True stories of contemporary sailing disasters that will keep you alert and careful when you are on the water Suddenly Overboard tells stories about sailors who experienced catastrophes when least expecting them and who were rescued, or who died, or who lived to tell the tale simply by good luck. These tales will make you think “if these are the ways most sailors actually die, then what if I were in that situation?” These true-life stories are told in compelling, short narratives, with an insider’s analysis of what contributed to the accidents so you know what not to do or what to look out for when you are on the water. You will learn important topics such as decision making under stress and the role of emotions in accident survival. The book also includes an exclusive interview with Gary Jobson, president of US Sailing.

From masterful storyteller Michael J. Tougias comes a new, heart-stopping true-life tale of maritime disaster, his most thrilling and amazing story yet. In May 2005, Tom Tighe, captain of a forty-five-foot-long sailboat named the Almeisan, and his first mate, Loch Reidy, welcomed three new crewmembers for a five-day voyage from Connecticut across the blue waters of the Gulf Stream to sun-drenched Bermuda. The new crew included forty-six-year-old Kathy Gilchrist, seventy-year-old Ron Burd, and thirty-four-year-old Chris Ferrer. Although Tighe had made the trip forty-eight times, with Reidy accompanying him on twenty of those voyages, the rest of the crew had joined to learn more about offshore sailing. Four days into the voyage, an enormous storm struck, sweeping two of the crew into the towering sea. The remaining crewmembers managed to stay aboard the vessel as it was slowly torn apart by the rampaging ocean. Overboard! follows the simultaneous desperate struggles of both those still on the boat and those fighting for their lives in the sea. The Coast Guard, alerted to the Almeisan’s distress, rushed to the storm-tossed scene. Their ensuing search and rescue mission proved so spectacularly difficult and dangerous that it was later selected—from among thousands of incidents—as the Guard’s search and rescue case of the year. Highly trained helicopter pilots and rescue swimmers alike found themselves in almost as much trouble as those trapped by the ferocious ocean. By turns tragic, thrilling, and deeply inspiring, Overboard! is a riveting, fast-paced story of death and survival at sea—amazing, unforgettable, and all true.

From the New York Times–bestselling author of Jaws 2 and Jaws: The Revenge: “One of his best-known novels . . . the story of a troubled couple at sea” (People). It was supposed to be a relaxing vacation for a hard-working lawyer and his wife, but one slip and what begins as an adventure quickly becomes terrifying. When Mitch Gordon opens his eyes to find his wife missing in the middle of the ocean, he panics. He is seventy miles from Tahiti on a forty-foot ketch and there is no sign of help. Join Hank Searls, the creator of Jaws 2 and Jaws the Revenge, in this beautiful but frightening tale of love, trust, and survival.

Jonathan St. Honore is a federal narcotics agent living a nightmare within the dark walls of a Saigon prison. He has been convicted of murdering a crewman after he intercepted a fishing boat he suspected was smuggling opium into the country that instead turned out to be pure gold. Even as he is ruthlessly tortured, Jonathan refuses to reveal where he has hidden what everyone believes to be narcotics worth millions of dollars. As a result, he is left behind to rot in prison at wars end. As time passes, the CIA and an influential senator on track to become the next president of the United States finally step in to help. As a spectacular rescue mission unfolds that leaves five grisly murders in its wake and instigates an attack that threatens to ignite World War III, now only time will tell if both Jonathan and the vast fortune will finally be liberated or if he will die in prison. Code Name: C.I.N.D.E.R. shares a thrilling tale of the intrigue, murder, and greed that unfolds after an American holding an enormous secret is left in Vietnam at the close of the war.