The Ship and the Storm: Hurricane Mitch and the Loss of the Fantome

by Jim Carrier

Captain Guyan March had spent his entire professional career aboard Windjammer Barefoot Cruises' fleet of extravagant tall ships that carry passengers on weeklong fantasy cruises spiced with rum and sun. When he agreed to command the Fantome, Windjammer's marquee ship, a beautiful 282-foot schooner that "sailed like a pig" in the Gulf of Honduras, he knew that a storm would leave him little space to run. In the southern reaches of the Caribbean, Tropical Storm Mitch whirled to life like a nebula and became Captain March's worst nightmare--a category five storm with 180-mile-per-hour winds and fifty-foot seas. After discharging his passengers in Belize, Captain March and his crew, most of them West Indians, took the $20 million uninsured tall ship out to sea to dodge the approaching storm. What ensued was a deadly game of cat and mouse that confounded experts' predictions and cornered the Fantome with eerie precision.

Based on journalist Jim Carrier's exhaustive research and hundreds of interviews, The Ship and the Storm explores the story of the Fantome and Hurricane Mitch from every angle. From the deck of the ship, to the research planes flying into the eye of the hurricane, to islanders and coastal villagers in a desperate battle for survival, The Ship and the Storm is the heartbreaking and horrifying story of the most destructive hurricane in Western Hemisphere history.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Nautical, Adventure, Travel, Maritime, Survival

317 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2000

About the author

Jim Carrier is an award-winning writer and filmmaker, known for his adventure, nature and science writing. His writing has appeared in the National Geographic, the New York Times, The Denver Post, magazines and anthologies, including the Best American Science and Nature Writing. He has roamed by jeep through the American West and by sailboat across the Atlantic and Mediterranean. His reporting from the West, as the Rocky Mountain Ranger, took him through 500,000 miles, 7,665 sunsets and 87 pairs of Levis. Carrier was founder of IntelliTours, a GPS-guided audio tour company.

Reviews

[Petra X]

I've put off reading this book for years. I knew the Fantome, the Flying Cloud, the Yankee Clipper and Amazing Grace. They were all three and four-master tall ships, cruise ships, but no pools, no buffets except on the beach, no entertainment except for parties, and no shops, except for me selling my hand-painted t-shirts on the beach when the ship came in on Tuesday's.

My bff with whom I lunch on Fridays this is the extent of my social life right now was a purser on board one of them, she helped organise the famous toga parties (toga optional after midnight). Now she's an Operations Manager in an office. We all have different paths.

So when the Fantome was lost in Hurricane Mitch, it hurt. All 31 crew members died in that storm. It felt like a personal loss, so I never read the book. But now I've bought it and not for sale. So maybe, like review to come, but read to come. Sometime.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping, haunting, tragic... well researched and written from a fairly objective perspective (there was a lot of blame flying around in the face of this tragedy). I sailed with Windjammer on the Yankee Clipper less than a year after the Fantome was lost. I travelled with a large group of veteran Windjammer friends who had sailed on the Fantome twice. They were friends with Captain March and many of the crew members who perished.

A member of the crew of the Yankee Clipper was supposed to be on the Fantome but he was saved by airline ticket complications. He spent a lot of time with our group and it was absolutely heartbreaking to hear his side of the story. There was a lot of bitterness toward the corporate offices for withholding information about the fate of the ship and its crew.

It was a fascinating and devastating read for me after hearing so many personal accounts and stories about the people who lost their lives in such a horrific manner.

[Hugh Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ship and the Storm was about a famous Windjammer called Fantome said by a Captain Guyan off the Yucatan Peninsula. There is a hurricane, Mitch, that comes on a collision course with the boat. I remember Mitch but had forgotten how devastating it was and how poorly forecasted it was. What happens? You will have to read the book and find out! It is worth the read. Pretty well written and good detail. Enjoy.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well researched and well written account of a terrible tragedy. The author chose not to blame Windjammer, the weather forecasters, Mike D. Burke or even Guyan March for the loss of the ship and crew. He leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions. It was a compelling read even with the certain knowledge that lives would be lost before the last chapter.

