Once out at sea, he hears about the storm building offshore. But unlike Greenlaw, who determines to play it safe, Billy thinks he can beat the storm back to Gloucester, taking an enormous catch with him. If he doesn't try, his crew will come away empty-handed on this last trip of the season. It is nothing out of the ordinary for fishermen to wager their lives against their livelihoods. What is out of the ordinary is the disturbing weather pattern that emerges once the Andrea Gail is out to sea.
Grace is on a collision course with two other weather fronts that are rapidly gathering strength.
When the three meet, there will be a storm more terrifying than anyone has imagined, greater than any that has ever been recorded in modern history. In fact, it will form with such suddenness that the National Weather Bureau doesn't have time to call it anything. They barely have time to send out a warning to all vessels at sea. The crew of the Andrea Gail never receives that warning. They have no forewarning of what is about to hit them.