Our Last Leg and the Wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald

 

Our boats were dwarfed by the cliffs at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

InReach confirmed our cruise
around Lake Superior.

When a boat completes a circular cruise, such as our circum-navigation of Lake Superior, there is an expression that “the boat has crossed its wake.”  Salty Paws and Betty Sue crossed their wakes on September 1 in fog at the beginning of the St. Mary’s River in Sault Sainte Marie.  Five weeks earlier we had entered Lake Superior in the fog on July 27. 

Between those dates we had almost perfect weather and logged over 1,500 miles around the lake.  What an adventure we have had.

Our last leg took us east along the southern coast from Bayfield, Wisconsin to the Soo, as Sault Ste. Marie is called.  Our stops in between, first took us through the waterway that cuts the Keweenaw Peninsula in half.  We spent a night in Houghton, Michigan, historic center of copper country, and in the shadow of the Houghton-Hancock Lift Bridge, the heaviest and widest lift bridge in the world.

Copper is no longer mined in the Keweenaw, but we saw  historical remnants including the beautiful Houghton County Courthouse and the top of an old mine viewed from the water, now a park.  The city's waterfront reflects its post-industrial transition as we docked next to the new library where a factory once stood.

Mine visible from the water.

Houghton County Courthouse has
a copper roof and cream-colored
brick trimmed with red sandstone.

We spent a night in Marquette, which still has a functioning taconite-pellet loading facility.  We learned that the only US mining of taconite is in Minnesota and Michigan. Adjacent to the marina is a nice park that was hosting a music festival featuring an Eagles tribute band, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

One of the highlights of the southern shore is Pictured Rocks National Seashore.  The cliffs extend for 15 miles or so and rise up to 200 feet.  The picture that begins this blog tells it all, but here are three more.

Immediately after Pictured Rocks we cruised by the now-protected Grand Sable Dunes.  One section of the dune was used as a log chute in Michigan's logging days.

This section of the Lake Superior coast, Pictured Rocks to Whitefish Point has only one harbor of refuge and is known as the Shipwreck Coast.  Fittingly, many of the Whitefish Point Lighthouse buildings now house the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.  The famous wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald lies just 17 miles to the northwest.  We spent several hours there.

Painting of the wreck by artist Jim Clary based on underwater
footage captured in 1994.

So many of these shipwrecks happened during the late fall storms, when companies were pushing for ships and crews to deliver one more load just before shipping would end for the season due to ice and the seasonal closure of the the Soo locks.  If you want a great book, published just last year, read The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon.  Dick and I listened to the audio version over the course of our first two weeks on Lake Superior.

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald (from Wikipedia)

After the development of taconite pellets in the 1940s (see my previous blog), Great Lakes shipping boomed in the 1950s.  Edmund Fitzgerald, CEO of Northwest Mutual, saw a profit-making opportunity in building a state-of-the-art ship and contracting its operation.  The 729-foot Fitzgerald was built in 1958.  At the time, it was the largest vessel on the Great Lakes, and for years broke and held shipping records on tonnage and speed, moving taconite from Lake Superior to Detroit, Toledo and other steel-mill ports. 

Salty Paws and Betty Sue
in the MacArthur Lock.  The
viewing stand is on the right.

The

Now down 21 feet and ready
 to exit the MacArthur Lock.

maximum length and width of Great Lakes freighters are dictated by the size of the Soo locks.  The original locks were two in tandem and opened in 1855.  There were then the largest in the world, measuring 350 long, 70 feet wide and 13 feet deep.  Multiple expansions in later decades led to the construction of the MacArthur Lock in 1943 (800 feet long, 80 feet wide and 31 feet deep).  This lock remains in operation today, and is where we exited Lake Superior.

My picture of an Army Corps picture showing the Soo Locks.  The MacArthur
Lock is at the far left, the Poe Lock is the second lock from the left and the next
lock is under massive reconstruction to provide another modern lock similar
to the Poe Lock.  It is not yet named and is scheduled to open in 2030.

The massive Poe Lock opened in 1969, measuring 1,200 feet in length, 110 feet width and 32 feet deep.  In 1972 the first of the super-carriers began cruising the Great Lakes with capacities that more than double that of the Fitzgerald.  