I would have had a better understanding of the environment, if one of the book's three maps had been more complete. Not one showed all of the islands and towns mentioned in the book.

[Winnie Thornton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring. Especially when the story is actually super interesting, that's bad.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Fantome was a schooner, also known as a tall ship, last owned by Windjammer Barefoot Cruises. (It was once owned by the Duke of Westminster, which I thought was a tremendously interesting fact, and it also mentioned several famous names that had been aboard prior to the last ownership.) The ship offered cruises along the Caribbean islands. Hurricane Mitch is the second deadliest hurricane reported. The loss of life and devastation left by this storm is amazing to read about. It developed in the most favorable conditions for a hurricane to develop in, causing it to reach Category Five strength in basically no time flat. It was also slow moving, which caused extensive amounts of flooding in Central America and the islands. I cannot imagine being in a hurricane at sea, and certainly not on a schooner. I would have died from fright before anything else would have had a chance to kill me. I cannot imagine being a Captain and having to make the decision for my passengers and crew that could cost them their lives. I won't spoil the book by going into what happened to the people on board, but whew! I just cannot imagine the struggle.

I have no idea why my used bookstore has so many books about shipping disasters these days, but I am happily here to buy them all up. I have never desired to take a cruise, and I have just been reading all of these types of books, which has really erased any faint desire I have to go cruising. My family loves to cruise, and I always thought they were silly for it. I love the ocean, but it is just so vast and so unpredictable at times. I certainly would never cruise during hurricane season. I am absolutely terrified of whales, and I think I am beginning to fear the ocean in general after reading so many of these types of books back to back this year. Perhaps I need to take a shipwreck hiatus. At any rate, the story was well told, and I learned a great deal about yachts, tall ships, and the Fantome in general. I had no idea people did cruises on these types of ships, though we have riverboat cruises where I live. (At least I know I can swim/float to the other side of the Tennessee River if we ever sank in it though.) I liked the description and detail of the Captain's plan and thought process in getting people off of the ship and trying to get somewhere to keep the ship safe. Books like this can often come across as boring when they weigh you down with information, but I didn't feel bored or suffocated by ship facts. I thought they were really neat to learn, and I appreciate any time I get to learn something. If you are a morbid shipwreck reader like myself, I would suggest giving this one a read.

[Tom Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Carrier tells the story of The Ship and the Storm by using crew accounts, passenger interviews, surviving crew relatives and official weather related records.
Anchored in the quiet waters of the Bay at Omoa, Honduras passengers excitedly board the Windjammer Cruise Ship Fantome. Feted with the finest cuisine and free flowing rum swizzle the fun and excitement is just beginning as the tall ship prepares to sail from one tropical paradise to another.
Two mornings later as the Fantomes’ guests finished their Bloody Mary and sticky bun breakfast a weather station on the West Coast of Africa was recording a drop in the barometric pressure. The Miami Hurricane Center labeled the system #46 and indicated in the margin that it was impressive.
One week later on the evening of October 17, 1998 while Fantome passengers partied tropical wave 46 was moving west past Barbados in the Windward Islands. A day later the National Hurricane Center predicts that tropical wave 46 will become a hurricane.
October 21st the day Fantome arrived at the island of Guanaja and Fantome passengers were still enjoying their cruise vacation. But change came the next morning and Captain Guyan March advises crew and passengers about the storm.
BULLETIN: 5AM EDT SAT OCT 24, 1998. MITCH STRENGTHENS RAPIDLY INTO A HURRICANE
Storm tracks in the direction of Cuba and the Cayman Islands and forecasters are calling Mitch a potentially dangerous hurricane.
Fantome was at Omoa, Honduras where locals advised Captain March to drop both anchors and stay in port. March consults his boss in Miami by phone and following a prolonged discussion with Windjammer Headquarters in Miami it was decided to cancel the Fantomes’ cruise. Passenger safety was uppermost in their minds and they discharged the passengers at Belize City. They didn’t consider Belize a safe harbor to ride out the storm so Fantome with 31 crewmembers aboard left Belize to try and outmaneuver the storm.
Hurricane Mitch was coming up on Swan Island and conventional wisdom as well as the National Hurricane Centers computer models predicts that the storm will turn to the northwest. Fantome headed southeast from Belize toward the Bay Islands north of Honduras and had the storm tracked to the northwest as was expected there would have been plenty of separation between the ship and the storm. But the monster storm called Mitch with a mind of its own defied convention and turned south where it continued to spin its Category 4 and sometimes 5 winds over the waters and islands destroying everything in it’s path. High winds and waves produced by the storm extended out some 200 miles from its center. Fantomes’ engines and Captain March’s skilled seamanship was no match for the tall waves and winds produced by Hurricane Mitch. Eventually the powerful waves broadside Fantome and breach the ships watertight bulkheads.
The story of The Ship and the Storm is tragically compelling.

