Posted on 05/19/2006 9:12:53 PM PDT by ZGuy
Weather experts have "hindcasted" the storm that sunk the Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior during the November 1975.
Hurricane-force gusts and waves coming from an unexpected angle likely contributed to the disaster immortalized by Gordon Lightfoot in the song, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," researchers say.
All 29 crewmembers died.
"During the late afternoon and early evening of Nov. 10, conditions deteriorated rapidly with winds in excess of 69 mph, hurricane-force gusts [over 74 mph] and waves more than 25 feet high," said Thomas Hultquist, science and operations officer at the NOAA National Weather Service forecast office in Negaunee, Mich.
The freighter, thought like the Titanic to be invincible, was heading south. Waves were traveling west-to-east, the new analysis shows. This could have created a hazardous rolling motion. The ship sank about 15 miles from Whitefish Bay.
Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes.
"While high winds on Lake Superior are not rare, it is unusual for the waves to get that high on the lake," said Schwab. "It's unlikely that Captain Ernest McSorley, the skipper of the Edmund Fitzgerald, had ever seen anything like that in his career."
The findings are detailed in the May issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
They even charge you to walk on the porch at the Grand Hotel.
Mackinac Island is a small island, 4.4 square miles (11.3 km²) in area, in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, which lie between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The island's strategic position amidst the commerce of the fur trade of the Great Lakes led to the establishment of Fort Mackinac on the island by the British during the American Revolutionary War. It was the scene of two strategic battles during the War of 1812.
In the late 19th century the island became a popular tourist attraction and summer colony. It continues to be famous for its lack of automobiles and its Victorian resort hotels, especially the Grand Hotel with its 660-foot front porch. The 1947 movie This Time For Keeps and the 1980 movie Somewhere in Time were filmed on Mackinac Island.
It's easy to mock has-beens, but think about it. He's doing something he loves. He's not raking in rock-star money, but he's supporting himself, probably making more than I am, as I sit in my cubicle, enjoying my work far less than he enjoys his. No one applauds me, for starters.
Lightfoot plays about 50 gigs a year and maybe spends another couple days a year in the studio, averaged out. That's not a bad semi-retirement.
I used to wonder about Ozzy Canseco. First of all, the fact that the identical twin of an all-star was a perennial minor-leaguer encapsulates for me the mystery and alchemy of baseball.
But I also wondered how someone could come that close to the Show, never quite getting there, and keep on going. Then a sportswriter friend pointed out that Canseco made more money than me for playing a game for half the year. Suddenly his lot in life didn't seem so tragic.
Same with actors. For every $10 million movie star, there are a hundred, maybe a thousand, actors who do spot work, the occasional national ad campaign, maybe a few sitcom guest shots, and pull in six figures. There's a lot of gray between superstar and struggling.
So I'll raise my glass to Gordon Lightfoot. He likes to sing, and there are folks who like to listen. If he was even a little smart with the money he made when he was on the charts, he's able to work as much or as little as he feels like.
If he records an album that only moves a couple thousand units, who cares? As long as it does better than break-even, someone will sign him up and he can keep doing it. It's only a sad story until you compare it to the other 99.999% of the population.
I hope you do plan that trip...and I'll be glad to give you some information.
“Lake St. Clair is a world-class destination for muskie fishing,” said DNR research biologist Mike Thomas
Lake St. Clair continues to be Michigan's premier muskie destination. There are probably more Great Lakes muskies per acre in 250,000-acre Lake St. Clair than in any other lake in the world.
LET'S GO FISHING!
I haven't been much north of Milwaukee. I know Lake Michigan best from the Michigan side, about due east from you. On our side I think that's about the point (and then all the way north) where it becomes really beautiful, especially the beaches.
Nice rant!
I love fishing! Especially fly fishing and canoe fishing.
We should tell onyx not to visit the U.P. during
black fly season though.
Are you near Muskegon? I hear Traverse City area is similar to our Door county. (Wisconsin's 'thumb')
among the mariners, there was always just "something" about the Fitzgerald....the day of her launch in 1958, the slide into the water was unexpectedly violent, one spectator nearby was frightened by the site and collasped from a heart attack and died. People there said that it seemed the freighter was trying to "climb" back out of the water...ive seen the footage..pretty amazing
Years ago, in August. I can't remember which lake it was, I crossed the Friendship bridge from the UP into Canada, then headed west. I had a pickup with no AC and it was really hot, so I am driving past these really nice beaches with no body on them. Of course I figure there's not may people around anyhow. So I pull over, take off my t shirt, run and jump in. It was like hitting a ice block. The water was so cold I had to jump back into the truck and get the heater going.
I was just on Carefree Highway the other day.
And every thing you need to know can be learned on The Simpsons.
***What about the Andrea Doria? My neighbor was a survivor of that one?****
It was a collision, not a storm that sank it.
If the weather reports are true,( they are predicting the weather} then the Captain of a ship of this design would not attempt to turn, the wave pattern would be to consistent, and in real bad weather it is always best to, run before I was once on a ship in the northern North Sea that was, running before, for 16 hours before we could turn around. The Shell Brent Delta in the North Sea is a fixed platform, it was designed with the hundred year wave in mind,there was buoys recording wave patterns on the site for 2 years, the platform has a 28 meter air gap (the distance between the sea and the underside of the platform) in the first year waves crashed onto the boat deck ( first deck level)so may times that nobody could keep a count.When a platform as big as that shakes its toilet time
That good ship and true crew was a bone to be chewed
When supper time came At 7AM the old cook came on deck
Saying "fellows, it's too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya.
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words waves turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.
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