Still, older ships continue to operate, and that was the case in 1975 when on the pleasant afternoon of November 9th the Fitzgerald picked up its last taconite shipment in Superior, Wisconsin on the far western end of Lake Superior.  Expectations were for a normal 25-hour trip to the Soo Locks, 350 plus miles to the east.

The bell was the only item
recovered from the Fitzgerald.
A replica bell engraved with the
names of the 29 lost was placed
on the ship.

This is one of the buoys used
on a mooring at the wreck site.
During a violent storm it was
dragged as deep as 250 feet
below the surface.  The pressure
bent the steel like paper.

Soon, however, an unexpected severe storm developed.  Less than 30 hours later, the Fitzgerald disappeared along with its crew of 29 men. The Fitzgerald lies 530 feet below the surface in Canadian waters.   

An estimated 6,000 ships have sunk on the Great Lakes, but safety improvements after the sinking of the Fitzgerald have resulted in no further large commercial vessel lost due to a storm on the Great Lakes.  

Almost everyone seems to know about the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, and I have no doubt that much of that is due to Gordon Lightfoot's haunting song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.  The Bacon book documents this well.  On the other hand, very, very few know about the 1958 sinking of the 638-foot SS Carl D. Bradley in which 33 lives were lost.

The Museum Ship Valley Camp

It was very interesting to walk on the
uneven floor of the massive
 Valley Camp cargo hold

We learned about the Bradley during our visit to the Valley Camp, a 550-foot freighter that is now a wonderful museum in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.  Ron and I just happened to go in a small room showing a movie entitled The Men Long Forgotten: The Sinking of the Carl D. Bradley.  

There were two survivors from the Bradley tragedy, and they told of shipmates who jumped from the sinking ship only to lose their lifejackets once they hit the water.  This led to the Coast Guard requirement to have crotch straps on lifejackets.

The Valley Camp museum also exposed me to the greatest maritime disaster on the Great Lakes when 835 lives were lost after the S.S. Eastland capsized in 1915 only 19 feet from the dock. You have the read the Exhibit write-up below  

The S.S. Eastland

We left the Soo to spend our last two nights in North Channel before reuniting with our trucks and trailers in Spanish.  Ron headed to South Carolina, and Dick and I took off to Maine.  I am pleased to report that there were no incidents on the drive home although we almost had one.

In French River, Ontario

We ended up on a stretch of highway that surprisingly had no gas stations for over 100 miles.  As our driving range dropped to 25 miles we reluctantly got off the highway to drive 10 miles to a small gas station in French River.  With give miles to go, the gauge dropped below E, the alarm sounded and no cruising range number registered.  Fortunately, made it!

Our last night was at South Benjamin Island in the North Channel.

Dick and Ron were great cruising buddies and made this trip extra special.

The next four pictures were sent to me by a Great Lakes ship photographer who has a Facebook page called Aircraft and Marine Machines.  He was out getting drone footage of some ship on the St. Mary's River when Salty Paws and Betty Sue went right under his drone.  He tracked down my address through my membership in the the Great Loop Cruisers Association.. 

Salty Paws approaching the drone on the St. Mary's River

Salty Paws right in front of the drone

Betty Sue in front of the drone

Betty Sue headed downriver toward the incoming freighter.  Salty Paws is right behind another boat  about to pass the ship.

Ron and me on our last bushwhack together at South Benjamin Island.

  

Gichionimgamiing to the Apostle Islands

 

Paddling through one of the Apostle Islands Sea Caves

Minnesota's Split Rock Lighthouse

The western edge of Lake Superior is Minnesota.  This rugged coastline is mostly straight, characterized by cliffs and high bluffs.  These are the foothills of the Sawtooth Mountains and further inland are the Iron Mountains, so-named as it has been the USA’s major source of iron ore for over a century.

“There are few natural harbors along this rugged coast.  Our Minnesota stops included Grand Portage, Grand Marais, Silver Bay and Duluth.

