Whether the Andrea Gail rolls , pitch-poles, or gets driven down, she winds up, one way or another, in a position from which she cannot recover. The refrigerator comes out of the wall and crashes across the galley.
Dirty dishes cascade out of the sink.
The T.V., the washing machine, the VCR tapes, the men, all go flying. And, seconds later, the water moves in. When a boat floods, the first thing that happens is that her electrical system shorts out. The lights go off, and for a few moments the only illumination is the frenetic blue sparks arcing down into the water. It's said that people in extreme situations perceive things in distorted, almost surreal ways, and when the wires start to crackle and burn, perhaps one of the crew thinks of fireworks-of the last Fourth of July, walking around Gloucester with his girlfriend and watching colors blossom over the inner harbor.