[Roger Feenstra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book about one of the worst hurricanes in history. It is also one of the worst books in history. The title is misleading. It would be better titled "The Storm and a Little Bit About a Ship." There is so much data, over and over again, about hurricane Mitch. Here is a brief synopsis of this terrible book:

"There is a unique cruise line (Windjammers) that offers vacations for hedonistic people on tall ships. They serve a lot of rum swizzles and people like to hook up with strangers on the cruises. A storm comes up, they take the people off the ship and fly them home. The people are disappointed. The ship tries to escape the storm. We don't know what happened to the ship and its crew and never hear from them again. People are sad. The end."

The ship and the storm scenario doesn't really develop in the book until about the 60% mark, and it lasts until about the 75% mark. The rest of the book is describing the storm, e.g., It's now a category 2 storm, oh wait, it's a category 3, now a category 4; on and on. The first half of the book describes the people on the ship, passengers and crew alike. None of them are memorable and I found myself not caring about any of them. It was like someone inviting you to their home to watch home movies of their second cousins, whom you don't know and could really care less.

What kept me going in this book was that I knew there had to be some action in it somewhere...but alas, there was not. It was the single worst book I've read this year--or maybe any year.

[Dan Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has all the elements a modern book needs: adventure, parties, exotic locations, premonitions, scandal, and sex. The author knows his audience well. Kudos for including stories about the terrible impact Hurricane Mitch had on Honduras. In fact, rescuers searching for signs of the Fantome found a woman floating in the ocean on a metal roof! She would have died had they not been searching for the ship.

All the same, the author lays it out as an extended morality tale, in which the Windjammer company founder and son come in for scrutiny. Seems a company founded on partying in international waters doesn't worry too much about maritime safety standards, and it tragically caught up with them. Of course, the founder had a point: all the rules ensure that the huge cruise lines are the only players and small-time businessmen are kept out of the market. But I think the key point of the book was made by an instructor who pointed out a pretty simple rule of thumb: winds above 34 knots significantly reduce the steering ability of a boat: stay at least 100 miles away from that point! If anyone with Windjammer had had professional training, they would have known that and probably made a better decision about what to do.

But everyone in the company, including the captain of the Fantome, was a self-made man. Yes, Captain March was an incredibly talented sailer, but in one sense he was not a professional - he had little formal training, if memory serves. And he was in his job particularly since he was great with passengers who wanted to party. For approximately 30 years it didn't much matter that Windjammer was put together with duct tape and wire.

But suddenly it really did matter, and all the wrong decisions were made while there was still time to make a decision that would help. Once it became crystal clear that Fantome had a problem, it was too late to steer clear of danger, since they were trapped against the coast line. The only decision that could be made was to save the ship or save the crew. They decided to save the ship, and ended up losing both. The ship was steered according to where the forecasters said the storm was going. The forecasts were wrong, and they ended up steering the ship directly into Mitch's eyewall! The results were catastrophic.

Great story, unfortunately results, and a lesson for the rest of us - give yourself a wide margin for error!

[Taylor Brystol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hubris + cowardice = an interesting and often tragic story. Such is the case of the Ship and the Storm.