Grand Portage license plate

Our first US stop after being in Canada was Grand Portage.  This town is in the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, home to the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (another name for the Ojibwe).  The Ojibwe name of the reservation is Gichionimgamiing as shown on the license plates of residents.  Gichigami is the word for Lake Superior.  

The words on the bottom of the license plate, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives, are a sad reminder of the high rates of violence against Native people and a tool to raise public awareness and and increase investigative funding for missing and murdered indigenous people.  The red handprint is universally recognized as the silencing of indigenous voices and the ongoing fight against injustices.

Replica of 36' Ojibwe canoe that could carry 12 paddlers,
their gear and 4 tons of furs from Grand Portage to Montreal.

Grand Portage is home to the Grand Portage National Monument, a reconstructed fur trading post and the 8.5 mile portage footpath that was used by the Ojibwe and French-Canadian voyageurs to bypass the rapids and bring goods and furs between the boundary waters and Lake Superior.  

The Ojibwe and the fur traders both prospered from the lucrative trade thru much of the 1700s.  Everything changed in 1803, however, when the border between the US and Britain/Canada was settled to be the Pigeon River, just north of Grand Portage.  The British North West Company moved its fur operation north to remain in British territory and avoid American taxes.

The Spirit Tree

While in Grand Portage, we heard a lot about the Spirit Tree, a cedar sacred to the Ojibwe.  The tree was referenced by a French explorer in 1731, and now can only be seen by a non-tribal member when accompanied by a member of the local band.  I spoke to the security officer at the local casino, and two hours later Eric Reddick, an Ojibwe, led Ron, Dick and me to the tree.

The tree is only 15 feet tall and seems to grow right out a rock.  Eric noted that the tree might be as old as 1,000 years although published estimates put it at 300-400 years old.  The path leading to it is lined with small offerings tied with red ribbons.  We all made our own offering.  Mine was both thanks and a wish for continued good weather and smooth seas.

Eric Reddick, our Ojibwe guide

We talked with Eric for two hours, covering multiple topics including the percentage of blood to be classified as a tribal member.  To paraphrase Eric, at one time a drop of African blood was used to increase the slave population, and now a high percentage requirement will lead to the eventual extermination of his Ojibwe band.  Eric is 3/8 Ojibwe, but his child with his non-Ojibwe spouse is only 3/16 Ojibwe, below the 1/4 threshold set by the larger Ojibwe bands in Minnesota.  Grand Portage band has only 1,000 members compared to the over 50,000 members in the other bands.

The Silver Bay Marina is a great
 marina, but the town is 2 miles away.

Our travels down the western Lake Superior shore included two stops in harbors of refuge - Grand Marais, a very nice tourist town; and Silver Bay, a beautiful marina not close to anything else.  Our last Minnesota stop was the delightful harbor town of Duluth.

Duluth and its sister Wisconsin city of Superior once were the 2nd largest port in the United States.  They now rank 20th as shipments of coal will drop to zero after this year, and iron ore and grain volumes have declined.  At the same time, Duluth has become a very livable city with wonderful parks, a 7-mile beach, great restaurant choices and a strong boating community.

 

While  in Duluth we were thrilled to see the 1,000-foot Indiana Harbor enter the harbor under the Aerial Bridge.  The next day we took a harbor tour and saw the same ship docked at a large pier to receive its cargo of taconite pellets.

Our questions remained - why taconite pellets, and what does it look like?  Answers came in our visits to the Maritime Visitors Center and a tour of the museum cargo ship William A. Irvin,

Iron Ore

Natural iron ore has from 30% to 65% iron and was discovered in Minnesota's Mesabi Iron Range in the 1880s.  For the next 75 years or so only high-grade ore, 60% or more iron, was mined as it could be scooped directly out of the ground and sent directly to blast furnaces.  By the late 1940s the demands of world wars and industrialization had depleted almost all the high-grade ore.  America's mining and steel industries were in danger of collapsing.

Left behind in the mining pits was taconite, a hard rock containing no more than 30% iron and considered useless waste since it could not be processed in the blast furnaces.  Dr. Edward W. Davis, a researcher at the University of Minnesota, and his team spent decades to find a way to make taconite economically useful.

