Graveyard of the Pacific: Shipwreck and Survival on America's Deadliest Waterway

by Randall Sullivan Narrated by Lynch Travis

Overview

Off the coast of Oregon, the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean and forms the Columbia River Bar: a watery collision so turbulent and deadly that it's nicknamed the Graveyard of the Pacific. Two thousand ships have been wrecked on the bar since the first European ship dared to try to cross it. Since then, the commercial importance of the Columbia River has only grown, but despite the construction of jetties on either side, the bar remains treacherous. When Randall Sullivan and a friend set out to cross the bar in a two-man kayak, they're met with skepticism and concern. But on a clear day in July 2021, when the tides and weather seem right, they embark. As they plunge through the currents that have taken so many lives, Randall commemorates the brave sailors that made the crossing before him-including his own abusive father, a sailor himself who also once dared to cross the bar-and reflects on toxic masculinity, fatherhood, and what drives men to extremes. Rich with exhaustive research and propulsive narrative, Graveyard of the Pacific follows historical shipwrecks through the moment-by-moment details that often determined whether sailors would live or die, exposing the ways in which boats, sailors, and navigation have changed over the decades. As he makes his way across the bar, floating above the wrecks and across the same currents that have taken so many lives, Randall Sullivan faces the past, both in his own life and on the Columbia River Bar.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for Graveyard of the Pacific:

“Vividly evoking Sullivan’s deep fascination with the Pacific Northwest and thirst for friendship and adventure, this is a thrill ride.” —Publishers Weekly

“A riveting story of maritime tragedies and a personal passage… It is Sullivan’s gripping, vividly detailed accounts of nautical disasters at the Columbia Bar that make the book such an achievement… The author’s personal story—from growing up with an abusive father to his 2021 attempt to cross the Bar by trimaran—courses through the book like an intermittent current… A strikingly rendered tale of the hard and lasting costs of courage.” —Kirkus (starred review)

“The point where the Columbia River spills into the Pacific Ocean has long been known as the ‘Graveyard of the Pacific’ for all the deadly shipwrecks that have occurred there over the centuries... Sullivan challenges himself to traverse these turbid waters in a fragile trimaran… Defying nature’s fury, Sullivan also faces down his own demons… Ultimately, the struggle to cross both physical and emotional bars defines for Sullivan manhood in the contemporary world.” —Booklist

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2023-03-11
A riveting story of maritime tragedies and a personal passage.

The Columbia River, writes Oregon-based journalist and former Rolling Stone contributing editor Sullivan, is “the most vital natural feature west of the Rocky Mountains.” He continues, “only the Missouri/Mississippi system exceeds it in annual runoff, and there are years when the Columbia’s flow is greater….The Columbia is unique among all rivers of the world…in the combination of its close proximity to the ocean and the tall mountain ranges that feed it all along the way there.” But it is the Columbia Bar, site of the river’s harrowing collision with the sea, that earned it the sobriquet “Graveyard of the Pacific.” In the fascinating introduction, the author chronicles the geological origins of the Columbia and its many tributaries and torturous route to the sea. Yet it is Sullivan’s gripping, vividly detailed accounts of nautical disasters at the Columbia Bar that make the book such an achievement for the three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee. The author digs deep to recount the most famous disasters at the Bar from the 18th to the 20th centuries, punctuating them with skillfully distilled biographies of notable figures of this period. The author’s personal story—from growing up with an abusive father to his 2021 attempt to cross the Bar by trimaran—courses through the book like an intermittent current. Well written and affecting, it risks becoming a mere framing device—until the compelling final chapter. Clearly, Sullivan wants to offer more than a dramatic historical account of shipwrecks and rescue operations, including his narrative of the hoped-for catharsis of a 69-year-old adventurer. In a touching coda about his friend and fellow sailor, their exploits, and their shared survival from lifelong traumas, the author finds a path to reconciliation and a reaffirmation of manhood that defies our caustic modern labels.

A strikingly rendered tale of the hard and lasting costs of courage.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178186855
Publisher:	Dreamscape Media
Publication date:	06/06/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged

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