That dear, brave old sailor telling the story of his experience in that awful storm: "I looked to the East, but I didn't see that little boat anymore." He brought tears to my eyes...how clear were his memories! What courage, to refuse what he knew to be a bad command. The lives he saved ...I hope those sailors appreciated what he risked to save them all.

As a child in the early 60's I spent summers on the Keweenaw. We would pick the mine tailings at the Delaware mine looking for copper. You could still find it with out metal detectors and I had a small collection of pure copper.

Blocking the site from further scrutiny? How convenient for the shipping company who neglected the hell out of their ship, and now can't be held responsible.

Good to see you out and about Ric. Myself and a couple friends tried to get an ice dive in last weekend at Lake 16 (near Martin, MI) however the ice wasn't thick enough to go out on, and we didn't feel like crawling and digging our way through the shallows. I also take the cold months to catch up on reading and research (currently reading your "Bottled Goodbyes" ). Maybe someday we'll run into each other on our travels around Michigan and get to chat for a few.. From Lansing, wishing you and your loved ones a great week.

Glad to see Ric Mixter talking about the Fitzgerald again

I really really really really really hate Google.. according to Google there is only one torch lake in Michigan. And it's in lower Michigan and Taylor Swift off of Winfrey kid Rock and Eminem all live on it and it's like 350 ft deep and 14 mi long... The one that you were talking about on this video is labeled torch lake put Google doesn't recognize it as torch lake. It's a toxic lake with no name.. you can try to point Google on the right direction and talk about the sunken dredges and the copper deposits.. but it only show you a map of the lake of the one in lower Michigan. And all I really want to know is how deep is the one the Quincy Mill dumped so much copper into.. and would it be possible to pump or drain that lake to recover to recover the deposits of copper that haven't been recovered yet.. I'm fairly well versed and pumps that are capable of pumping between two and a half million and 7 million gallons of water per day.. provided the lakes on a 1000 ft deep.. most pumping systems that can pump that much water I'm pretty much limited to about 300 ft elevation. Unless I install multiple pumping stations at different levels.. For the last 10 years I've been trying to throw around the idea of how I get permission to pump out and drain Ramsey open pit. What is 480 ft deep.. there's probably three dozen reasons I want to drain that iron mine. But historically there's really no good documentation of that giant pit that everybody goes swimming in. What kind of dangers lurk underneath the water. And an ROV doesn't really work it's just too big and too deep too dark at the bottom..

So many dangerous spots on the Great Lakes. We were kayaking the Apostle Islands in fall and were weathered in on Devil’s Island for two days, when the NWS had posted a storm warning with 25’ waves predicted offshore and 15’ onshore. We had time to set up camp that afternoon and hike the mile or so to the north end of the island, where we found a crew working on the light station were also weathered in. They looked at us like we were crazy. That evening, we sat on the cliffs with our VHF adios and watched and listened as one freighter after another tried to beat the weather to Duluth.

It would be really cool learning where the metal was mined to build the dredges.

The Queen of The Lakes she is stirring Her waves froth and foam as they crash Like a house cat who seeks prey while still purring Whose claws soon some victim will slash Beneath crystal blue skies Her beauty belies The beast that lurks deep in Her belly It struggles and strains waiting for November rains When its cries will turn men’s hearts to jelly Sailors, beware and you’d better take care Of the Queen and dare not upset Her For the storms and the gales that test ships and their sails Will make you beg for calmer weather The Superior Lake lays sole claim to her throne She is the Queen of the Inland Seas The fate of many men is hers alone Though not a god may she yet hear their pleas For those who dare tempt fate with ill-considered adventure She swallows such fools and their delusions with ease Know that ships full of sailors could never quench her For is not this lake the Queen of the Inland Seas? © 2018 - 2021

Nicely done! Great research - thanks for your work on this!

Im 23, and I've spent 48 years sailing every body of water on earth. I've lost count on how many water slides I've been on and the many kiddie pools I've splashed through. Needless to say, I've seen many horrors. You should interview me. Im sort of a big deal.

It's surprising that the Great Lakes have such a wonderful history.

I bathed in Superior and it was an ice plunge in August at the shoreline.

Lake Huron has had 2 hurricans. The 1900s I think abt 1912ish. And in 1996 there was also a hurricane.

Hi Ric! I used to fish out of the Big Two Hearted a lot in the 1980s. There is a schooner-barge with an upright boiler in about 60' just west of the mouth of the Little Two Heart. That thing ate a lot of lures and even downrigger weights over the years. It would come uncovered with sand or be buried... and depending on the wind, the water might be clear or dark. It was creepy waiting for that thing to loom up out of the brown water, just sunk there for over 100 years. The story we heard from the old timers is the Schooner Barge had at least one other lumber boat in tow. It was a storm and the lines parted, the tow ran on down the lake toward Whitefish Point. The main engine boat sank just off shore. It's a neat area.

Ric mixter! He’s awesome! He’s a Great Lakes legend himself! He does excellent presentations. If you get the opportunity to catch one, don’t miss it!

I learned to water ski at the mouth of the Chippewa river, in the cold water of gitchee gumee

Cool history lessons

R.I.P. Gordon Lightfoot

i been on the Milwaukee Clipper when waves so bad I got seasick

The most dangerous spot on the Great Lakes is Cancun.