It’s hubris to refuse to go to maritime school yet control a fleet of ships. It’s hubris to refuse to work another company to learn additional skills. It’s hubris to operate that fleet of ships under flags of convenience, completely aware you are buying certificates your ships don’t qualify for, making structural changes without oversight, ignoring international safety laws, hiring dramatically underpaid workers from poor countries, skipping repairs, refusing to insure the ships, and then sailing during hurricane season.

It’s cowardice to then blame the loss of 31 lives on the captain. To say, in many different ways and instances “he was very experienced. He wouldn’t have _____ if he didn’t think it was safe.” It’s cowardice (and naivety) to say the captain could make his own decisions on not only where, how, and if to sail the ship, but also on canceling a cruise altogether. He was not the Master of a ship at sea. He was an employee, trusted with a $20 million uninsured flagship, running $100,000 cruise trips. He had to check with his boss. We are supposed to believe he could have canceled a tour, on his own, a 100k loss to the company, w/o any blow back? That had he decided to ignore his boss, seek refuge, lost the ship but saved the crew he would have had a job, or even a reference letter afterward?

The Ship and the Storm is a well written account of a sadly common tale. Several people have the hubris to think they can do whatever they want but are too cowardly to own the consequences when they inevitably come. Sadly, this time it cost 31 men their lives.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hurricane non-fiction is my favorite summer reading (if it isn't a real genre, it should be!) so I was excited to find this story that was all new to me - a ship and a storm about which I knew nothing. The writing is nothing impressive, but it does appear that the author did gather facts from a number of different sources, and worked hard to recreate the storm timeline and order of events that led to catastrophe. While I've never been on one of these trips, I have heard a about them and the island life, and the stories he tells seem realistic enough. I have not fact checked his work at all, but the story seems true to life. He gets a little bogged down along the way in details and personalities. In the end, the arrogance of the owner and confidence of the captain were their undoing, so perhaps all that detail was necessary, but there were sections that were slow reading because of the level of detail. Like all stories about storms like this, it is a forceful reminder that Nature does what Nature does, and no amount of scientific equipment or guesswork or predictions will ever capture all of it.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t say this is a 5 star book unless you lived this, but my wife and I lived this. We spent our honeymoon on the Fantome in 1996. Chrispin Saunders was our cabin boy. I think Guyan March was our captain. I won the prize for the costume on the pirates, pimps, and prostitutes night by dressing as the guy from the Pringle’s can and drank red stripe at the bar while the ship rolled so badly that even half the crew suffered sea sickness. It was an amazing experience - one of a lifetime full of amazing experiences, making the book that much more terrifying. So many of the late crew were joyful spirits. I pray that they are with God now. My life was blessed if only briefly for having them in it. It saddens me to think they and the Fantome are no longer with us. I’ll never forget staring out a portal window during a relatively minor storm at what looked like a canyon and then a mountain and saying to my wife, “Can you imagine how terrifying this would be in real weather?” Who knew that two years later that would be the case? God bless their families.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished this book after 3 long weeks. After my last hurricane book, I should have known that hurricanes aren’t my jam. Knots and wind speeds and barometer pressure…none of that resonates with me, which is the reason for 3 stars.

However, I did find the stories and lives of the captain and crew really well written, and overall the story was told well. I also was glad that interviews and statements by survivors and family members were included.

I appreciated that lessons were learned and changes were made as a result of this tragedy, but it seems like the outcome would have been different had better decisions been made (by corporate).

[Jean Bowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a particular interest in reading this book as I was once a passenger on the Fantome. When I heard of her going down in Hurricane Mitch my heart sunk.
I loved the book. I remember so much about the beautiful mahogany wood work and how beautiful she was. I also remember the sense of family I got when I met the crew.
It is a gripping true story of a group of men and a ship against a hurricane.

[John Behle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. I tired of reading that the barometric pressure was continuing to fall. Then, another satellite phone call with Windjammer brass to say the ship is doing fine. The sky is even darker now. Which way will Mitch turn? Wind speeds are increasing...

I feel for the captain and crew.

But don't sail into hurricanes.

