title: In Peril: A Daring Decision, a Captain's Resolve, and the Salvage that Made History
author:  Skip Strong 
description: Strong and Braden's tale of an imperfect storm, three ships and a daring rescue comes to vivid life in this gem of a book. Strong, captain of an oil tanker carrying 10 million gallons of crude, was trying to outrun tropical storm Gordon when he picked up a distress call off the Florida coast in the early hours of November 15, 1994. An oceangoing tug with a cargo barge tethered behind it had lost engine power and was foundering. Strong decided to attempt a rescue, although doing so put his own crew and cargo, not to mention hundreds of miles of Florida coast, at risk of a catastrophic oil spill. Strong also didn't know that the barge's cargo, a brand-new external fuel tank for a space shuttle, was worth nearly $50 million. The successful rescue of all life and property later resulted in a landmark judgment in court when the company that owned Strong's ship claimed, via long-standing maritime laws, the right to a percentage of the value of the rescued goods. Strong's first-person narration of the immediate story is gripping, while still allowing for discursions into topics such as shipping, admiralty law and meteorology. Strong and co-writer Braden don't rush into the high-seas drama, but the complex details involved in the rescue itself are sharp and clear. The court case is anticlimactic, but the authors don't linger on it unnecessarily. This is a great story, well told. Photos.<br />Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  > A turbulent reunion
  
  The dashing Captain Richard Everard has faced untold dangers at sea. Steering
  his young cousin through a London season, however, is a truly formidable
  prospect. The girl needs a sponsor, like lovely widow Lady Claire Winthrop—the
  woman who coldly jilted Richard years ago.
  
  Claire believed herself sensible in marrying a well-to-do viscount rather than
  a penniless second son. How deeply she regretted it! Now their fortunes are
  reversed, and Richard’s plan will help settle her debts and secure his
  inheritance. Yet it may yield something even more precious: a chance to be
  courted by the captain once more.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > “What an untidy household you keep, sir, that everyone disappears on you.”
  
  “You can see why I need you.”
  
  Richard needed her? Oh, how Claire wanted to be truly needed, a helpmate
  instead of an ornament to be trotted out to impress but forgotten otherwise.
  Yet, would it be any different with him? Wasn’t sh