All day the storm howled along the Portuguese coast. But that night, as usual, the 20-ship fishing fleet put out from the villages of Leixões, Matosinhos, Francelos, and the others. Fishing was good, but as the wind steadily increased, ship after ship put back to port. Only four remained at sea. The storm became a hurricane.
Too late the men of the Dom Miguel, Rosa Faustina, Salvador and Maria Manuel realized it. Weighed down in their heavy rubber boots, with the waves crashing over them, they tried to haul in their nets. But the nets wrapped themselves around the rudders. Men...