[Elaine Ludwig]

I had been on 2 Windjammer cruises in the mid 90's and the next cruise was to be on Fantome. We were so saddened when we heard of the loss of the Fantome in 1998. When I came across this book on Amazon recently, I was anxious to read it and I thought it was written well. Very sad to read about Captain March and the crew; but, many wonderful memories of the Windjammer cruises.

[David W. Gaskins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sailed Flying Cloud in 1987 and 1990. I cried at end of your book. Thanks for your thoughts.

Amazing Grace will be played at my family. I Grew up in Better as Is

May they rest in peace.

[Chris Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book got better as the story went on - the tension builds as the storm and the ship relentlessly head toward each other. What really happened, and how did the company superstar Captain deal with the threat? You'll find out -

[Rey · Rating 4 out of 5]

First half of this book was quite slow. Second half was an absolute page turner.

[James Digate · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was great- a great story and a great read. It does bother me that it was not dedicated to the crew however.

[Pat Watt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A riveting, but sometimes harrowing, read, this detailed account of the two protagonists (Fantome and Mitch) is a good reminder that Mother Nature is much mightier than the human brain.

[Michael Delaware · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched story into the loss of the Fantome in hurricane Mitch. A sad story about the inaccuracy of storm predictions, and the fatal decisions of those who take to sea during such times.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing read.
What happened to the sailing vessel Fantome ... in the devastating Hurricane Mitch?

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent telling of the 1998 Hurricane Mitch and Fantome sinking. Very in depth detailed eyewitness accounts. First few chapters can be slow but really picks up.

[Richard Sloman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book.

[Ronald Keeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Carrier has written a comprehensive and very well researched account of a tragic event that reminds us “not to mess with Mother Nature.” Many readers may be tempted to compare this to a rather famous movie “The Perfect Storm.” The comparison in this book extends beyond the factors contributing to the meteorological storm itself, but goes on to describe a perfect storm formed by technological breakdowns, greed on the part of ship company owners, a legal system that invites avoidance rather than compliance with safety regulations, and an economic system that exploits developing world workers.

Carrier explores the history of the national Weather Service, its successes and failures and the continuing attempts to develop better predictive technologies to forecast Hurricanes and other serious weather threats. In this part on technology, we also get to read about the hurricane hunters that fly into storms, drop sensors, and provide real time updates to those in headquarters issuing the latest information to those in harm’s way from weather events. This event happened in 1998. By this time, the average people in the street trusted government services such as these to provide accurate forecasts. Those in the government looked for ways to politely say “these are estimates” while at the same time reassuring the general populace about agency credibility. This quite possibly led to a major reason for the Fantome being at exactly the wrong place at the wrong time. Captain Guyan March trusted the technology.

The Windjammer company owners at this time were two generations, both named Burke. Carrier describes the history of the company and the history of the ship, the Fantome. The ship had a history from 1925, the senior Mike Burke bought the ship in 1972 when it was in such a condition that it needed major overhauls and renovation. These types of operations can be done at great expense or on the cheap. As revealed in this book, when some parts needed replacement, there were no original parts in production to be purchased for replacement. Talented crew members could create workaround parts. These same crewmembers did not have education as machinists. To get the most profit for the least monetary outlay seemed to be the de facto motto of the founding Burke.

Passengers on a cruise ship expect safety regulations as to operations and ship construction to be met. As Carrier reports, there are all kinds of regulations. They are written in various countries. Choosing a country of registration, adopting its flag, and following the regulations of “adopted citizenship” could be much cheaper than registering in and following the rules of, say, the US, despite the fact that the majority of passengers might be from the US. The friendlier regulations may have even been written by officials friendly to the industry for which they were being written. Even when a ship might be inspected by US officials; compliance was only measured by standards of the registering country.

Although there are formal licenses and accreditation procedures for ship personnel, they don’t apply to everyone. Many of the Fantome crew seem to be either self-taught or educated through a type of mentoring system from experienced crew. The extreme example of this was when three crew members could not disembark the sip at one port because they did not have proper visas. Trained professionals would not be lax in such a small administrative matter; a responsible monitoring company would not allow this to happen. The locally hired crew were paid much less than crew hired in more developed countries. Carrier details how, although aware, crew members accepted this system as better than available alternatives. Several may have felt obligated to stay with the ship when alternatives to leave were given them.

