The Last Run A true story of rescue and redemption on the Alaska seas, Todd Lewan. (Hardcover 0060196483)

Search - The Last Run : A true story of rescue and redemption on the Alaska seas

The Last Run A true story of rescue and redemption on the Alaska seas
Author: Todd Lewan

It was the catch of a lifetime. In late January 1998, after a miserable stretch of fishing that hadn't paid for even their groceries, the five-man crew of a seventy-nine-year-old Alaska schooner called the La Conte risked one last run to the Fairweather Grounds, despite the approach of bad weather. The young skipper, a father-to-be, was... more » convinced fish could be found on the shoals, and his instincts were right: they hit the mother lode. For eighteen hours their lines had a fish on every hook: yellow eye, lingcod, calico, halibut, even the occasional sand shark; it was an incredible haul, one that would bring huge profits -- and respect -- back in port. But they stayed out too long, and a hurricane-force Arctic storm caught them. Though in need of repair herself, the La Conte had weathered bad seas before -- and might have again. But in the cruelest of ironies, the additional burden of its magnificent catch sank the ship, and set the five men -- Bob Doyle, Mike DeCapua, Gig Mork, David Hanlon, and Mark Morley -- afloat in frigid seventy-foot seas. Their radio beacon was sending distress signals to the Coast Guard, but the chances of rescue under such conditions seemed remote. Eight months later, on a deserted island nearly 800 miles away, two boys found a mutilated corpse that had washed ashore and been mauled by brown bears. A forensics investigator, haunted by the thought that this man's family might never know what had become of him, and with only a single partial fingerprint and scraps of a survival suit for clues, set out to identify the body. Author Todd Lewan's painstaking investigation into these events began here, too, with the discovery that the man found dead on Shuyak Island had been one of the fishermen aboard the La Conte. Lewan became obsessed with learning what had become of the other crewmen; with understanding how five "end of the roaders" from different parts of the United States had come together in Alaska to fish one of the world's most treacherous patches of ocean in the dead of winter; and with conveying the way in which that "dream catch" represented an opportunity for each of the men to significantly alter his life. In the process he learned of the truly heroic efforts undertaken by no fewer than three different teams of Coast Guard helicopter rescue units to save these desperate men. Lewan's re-creation of the events themselves -- the discovery of a lost fisherman's remains; the bonding of troubled men on the high seas; the horrifying hours spent fighting to keep from freezing to death in thirty-eight-degree water; the impossibly courageous efforts of the helicopter rescue crews; and the moving account of how one of the survivors, in particular, found during this tempest an unexpected inner strength that allowed him to turn his life around -- makes for an unforgettable tale, a page-turning narrative drama of the first order. It also provides a timeless, affecting portrait of hard-living seekers drawn to Alaska: of adventurers in search of roots, home, and the chance to remake themselves in the spirit of America's last frontier.

ISBN-13: 9780060196486
ISBN-10: 0060196483
Publication Date: 7/1/2004
Pages: 384
Rating:

Currently 4/5 Stars.

4 stars, based on 10 ratings

Publisher: HarperCollins
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Barb S. (BDS) reviewed The Last Run : A true story of rescue and redemption on the Alaska seas on 6/28/2006 + 86 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

This is a true account of a remarkable search and rescue mission by the Coast Guard, using helecopters, in the dead of an Alaskan winter, a cataclysmic Arctic storm with hurricane-force winds (140-mph gusts) and towering seas (waves that were ten stories high).

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Joyce J. (dirinda89) reviewed The Last Run : A true story of rescue and redemption on the Alaska seas on 7/3/2009 + 10 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

This is a terrific and horrifying read. It starts out a bit slow but then it grabs you and you'll be unable to put it down. I am a fan of the TV show Deadliest Catch, this book is akin to that show on steroids.

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Beverly H. (GainesvilleGirl) - reviewed The Last Run : A true story of rescue and redemption on the Alaska seas on 2/20/2012 + 215 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

An exciting, and at times heart wrenching, story of a down-on-their-luck group of misfit seamen who had the temerity, or sheer stupidity, to take a worn out and poorly equipped sea vessel on a fishing expedition that turned out to be a deadly venture.
In my opinion the story is well written and thoroughly
researched by author Lewan, who delves into the backgrounds and lives of the crew and the men involved in the rescue operation, giving the book a very human approach. Details of the shipwreck and the hair raising rescue of some of the crew in the midst of a terrifying, hurricane strength, storm are breathtaking. I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy stories of "men who go down to the sea in ships," and who occasionally don't come back.

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June A. (pertdoe) reviewed The Last Run : A true story of rescue and redemption on the Alaska seas on 10/20/2013 + 191 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

This is an excellent book. It grabs you from the very first page and never lets you go. The writing is so good, it reads like a novel but it is a true story. It is the story of a fishing boat and because they had not gotten a good catch the captain decided to go out for one last time. It was getting into the time when they should be in port for the winter,but hoped to make a killing this last time. If you are into this genre you will love this book, and well worth the time to read it.

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