• Ten Hours Until Dawn

  • The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy Aboard the Can Do
  • By: Michael J. Tougias
  • Narrated by: Joe Barrett
  • Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (148 ratings)

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Ten Hours Until Dawn  By  cover art

Ten Hours Until Dawn

By: Michael J. Tougias
Narrated by: Joe Barrett
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Publisher's summary

During the height of the blizzard of 1978, the tanker Global Hope floundered on the shoals off the Massachusetts coast. The Coast Guard dispatched a patrol boat, but was soon in as much trouble as the tanker. Then pilot boat captain Frank Quirk, hearing of the Coast Guard's troubles on his radio, decided to act. He gathered his crew of four, readied his 49-foot steel boat, the Can Do, and entered the maelstrom of the blizzard that was to become known as the "Storm of the Century".

Encountering one of the most monstrous seas ever recorded, Quirk struggled through the night to keep his boat from being driven to the depths of the sea, maintaining contact with a local ham-radio operator through his hand-held battery-powered radio. We know that the Can Do stayed afloat past three a.m. Then there was silence.

AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
©2005 Michael J. Tougias (P)2006 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

  • AudioFile Earphones Award Winner

"Tougias balances human and technical detail to create the best book of its kind since Sebastian Jungier's The Perfect Storm." (Booklist)
"Tougias delivers a well researched, vividly written tale of brave men overwhelmed by the awesome forces of nature. An absorbing account." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Ten Hours Until Dawn

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A riveting story

Those of us who grew up during, and remember well, the winter of 1977-78 in the Midwest and Northeast, were amazed by the snow that kept on falling the last week of January and first week of February 1978. No doubt, we were all tuned to our radios and TVs waiting for the school closure announcements. This true story brings to life one of the unfortunate side effects that came with the snowfront.

The author did extensive research and interviews with many of the people who were on board the USCG ships, as well as the radio men, and the loved ones of the Can Do's crew. Much like a Ken Burns film, you hope history will turn out differently than it did.

This recording has three gems:

1) Great narration that gives character to the people portrayed;
2) The author's notes about the book's evolution; and
3) Actual recordings of some the radio transmissions of the boats and radio operators that are at the core of the story.

Highly recommended!

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Highly Recomended

Excellent book. The final section with the actual radio transmissions of the Can-do and shore bases put one INTO the tragedy where other sea stories, such as "Perfect Storm" are unable to compare. There is little need for poetic license here.
Though there are sections whee the narrator didn't interpret the writing all that well, the writing is strong, informative, anad since I was IN this book, I can attest that it is painfully accurate.
Boatdog

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good Book Reminds Us of What is Important

I read the reviews about this book and some were not very nice. But I listened to it anyway and enjoyed it very much. If accents are not exact and places are not pronounced correctly, it doesn't really matter. What matters is learning about the lives of all these people and what they endured. And not forgetting this story. This story reminds me to tell people in my life everyday that I love them. That is what is important. At the end of this recording the author tells how he came to write this story, very moving.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Frightening

As one who has fished around Marblehead,and Beverly harbors and grew up and lobster fished in all seasons in Nahant, the book wes especally frightening and realistic. A great listen and well done!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Riveting, well written account of maritime storm

Any additional comments?

Great account of the great blizzard of '78, which resulted in 99 deaths. Focuses on the martime challenges that took place, expalining many of the issues that both the coast guard and civilan crafts faced. Very well written and excellent narration. Couldn't wait for my morning and evening commute to hear what happened next.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Feel what it's like to be in a blizzard on the sea

Any additional comments?

The story is so well told I could almost feel myself aboard the Can Do trying to cope with the relentless storm. It is difficult enough to navigate a truck through a blizzard. I know that. Trying to navigate a relatively small boat in storm battered seas must be worse. An excellent book for anyone who wants to know just how hard it must be to be a sailor.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

WOW!

Even though I knew what the out come was going to be I found myself hoping and wishing things would end differently, A well written, enjoyable listen.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

80% has nothing to do with story-line

I listened through this, but I'll not get anything else by this author. Although about 20% has bearing on the story, the rest is peripherally related to the sea, and is dry hearsay with some history thrown in.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

It's a documentary

This book obviously will be compared to "The Perfect Storm". Whereas that book tell a more dramatized story, this book is more like a documentary. It efficiently steps through the events of that day, offers background info on all the main characters and tells the story of the storm. It even includes the actual audio tapes of the radio transmissions - a nice touch for an audio book.

The book provides detailed information on how the events take place and you get a good idea of what actually happened.

As for the uncritical admiration for the main characters - I just could not buy it. Throughout their lives they have dedicated themselves to helping others, which is indeed admirable. But it seemed to me they were foolish to do what they did on the day of the storm.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Very complex

Would you listen to Ten Hours Until Dawn again? Why?

Yes I would listen to this again, but there are too many side stories in this book to make it really flow.

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2 people found this helpful