I would have given five stars to the book except for two parts. There were the dream sequences on the part of several family members of those lost. This lent a paranormal, fiction quality to an excellent non-fiction work. Then there was the part toward the end of the book in which Carrier interviewed several marine professionals where they speculated on what may have been the last thing the dying men may have seen. This, for me, disrupted the serious, factual tone of the book.

It is good, it is informative, and a book I would recommend for those who like the sea, people with angst about income inequality in a global environment, and (really this is not a stretch) even global warming.

[Johann Manstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew nothing about Hurricane Mitch or the Fantome but have been reading a great deal about sailing and how mariners have coped with weather. This book is a documentary of sorts and I was delighted to discover a very good one. The format is very readable. The book doesn't use traditional chapters but rather breaks in the writing that reflect date and geography. I was concerned at first that digressions in mid writing to biographies and ancillary topics would detract, but this did not happen.

I believe that this sort of book can appeal to a broad range of readers including but not limited to: sailing enthusiasts, weather buffs, people who enjoy human interest stories, readers who enjoy drama, business ethics, environmental issues, and survival stories. I think readers will come away with various opinions just as the mariners and families did after the storm about what happened, what could have been done or not done, etc.

One key thing to always remember about the sea as the book quite rightly points out in a quote is that, "The sea has never been friendly to man." I would add to that position that anyone going to sea must first assume the reality that there is a real possibility that they will not be coming back. The seas and oceans are like vast deserts upon which anyone traveling does so at their own peril. It's rather curious to call the seas a desert but when you compare the two and our capacity to survive out in the vastness of the open sea, the comparisons begin to match up.

[Mat. Anna]

The Ship and the Storm follows the pattern set by the now classic The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger. Yet again we have a ship, the s/v Fantome, on a collision course with a deadly storm. Hurricane Mitch was a confusing hurricane from the outset. There were no clear steering patterns aloft and it meandered around the Caribbean. The National Hurricane Center was dealing with highly conflicting forecast models. Mitch simply wasn't following the typical path of hurricanes originating in the Caribbean in October. Not only was it deviating from the forecast track, it was deviating in intensity models, exploding into a historic category 5 hurricane. However, it made landfall as only a category 1 storm. What made Mitch so deadly was its speed - SLOW - and its tremendous rainfall. The majority of the deaths were on land, in Honduras, from unimaginable flooding and mudslides. Over 19,000 people were killed, over 14,000 of them in Honduras. There are unofficial reports of up to 75 inches of rain in the mountains. The Ship and the Storm is primarily about the ill-fated Fantome, but a decent amount of attention is given to the impact in the Yucatan. An exciting read, recommended.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to get in to this book. But alas, nonfiction is not my preferred genre.
For our 5 yr anniversary, my husband and I went on the Star Clipper - the more "dignfied" version of Windjammer. We loved our experience (and would do it again in a heartbeat) but I have to admit that the fun, party atmosphere of Windjammer sounds like a blast. Even though the personality of the ships and the crew were probably very different, that feeling of freedom when on a tall mast sailing ship in the Caribbean seems to be the same.
From what I read, I enjoyed the stories of the crew and the very personable Captain Guyan. A tragic story indeed, but too much background information to keep me interested for long...

[Val Wilkerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phew, if you ever wonder what it is like to be in an ass kicking hurricane this book tells it. Its about the "Windjammer ship Fantome" who was lost in Hurricane Mitch. It is very interesting reading, about cruise lines, about hurricanes, about survivors. Hurricane Mitch was a Cat 5 Hurricane....I remember reading about it back in 1998. I visited Belize a year after Mitch. I still had no idea how devastating Mitch was. This is an informative interesting well written book. I went through Hurricane Odile in 2014, it was a Cat 4, I cannot imagine a Cat 5 hurricane. This story did bring back memories of the noise that goes on during a hurricane, how you have to shout to the person right next to you to be heard. This is so real. It takes you for a ride.