Who are we? We are our stories.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The Edmund Fitzgerald

For JG.  Split Rock Lighthouse was built in reaction to a storm in 1905 that put 29 ships to the bottom of the big lake. In bad weather Superior is terrifying even viewed from the safety of shore. Something to do with less dissolved salts and air in freshwater equaling steeper waves, etc. A 25 foot wave on the ocean is a big rolling swell. In fresh water a 25 foot wave climbs up and crashes down like a huge hammer. I don't need a catchy song to know that it's a bad place to be in a storm.

2 comments:

Silk Hope said...

Gunnar:

Thanks, Back in my prime (college) I dated a gal from Bayfield WI. for two years. I am a veritable left coast treasure trove of great lakes history (wreckage). you can take two ways.

Jack

Anonymous said...

a recent twist on the story....

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-edmund-fitzgeralds-legend-lives-on-but-with-a-major-change/article1511191/

Allan Pollock