Perfect Storm (movies); the crew on the sailboat

[Steve Clayton]

Watched this movie last night (on ITV).

Couldn't believe it!!! The two wimmen on the sailboat started to argue and disagree with the skippers decision to carry on into the storm.

Any woman on by boat starts disagreeing with me and they get told to get below where they belong and make the coffee.

<hr width=100% size=1><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by steve_clayton on 22/10/2004 10:43 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Stevie_T]

Didn't watch it last night, saw it a while ago, you just reminded me how irritating I found parts of it.
Effects were pretty good as I remember though there were some pretty ludicrous scenes.
Does for boating movies what Vertical Limit does for climbing movies.

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[bedouin]

Junger's treatment of the skipper in the book was very poor - at least the film was a little fairer on the skipper.

However in truth the behaviour of the women, and the USCG, was very poor. IIRC the true name of the boat was "Satori" - a Google search should reveal the details.

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[tcm]

yeah, though the skipper (in the movie) was obviously a tit as he had lots of sail up in F11/12

I understand that the real life story is a bit different.

Seprately, tho, if you have ever been in a real crisis on a boat, "i'm the skipper!" doesn't always cut it. Frexample, if someones nearest and dearest got swept overboard - how confident are you that you would be able to stop hubby from immediately going after her as well, instead of staying on board to follow the drilll? V tough, i reckon.

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[oldharry]

Agree Steve - but have you really never been on a boat run not by the skipper , but a female committee?

It got ten times worse with the advent of the pocket GPS - they are all busy working out their own set of courses and waypoints and telling the skipper what he should do.

Yes the skipper was was shown as weak: but faced with an extreme survival situation - and I guarantee it was ten times worse than the film showed - and a panicking crew demanding to stop the boat rocking (in a F12!) could any of us be sure of having enough strength left to cope with said crew hysterically demanding a course of action you are probably half way to deciding on anyway? A F12 is no place for a discussion on survival tactics - its too late by then.

Unfortunately on a yacht we cant just take a belaying pin to silence a recalcitrant crew member, as would Nelson or Hornblower.... though I am sorely tempted at times!

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[Gordonmc]

If memory serves correct the real life skipper took umbrage at the depiction in the movie.
Although he and crew abandoned the boat, she turned up after the storm and he salvaged her.
What I thought odd was that the Mr. Clooney's crew was only tasked with putting up storm shutters when they had been in the teeth of it for some time, loose gear was not secured and the main hatch wasn't battened down.
Presumably as the boat was lost with all hands and we have no proper account, we can put this down to Hollywood licence.
BTW, when they turned to run before the storm, why did they take killer wave bow-on?

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[ridgy]

Apparently the film was creative in a number of areas.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://world.std.com/~kent/satori/>http://world.std.com/~kent/satori/</A>


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[StugeronSteve]

"yeah, though the skipper (in the movie) was obviously a tit as he had lots of sail up in F11/12 "

/forums/images/icons/smile.gif

Probably just traded away from a McDuff 26 and hadn't realized the limitations of other boats.

"The I'm skipper" ploy is certainly not going to work where the crew collectively harbours serious concerns about ones wisdom. Never yet been in a truly orrible situation myself, thank God, but I'm pretty sure a consideration of the crew's fears, and suggestions, would be the most seamanlike action. There will always be situations that require the "do it now" commands, although they are usually a reaction to an occurrence, rather than a method of laying out a passage plan. How you would stop someone "going in" to save a partner/child I have no idea. Probably by having them all tied on in those conditions.


<hr width=100% size=1>Think I'll draw some little rabbits on my head, from a distance they might be mistaken for hairs.

 

[cliff]

"Unfortunately on a yacht we cant just take a belaying pin to silence a recalcitrant crew member, as would Nelson or Hornblower"

Wanna bet?

Keel hauling is too good for some of these mutinous crew.



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[Guest]

Web-site for real story

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://world.std.com/~kent/satori/>http://world.std.com/~kent/satori/</A>

<hr width=100% size=1>Cheers Nigel http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gps-navigator/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/searider/

 

[AlexL]

The story is similar to the recent one of off spain, where the skipper was comfortable in the conditions (even though they were severe) but the crew 'lost it' and paniced and in the Perfect storm, sent an unauthorized mayday and in spain a few months back, actually locked the skipper below decks without food or water and got rescued by helicopter

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[Sans Bateau]

When I saw the film at the cinema, I was left thinking that unless you had read the book it would make little sense, half the book deals with the background, not good movie material; yes good special effects and of course the Hollywood treatment was designed to make it appealing in a 'Box Office' way, but judging by a couple of comments I picked up on as we left, the general public could have been confused.
Anyone agree?

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[chrisc]

watched this film for first (and onely )time just one year ago ,
We were heading home up the southern baltic and got holed up in a little
ten boat harbour waiting for a pretty good storm to blow over,we had carried a video/tv on the boat for the last 2years and as we were almost home again decide it must be time to see if it worked so -bottle of whisky two glasses
rain poring on the decks and boat swinging through 50 degrees and watched
'The perfect Storm ' unfortunately it was a sh'*t film but as the bottle got emptier
the plot got more hilarious...

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[Twister_Ken]

laugh a minute stuff

>it was a sh'*t film but as the bottle got emptier the plot got more hilarious<

Glad to hear it. I reckoned it was only me who thought it was a comedy. Especially the helicopter 'ditching'.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[steve_cronin]

You Sir!!

...are either VERY BRAVE

or

VERY FOOLHARDY.

Our (yes OUR) boat is even Registered in joint names.

I even know that some boats are even named after SWMBO - Ayesha.

Steve Cronin



<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion

 

[boatmike]

Re: laugh a minute stuff

I remember pissing everybody off at the cinema by laughing! Couldn't stand to watch it again.... Remember 2 excellent bits where the boat was travelling vertically up a wave that must have been about 200ft high. Must have had an engine bigger than a 747... And then they lost 2 blokes over the side in the same sea and they were talking to one another in the water! Ha Ha! better than Laurel and Hardy!!!!

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[smee]

Re: Perfect Storm (movies); the crew on the sailbo

Well that's fine as long as the skipper isn't a total prat with a chauvinism problem.

What if male crew happened to disagree?

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[StugeronSteve]

Re: laugh a minute stuff

I'm afraid I did laugh, and so did swmbo, which is unusual for her when watching a nautical disaster movie, coz she's always convinced that we'll meet the same fate (no matter whether it be giant waves, giant fish, space aliens etc. etc.). Fortunately we were watching on DVD, at home. As Ken says, the chopper ditching was ludicrous. I tried to estimate the wave height, in proportion to the boat, and settled on something in the order of 200' to 300'.

<hr width=100% size=1>Think I'll draw some little rabbits on my head, from a distance they might be mistaken for hairs.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Re: laugh a minute stuff

Loved the bit where a wave broke through one door of the chopper and washed out the other, and the damn thing kept on flying.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[StugeronSteve]

Re: laugh a minute stuff

Think it was the chopper equivalent of what the aeronautical types refer to as jet wash. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

<hr width=100% size=1>Think I'll draw some little rabbits on my head, from a distance they might be mistaken for hairs.