Edmund fitizgerald

Banagy

Banagy

Member
Nov 13, 2006
961
Bay Port,MI
Boat Info
2005 Sun Deck with Lowrance HDS 7 Touch Gen 2 GPS fish finder and Navman radio Bennett Trim Tabs.
Engines
5.0 with Alpha 1 drive
Thirty five years ago the big ship went down in Lake Superior with 29 aboard.
 
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That song has been on the radio about a hundred times today.Lake superior can be a monster.We were talking about the mountains of ice that pile up off shore at whitefish point today,you can see them from shore and they dont look that big but some kids were out there and climbed them and from the snowmobiles they looked like ants.
 
The Fitz was a terrible disaster.
Let's not forget Nov. 11 - 13th. 1913, the Greatest storm to hit the Great Lakes, hundreds of souls lost.
One ship lost during that storm in Lake Huron, off PT Clark, the Carrauthers, has never been located!
I concur with 1956olds, however much we master, the Great Lakes can make us very small.
 
We did a trip to in '10 that stopped in at Sault Ste. Marie, MI. At the south end of the municipal marina is a maritime museum that has a large room dedicated to the Fitzgerald, which went down nearby. I took this picture, which now hangs in my home office, flanked by the Lightfoot lyrics also in frames:

083LifeboatNumber1.jpg


In the days after the sinking, searchers found two pieces of flotsam, pieces of Lifeboats #1 and 2. While it looks pretty intact from this perspective, it's actually ripped in half by the fury of that November storm.

I'm from St. John's, Newfoundland, which is in the middle of the North Atlantic. Look it up on Google Earth. The fishery is the legacy of the province and many have been lost to the fury of the sea. When I first moved to Ontario, I scoffed at the Great Lakes, however have since come to respect the different fury that can be experienced here. Many souls have been lost here too, including the 29 on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Paul
 
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I've been to White Fish point and visited the museum. The bell from the ship is there also. It's a well done effort, I enjoyed my visit. One of the things that remains in my head after the visit, was the desolation we drove through to get there. I bet we didn't pass two cars on the way there and back.
 
Big cold water is nothing to mess with. I've been on Great Lakes Ore Ships and they are huge! Just no match for Mother Nature I guess. That's why the "Deadliest Catch" amazes me.....those ships are not very big at all. I've also been to the museum, Mike.
 
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Although big in her day, the Fitzgerald was quite a bit smaller than the 'footers' that lead today - boats like the Paul R. Tregurtha (powered by CATs, I might add) are over a 1000 ft. in length. Mother nature rules all, but I think the current boats are quite a bit safer.

Paul
 
Our summer home is in Paradise on the road to the museum at Whitefish Point. I remember the day the Fitz went down. We were living in Caro at the time but I was in our place in Paradise. It was a very dark windy day. Frightening. When we got word everyone held their breath hoping they would find survivors. None were to be found. Even the next day it was very dark and word came some wreakage was found. We knew no one would have lived by then.
About the post of the ice buildup at Whitefish Point. I used to climb that ice also. Some would be out from the shore farther than others and the sight was something to see.
Then one day I noticed a funny spot on the ice. I kicked it with my toe and it shattered like a window. There was a hole in the ice and smooth sides all the way to the open water. If there had been snow on that spot there would be no way to survive that.
The water gets deep fast at the Point.
I never went on that ice again and suggest you warn anyone who might.
I used to boat out of Bayport in what was then known as Steeles Marina. Later bought a lot on Sand Point and boated from there.
Doug
 
dmcb said:
Our summer home is in Paradise on the road to the museum at Whitefish Point. I remember the day the Fitz went down. We were living in Caro at the time but I was in our place in Paradise. It was a very dark windy day. Frightening. When we got word everyone held their breath hoping they would find survivors. None were to be found. Even the next day it was very dark and word came some wreakage was found. We knew no one would have lived by then.
About the post of the ice buildup at Whitefish Point. I used to climb that ice also. Some would be out from the shore farther than others and the sight was something to see.
Then one day I noticed a funny spot on the ice. I kicked it with my toe and it shattered like a window. There was a hole in the ice and smooth sides all the way to the open water. If there had been snow on that spot there would be no way to survive that.
The water gets deep fast at the Point.
I never went on that ice again and suggest you warn anyone who might.
I used to boat out of Bayport in what was then known as Steeles Marina. Later bought a lot on Sand Point and boated from there.
Doug
Click to expand...

Boat out of Caseville, Couple miles from Sand Point. (That's where the ritzy people live - SP)

:)

LK
 
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