Posted 11/10/2011 3:51 PM (#524197 - in reply to #524192) Subject: Re: November 10, 1975
Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek
Thanks Pointer. Listened to that vinyl so many times it's almost wore out and the song still makes the hair stand up on my neck. And I still think about those boys whenever I'm on Gitchee Gumee.
Posted 11/10/2011 5:25 PM (#524210 - in reply to #524204) Subject: RE: November 10, 1975
Posts: 3160
Ive actually read about 3 books on the 'fitz' its a tragic but interesting story they never knew what did it,, hatches,riding atop two waves or just submarined and never regained the surface,
If you get near a library 'shipwrecks of lake superior' is an interesting read
Posted 11/10/2011 6:39 PM (#524215 - in reply to #524192) Subject: RE: November 10, 1975
Thank you. I had not seen that video. In the early 1990s, I rented a house across the street from Lake Superior in Marquette, MI. I could see the ore dock in the upper harbor loading freighters from the back yard. I would run past the dock on my evening jog and see those guys up on the deck and think about how cold it had to be up there, exposed to the wind, sleet, snow.
I had lived near Lake Superior all through the 1980s and had seen some bad storms on the lake but living across the street from the lake, with nothing but water between us and Canada gave me a whole new perspective. When the storms come, the wind just wipes out everything else, all sound, all thought. Cured me of any desire to live on the big lake. When it was really bad on the lake and I would see the lights of a ship taking shelter in the lower harbor, I always thought, good, tonight their families can sleep knowing they are safe.
I visited the museum at Whitefish Point, near where the Fitz went down and was stunned to learn how many other ships had met their end near there. Also saw the photos of the life saving crews that used to row out into that watery hell to try and save them. That took some serious stones. And they did save many. Remarkable stories.
lambeau
Posted 11/10/2011 7:22 PM (#524222 - in reply to #524192) Subject: RE: November 10, 1975
thanks for the reminder, Pointer.
the bell-ringing memorials every year was one of the most moving parts of living in Duluth.
Posted 11/10/2011 7:24 PM (#524223 - in reply to #524192) Subject: Re: November 10, 1975
Posts: 16632
Location: The desert
North,
No doubt, the winds on the big water are a true power to behold. I think it is something like 400 wrecks on the area where the Fitz went down. So many that there is Bermuda Triangle like talk about the area.
Posted 11/10/2011 7:53 PM (#524231 - in reply to #524192) Subject: RE: November 10, 1975
Pointer, I don't remember the number of shipwrecks but it was in the hundreds. If you ever get the chance, visiting the museum and that area is well worth the drive. It is a remote but spectactular part of the midwest. Close by the museum is a viewing stand used by folks who count the raptors migrating across the lake in the fall. Apparently there are tremendous numbers of hawks and other raptors that use Whitefish Point as a navigation aid in their migration. I have seen that in the Keewanaw penisula on Brockway Mtn. but not there. There is even an Audubon Society lab there.
We were camping nearby when we visited and my daughter saw a dead loon in the water. She was only 9 or 10 but insisted I report the loon to the state park people. I did but they didn't seem interested. Later they came to our camper and asked if I could take them to it. I did and about a month later in the mail I received a full necropsy report from the Audubon folks. They had been worried about lead poisoning but it appeared the loon died of blunt force to the breast area. Probably hit by a boat given that it was at the mouth of a river with a busy boat launch.
Posted 11/10/2011 9:28 PM (#524251 - in reply to #524192) Subject: RE: November 10, 1975
Posts: 383
Powerful video. Thanks for sharing.
Reef unhitched.
Posted 11/10/2011 10:30 PM (#524263 - in reply to #524192) Subject: RE: November 10, 1975
Gord is one of my faves. While the version of the song here isn't the great original, it still gives goose bumps. My friend was a forester for Champion up in the UP for years, and he made good friends with a guy was at the lighthouse off copper harbor the night she went down. We listened to his story in horror some 15 years ago while driving the coast there, and it still gives chills. I'd never seen this video till now. Thanks Pointer.
Posted 11/10/2011 10:34 PM (#524265 - in reply to #524263) Subject: RE: November 10, 1975
Posts: 16632
Location: The desert
Reef unhitched. - 11/10/2011 9:30 PM
Gord is one of my faves. While the version of the song here isn't the great original, it still gives goose bumps. My friend was a forester for Champion up in the UP for years, and he made good friends with a guy was at the lighthouse off copper harbor the night she went down. We listened to his story in horror some 15 years ago while driving the coast there, and it still gives chills. I'd never seen this video till now. Thanks Pointer.
Yeah, I like this video for the tribute factor and the actual audio from the ships out that night. I'd love to hear the story from the lighthouse guy, I bet that is fascinating.
Posted 11/10/2011 10:46 PM (#524266 - in reply to #524265) Subject: Re: November 10, 1975
Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI
I've been to the museum, the lighthouse and have walked the beach there numerous times at different times of the year and it never gets old. If you ever get the opportunity to get up there, well worth it.
As others have said, the song never gets old. Every time I cross the Mackinack Bridge and look out on Lake Michigan I can only imagine what it looked like that night on Lake Superior.
Posted 11/10/2011 10:58 PM (#524268 - in reply to #524266) Subject: Re: November 10, 1975
Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion
I was listening to the radio today and they were saying that in the early 1900's on this day that a similar storm caused 3 ships to go down in the same area...... on the same day Nov. 10
Just can't imagine what that could be like.
Posted 11/11/2011 7:13 AM (#524279 - in reply to #524192) Subject: Re: November 10, 1975
Posts: 299
If your interested in Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes you need to visit the NOAA Great Lakes Maritime and Heritage
Center in Alpena, Michigan. Thunder Bay in Lake Huron is notorious for lots of shipwrecks. On clear calm days you can see some from your boat above. It's an amazing center with so much history of our Great Lakes. I've been to it twice and always go back when I'm up in Northern Michigan. Some don't think the Great Lakes can be as nasty and dangerous as some of the oceans but they absolutely can be worse. You can't outrun massive storms on the Great Lakes or you'll be on land. In oceans many can head to new water and bypass the storm. I've had guys from the saltwater south that were stunned to learn of the countless shipwrecks and massive wave height in the Great Lakes. It's powerful stuff!! If your ever in Northern Michigan and interested in shipwrecks visit this center. You can walk aboard a simulator ship and get a feel for what it's like to live on a ship during a storm. Pretty crazy stuff!!
Posted 11/12/2011 4:43 AM (#524418 - in reply to #524279) Subject: Re: November 10, 1975
Posts: 909
Very Moving! Thanks for sharing!
Double
Posted 11/12/2011 6:34 PM (#524439 - in reply to #524192) Subject: RE: November 10, 1975
The song and story is haunting. It always reminds me of my personal close calls on big water during November with high winds. We all push the limits at times to catch muskie or duck hunt, but one little slip up can be fatal in cold water and high winds. Don't underestmate Mother Nature.
Posted 11/13/2011 9:44 PM (#524535 - in reply to #524192) Subject: RE: November 10, 1975
Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI
Was up at Whitefish Pt this past August. I've always been touched by the Fitz story. Couldn't pass up the opportunity to have my pic taken with the ship's bell.
Picked up this print for the living room.
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(MITrip2011190.jpg)
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MITrip2011190.jpg (56KB - 185 downloads)
