Forty years ago today

[rlg118]

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the "Gales of November" came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned,
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing.
And every man knew, as the captain did too
'Twas the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck
Sayin' "Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya."
At 7 P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
"Fellas, it's been good to know ya!"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
They may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee."
"Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early!"



God rest their souls...

http://www.ssedmundfitzgerald.org/

[Mal Hombre]

RIP

[9876543210]

rig118,

You forgot to credit Gordon Lightfoot for writing that song. Good song.

For those that don't know, the song is about the sinking of a very large cargo vessel on Lake Superior at its far East end not far from where Superior exits into Lakes Huron and Michigan.

I've done a small bit of day sailing from Duluth Minnesota which is no big deal. But I have a couple of friends who've sailed the entire lake over the course of a couple of summers. They've told me that Lake Superior is not a place for those who don't know what they're doing as that East end can get really nasty under the right conditions (strong winds from the West). Waves can get just as high (if not higher) than on the ocean. Something about the waves being able to build up for a long time out of the west and then the bottom of the lake getting shallower in the East.

I can remember when the Fitz went down. It was a real question for a long time of what happened to her.

If you haven't heard the song, here it is on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgI8bta-7aw

[rlg118]

I forgot to put a bunch of stuff in there. I fell asleep and woke up at least three times while trying to get it in before the day was over. Mea culpa.

[tygrkhat40]

I'll never forget the look on my friend Vinnie's face when he saw Lake Erie for the first time from Dunkirk NY. He was from the NYC area and was familiar with the Jersey Shore. From Dunkirk, you can't see Canada so all you see is horizon. He couldn't believe that there was that much water inland. I told him that this was the little one.

The storms on Erie can be incredibly nasty. Superior is a whole other ballgame. I once saw an ocean frieghter next to a lake freighter. The lake freighter was 4 times the size of the ocean vessel.