-sea diver; and in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska as a logger. He is the author of several works of nonfiction, including Working on the Edge, Nights of Ice, and Coming Back Alive.
Related to On the Edge of Survival
Related audiobooks
Coming Back Alive: The True Story of the Most Harrowing Search and Rescue Mission Ever Attempted on Alaska's High Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gathering Wind: Hurricane Sandy, the Sailing Ship Bounty, and a Courageous Rescue at Sea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Godforsaken Sea: Racing the World's Most Dangerous Waters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5So Others May Live: Coast Guard's Rescue Swimmers Saving Lives, Defying Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stowaway: A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sea's Fury Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Voyage of the Liberdade Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rough Water: Stories of Survival From The Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Labyrinth of Ice: The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Island of the Blue Foxes: Disaster and Triumph on the World's Greatest Scientific Expedition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ship That Wouldn't Die: The Saga of the Uss Neosho - a World War II Story of Courage and Survival at Sea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Halsey's Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Run the Storm: A Savage Hurricane, a Brave Crew, and the Wreck of the SS El Faro Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Voyage for Madmen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lost!: A Harrowing True Story of Disaster at Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Naked and Marooned Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dive: The Untold Story of the World's Deepest Submarine Rescue Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Dive: A Father and Son's Fatal Descent into the Ocean's Depths Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Collision Course: The Classic Story of the Collision of of the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ledge: An Adventure Story of Friendship and Survival on Mount Rainier Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hungry Ocean Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Time to Die: The Untold Story of the Kursk Tragedy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Abandon Ship!: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, the Navy's Greatest Sea Disaster Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Esperanza Fire: Arson, Murder and the Agony of Engine 57 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
History For You
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret History of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Endurance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Korean War: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Who Cooked the Last Supper?: The Women's History of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Demon Copperhead: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mary Magdalene: Women, the Church, and the Great Deception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Boy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swingtime for Hitler: Goebbels’s Jazzmen, Tokyo Rose, and Propaganda That Carries a Tune Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for On the Edge of Survival
22 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An excellent read. A book of true heroism and selfless individuals. It makes one realize there are true super-heroes among us. Really, really enjoyed it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is nonfiction of Malaysian-registered Panamax bulk cargo ship chartered by the IMC Group that ran aground off Unalaska Island in western Alaska's Aleutian Islands on 8 December 2004 after its engine failed and the rescue by the U.S. Coast Guard. It was a disaster that I confess to not knowing about. I enjoyed this quick audio. These pilots and the rescue swimmer did an extraordinary job of rescuing men who were not cooperative in the efforts and they all acknowledged that it was providence that resulted in so few lost life.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When a cargo ship loses power in the Bering Sea the Coast Guard is called out. They try to hold the ship off the rocks, but the lines break. The captain of the ship refuses to cooperate. When the ship drags its anchor and starts to run into the rocks the Guard deploys its helicopter to save the crew. What ensues is high drama. One helicopter crashes with the loss of 6 lives. Two people are trapped on the hull of the ship while 60 foot waves wash over them. This book will keep you riveted until the final page.