“ Ahh yes Whitefish point, Autumn of ‘72 , plenty of fish… plenty of weather too! Hurricanes, squalls… I’ll tell ya I’ll never go out there again without sonar. Japanese sub slammed two torpedoes into our side chief, vessel went down in 3 minutes, No mayday, no radio, weren’t listed overdue for days…. Aye chief, if it wasn’t for that life jacket.. ill tell ya “

Thunder Bay, Michigan? Looks like Alpena..

id neve want left at the bottom of the water, id want near my loved ones

Door Penninsula in Wisconsin sticks out like a finger on the upper west side of Lake Michigan. There are at least 240 shipwrecks around those shores alone. I have been on the other side of the Door penninsula on Green Bay. On a perfectly sunny, beautiful day, I saw storm clouds come up in the blink of an eye and the boats out on the Lake rushed in, barely reaching safety before the storm hit.

My ex-husband was a Merchant Marine and wheelsman, first on the Fitzgerald, then on the Arthur M. Anderson. Those taconite ore boats are gigantic and can normally withstand any storm.We lived in Two Harbors, Minnesota, 30 minutes north of Duluth. He had friends on the Fitzgerald and it took such a toll on the families on the north shore. Everyone knew everyone else in that town. He said the most dangerous times on Superior were when the gales would create waves that were coming from uneven directions like west and north or south and east. The ship would then be buffeted sideways and from stem to stern. It was the one situation that could cause an ore ship's hull to destabilize or break. Of course the hatches always had to be completely sealed and in good working order. Occasionally even the most seaworthy ships could capsize if they were caught just right in these crazy crosswaves. The Fitz was only like 10-15 miles from Whitefish when it was lost. The Anderson was out in the same storm and radio-ed the Fitzgerald to check on their status. Captain McSorley said, "Well, we're going along like an old shoe". Ten mins later they were lost.

Been out fishing on Lake Michigan, on a 30 foot vessel, when a storm blew in, the Capitan had already reeled in all the downriggers, and lines, and started heading to port, when the 8 to 12 foot rollers started , as 10 year old, it was harrowing. Climbing the back side of waves that size, to drop 10 feet, with a crash, over, and over again gives you a tremendous amount of respect for the big lakes. Calm and beautiful one minute, and scary as hell minutes later....

Our former neighbor almost died in Lake Erie - his buddy did. They were fishing when a storm came up, capsized their boat. One guy drowned, Dan was rescued. His wife said he awakens from nightmares terrified ever since.

There is some confusion in this video because the author doesn't tell which Grand Marais he is talking about. There are two, one in Minnesota and one in Michigan. 😱

So where or what is the most dangerous "spot" as the title of the video states. I can't stand the jumbled rambling jumping all over the place.

The most dangerous place on the Great Lakes is Put-In-Bay, Ohio on a Summer weekend 🥃

Oceans are scary when there's huge storms the great lakes are terrifying with a little bit of wind the amount of waves

A friend grew up in the U.P. and was a senior at LSSC the night the Fitzgerald went down. He said he had never seen Superior like that. The worse I saw Superior, I never did. Long story short, we had to hoof it down a trail through some woods to get to the beach. I don't know how far we made it, but we had to turn back. We could hear the surf, but we were getting drenched by pretty big volumes of spray from the waves through the trees of the forest. We figured any beach wasn't going to be open and chickened out.

I live 1/2 block from an area of Lake Michigan. When it formed slushie ice and seen at night, right then, it was probably one of the most dangerous points.

Very well done doc Ric.... thank you. Having grown up not far from the Atlantic Ocean and being a Navy vet....Big Water has always been my go to for solace and adventure. But having lived for the last 34 years within a few miles of Michigan and later Erie, the 'inland" seas are so fascinating.

It is mind boggling how many ships have been lost in years past. Even more amazing years later with the advent of better technology, steel, radar and communication not sufficient to stop the lakes from claiming their deadly toll. The Lakes seemingly note dangerous than the open ocean's. The lakes must be cursed by an ancient water spirit dwelling in the dark deep depths reaching up with icy fingers.

The great lakes are not inland seas...

14:31 Oconto is pronounced O-Con-toe not On-con-toe

How much $ was in the guys pocket? Something fishy goin on here.😊

It's because bodies don't float in superior. They water is too cold for the bacteria necessary for bodies to float.

The Great Lakes are not seas.

We get deadly seiches in Chicago, which are sudden fluctuations of water levels on a lake or inland sea. "The Great Lakes are among the few regions in the world where these potentially deadly events occur." Seiches can suddenly wipe people off piers. (Encyclopedia of Chicago website)

I bought my nephews a book on shipwrecks of the Great Lakes. I live near Lake Michigan, and people don't realize how dangerous these lakes are.

Lake Erie deepest spot in the whole lake is right near long point and it's 210 feet but for the rest of it it's only 35 to 65 foot deep

I moved to Duluth, MN for a job from Atlanta, Georgia. What I saw of the weather on Lake Superior on dry land was terrible enough. I tip my hat to all the iron-clad people who make a living on those waters. Some of the toughest, no nonsense people I’ve met in America are from MN/WI etc… I moved to Manhattan NYC soon after. Winters in NYC are a piece of cake compared to Duluth. People say New Yorkers are tough. They are but not on the same level as the people I met on the lake. Great Lake people are a totally different breed of toughness in my limited experience.

Must be where ever he stands.

“The legend lives on From the Chippewa down, Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumi…….” Courtesy of Half Vast Flying

A lot of these boats were essentially death traps, and the operating companies didn’t care

Lake Superior will give you fatal hypothermia 365 days a year… doesn’t matter if you know how to swim when your entire body is shutting down

Hi Rick, an classmate here..Lisa Proffitt👋