The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.. 40 years.

40 years ago today she sank.. Throw on some Gordon Lightfoot and raise a glass.

 

...Said "boys it's been good to know ya"...

 

Having spent the last 2+ years in the area, I have been amazed at the number of wrecks on the Great Lakes. I have been meaning to dive some of the wrecks in Lake Superior.

 

Do they make suits with heating coils?

 

Yes. I have a suit from ElectriFY.

 

Cool. I would imagine something like that would be mandatory for diving in that cold ass water.

 

I made that stuff up. I forgot to use one of these:

They do make cold water suits that are pretty toasty. Technology has come a long way. Now, one can actually move about.

I used a thick suit once, way back when I was a kid, in SoFL. I was poor and I got it cheap. I can barely move with it, and I almost died of heat exhaustion.

I think that I would need a dry suit atop any wet suit when I dare break the Lake Surface.

 

The legend lives from the Chippewa on down...

 

Based on my experience. It's on every jukebox in every dive bar from the lower tip on up through the UP

dive bar in the UP is actually redundant though. There are no other kinds in them parts

 

The water clarity over the last 15 years has improved a great deal since the introduction of the zebra mussel.

Former WERA racer Jeff Vos got into diving shipwrecks after he hung up his leathers. The first part of this story isn't much different than going to a race weekend with Vos.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2015/07/john_moran_shipwreck_michigan.html


Vos back in the day (121)

 

My Dad used to ice dive on search and rescue. 6 cups of coffee, put on a dry suit and take a leak half way through the dive. No problems.

 

Very cool!

Every time, I see underwater footage/technology, it takes me back to the fun time at college. We worked on so many tools/ideas that the professional lie has been something less than challenging.

 

I was in kindergarten in northern Michigan, we were sent home early b/c of the storm.

 

I brought up the anniversary at work. I expected to be a subject of discussion today and everyone was silent. A co-worker mentioned that her dad was sailor before she was born and that one of her dad's best friend, switched/traded his schedule on that ride.

 

Yeah. most of the lake stays about 33 degrees, or whatever temp water starts becoming ice.

Superior, it's said, never gives up its dead

That's because it's too cold for the body to rot. Instead, some of it leaches away and just a gelatinous blob remains. Those bodies can be found on the ship wrecks.

People do shipwreck diving off Isle Royale. I'm sure there's some over by the Apostle Islands.

I would suggest a local guide, as this type of diving seems pretty specialized

 

One of the most hauntingly-beautiful songs ever created. Godspeed x 29.

 

That song sends chills down my spine.

I took my mother to Maine a couple of years ago to visit the places her side of the family is from. We found the old family grave yard in Dennysville Maine. One of the graves from the early 1800s had the family name on the front. on the back it had six or seven names. 4 of them were male with a DOB and then the year they were lost at sea. The ages were from about 13 to 21 if I recall. Two sons survived into their 30s, one of which would be my great great great gandfather.

 

I heard that song for the first time today.

I am still amazed at the number of shipwrecks in the Lakes. The old waterfront of Duluth is underwater.

I enjoy reading stories when daily living call for the best within daily. Days of hard men.

 

If I had 6 cups of coffee, by the time I got all my SCUBA gear on, it'd be a race to get out of it to hit the head....




And it wouldn't be for #1