Taconite Pellets

The taconite rock is crushed and ground into a powder, and then magnets are used to separate the iron-rich material from the waste rock. The resulting iron concentrate is combined with a binding agent, traditionally clay, and rolled into marble-sized balls. The balls are then baked at very high temperatures to make them hard enough to withstand shipping and handling. The finished taconite pellets contain about 65% iron. Newer pellets use improved binders and processing to increase iron content and reduce impurities.

Now there is a boat I like in Corny!

After two days in Duluth we headed east, now along the southern shore of Lake Superior. Our first stop was Cornucopia, affectionately known as Corny.  We had a great lunch at the Fish Shed, hiked to Siskiwit Falls and enjoyed the little harbor town.

Dick, Ellen, Molly and Bill in our
Bayfield lodging.  Salty Paws
isn't big enough to sleep four!

Then we reached the Apostle Islands and Bayfield, the center of boating in the area.  My wife, Molly, and Dick's wife, Ellen, joined us here for the Rosborough Apostle Islands Rendezvous.  Erik and Paula Scott did a fantastic job of organizing the 4-day event and suggesting options for side trips.

The Apostle Islands are the most popular boating area on Lake Superior, and much of the activity begins and ends in Bayfield, Wisconsin's smallest incorporated city.  Bayfield reminds me of a small aversion of Bar Harbor, ME.  The city is known for its sailing culture, Victorian architecture, quaint shops, restaurants and being the gateway to the Apostle Islands. 

The Rosborough community gathered in Bayfield

There is not a better place to host the Rosborough gathering, and I thank Erik and Paula Scott for their hard work to make it happen.  Our 4-days of activities included two dinners, a breakfast, a presentation from the Executive Director of the Friends of the Apostle Islands, activity choices ranging from kayaking to fishing to a concert and more, and a group cruise to Stockton Island for an overnight at the dock or anchoring.

Here are six Rosboroughs at the Bayfield City Dock.  There were a total of 11 boats in the Rendezvous.

Salty Paws heading out of Bayfield with Dick preparing the stern, Ellen on the bow and Bill at the helm.

The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore includes 22 islands, 21 of which are in the National Lakeshore. They also feature 9 lighthouses, 60 or so campsites, over 50 miles of trails, 12 public docks, 3 quarries, an old fish camp and old farms.

Dick paddling at Sand Island

What really stands out, however, are the sea caves.  The northern shore of Lake Superior is made up of hard igneous and metamorphic rock while the southern shore is the much softer sedimentary rocks, mostly sandstone.  Waves, wind and repeated freeze-thaw cycles wear down the sandstone creating caves and various rock outcroppings and formations.

Here are some pictures from our islands visits and the rendezvous.

Sand Island

Sea Caves at Sand Island

Eagle

2-mile boardwalk in progress at Sand Is.
to allow wheelchair access.

Bill, Dick and Ron on top of Sand Is. Light

Devil's Island

Molly and I along with Ellen and Ron kayaked around Devil's Island while Dick got a tour of the boat by the captain.

A few of the many sea caves on Devil's Island

Manitou Island

Volunteer Les greeted us at the dock on Manitou Island.  He is spending 11 weeks there this year to tell people about the fish
camp.  At times, he doesn't see any people for up to three days.

Manitou fish camp.  At one time in the past, there were dozens of commercial fish camps around the Apostle Islands.

Dick, Ron and I hiked to the beach on Manitou Island.

Basswood Island

Brownstone quarry on Basswood Island.  Stone from this quarry and others was used to rebuild Chicago after the
Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and, before the introduction of steel, was the popular building material in the Midwest.

Raspberry Island

The Raspberry Island Lighthouse and its grounds are well-cared for. 

Molly, Ellen, Dick and Ron seem to get a good laugh out of the Lighthouse volunteer guide.

Stockton Island 

All the Rosboroughs lined up passing the Bayfield dock to cruise to Stockton Island.

Erik led us to Julian Bay and its beautiful beach.

Lynne and Paula enjoying the beach.

The lagoon was a great place to paddleboard and kayak.

Stockton Island boardwalk and beach

We anchored in Julian Bay off the beautiful beach.  Most spent the night there.