Life and Death at Cape Disappointment: Becoming a Surfman on the Columbia River Bar

by Christopher J. D'Amelio

The ocean is one of the few untamed places on earth—unpredictable and unsympathetic to the lives lost there. For this reason, people remain fascinated by its tides, currents, and mysteries. Life and Death at Cape Disappointment is Christopher J. D'Amelio's first-hand account of life as a surfman at one of the Coast Guard’s most dangerous stations.

Cape Disappointment is one of the most notorious Coast Guard units on the Pacific Coast. Its area of responsibility is referred to as the “Graveyard of the Pacific.” This book focuses on five of the most significant search and rescue cases during D'Amelio's tour and how such work affected him and his colleagues mentally and physically. It’s armchair entertainment for those enthralled by the ocean.

225 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2021

Reviews

[Brenda Barteck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this book were riveting. But it was disjointed, and I felt like there was a lot left out. Particularly at the end.

[Sarah Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-3 stars. This was simply okay. I was looking for a research book detailing life as in the Coast Guard around the Columbia River Bar - and this somewhat filled that loop. There were some details of CG cases, and some descriptions of the geographic location. But mostly this is a memoir of one CG member’s personal experiences.

While that isn’t bad, it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for either. I also will say that the whole book is very disjointed - oftentimes two different events ten years apart would be in a single chapter, with no noticeable connection between the two which made me wonder what was going on. There’s a decent amount of swearing. And there’s a lot of detail of death - which given the stories he is telling is completely understandable, but if you’re sensitive to that, this probably isn’t a good book for you. Some of the cases were heart breaking, and it became very clear why this area is known as the Graveyard of the Pacific.

Last thing to note was I didn’t like his general tone and attitude toward everyone who was not a surf man. Pilots - cocky. Rescue swimmers - arrogant. Officers - get rid of them all. Newer trainees at the station - ignorant idiots. Other Coast Guard members - people who claim to be in the CG, but ultimately have cushy jobs and don’t deserve respect if they’re not surfmen. There’s no grace or respect given to anyone unless other CG members were surfmen and it’s very off-putting. It’s perfectly okay to say that being a surfman is very hard and prestigious while also being respectful and giving credit where credit is due to others in the CG.

[Raven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book more relatable than I expected it to be. (I do a different kind of Search and Rescue as a volunteer, not as a member of the military.) Despite my utter lack of experience in big surf, the narrative was easy to follow. I did a lot of googling anyway to learn more about wave behavior and better understand some of the physics of the situations the author found himself in. That was really educational and interesting; I had no idea where the seabed started to exert force on most waves, or how the shape of a coastline would affect wave behavior and thus maritime dangers and navigation.

The psychological struggles that come from being a person who wants to help others in need and can't always succeed as well as you'd hope to were highly sympathy inducing. Particularly the cases where you saved some people but didn't save everyone... I think those haunt all of us, and it is hard to focus on the people you could help when you can't shake the suspicion that maybe if you'd done something else, you would have saved more people. I hope that the understanding of his peers brought some comfort to the author; even in my different line of SAR, we have that happen too.

[J Pearson · Rating 3 out of 5]

D'Amelio is a truly cool dude with a good story. He's a Coast guardsman and driver of big boats into bigger waves in order to save people. The rescues are riveting, but unfortunately he's not a writer and doesn't take us inside the stories. We're kept at arm's length and the stories don't have time to nreath and just exist. It makes sense, because, as I said, he's not a writer and it reads like that. He had a co-writer on the book but that doesn't seem to help.

Still very interesting. I wanted more grit and I wanted to feel storm-tossed and soaking wet.

3 and 1/2 stars.

[Linda Chrisman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think a better writer would have helped D’Amelio tell his fascinating story. Yes, the endless cold rain of the Pacific Northwestern winter can be long and depressing but you hunker down and endure it. Much easier climate that subzero Midwest!

His job was tough and he is much harder on himself than he should be. It is an eye-opening story about one of the hardest jobs in the military. The surfboat Coast Guarders have my admiration for their skill and bravery.
When I am at the coast I always give a wave to the Coast Guard helicopter patrolling off the shoreline.

[Scott Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read. Living in Oregon probably affected my opinion admittedly. I didn’t find it disjointed like another reviewer, rather organized along emotional themes.
I think it could have had a lot more details about life in the coast guard.
The themes of trauma are important and i haven’t found a great way to impart those lessons to the uninitiated. So, where he does that, i think those parts are ok, clearly meaningful to him, but i think could have been done better.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

couldn’t put it down! great job Chris.
I too grew up surfing SC and north of there. Joined Coast Guard … live here by Cape D. You were able to live a full life of amazing experiences. Thanks so much for sharing.

[jim luce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that just tells it as it is the life experiences of a Coast Guard member responsible for protecting Surf at Cape disappointment and the people who live in it. The story is basically dictated and for that reason alone you can believeThe life experiences of the author

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit disappointed with this book, really a memoir. Problem is, it’s extremely choppy to read, all over the place.