I have always found this ship wreck fascinating
 

and the song almost haunting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iquCHSkmUek

I agree with you on many levels.

That song is so evocative, it is amazing and a story well told, and I always enjoy listening to it.

Gordon Lightfoot is a Canadian national treasure, and his discography, including "Sundown" and many other songs, are very good.

Lightfoot is very very good.

I haven't heard much from him lately though.

Tom W

You might like the book, Shadow Divers, by Robert Kurson. I believe that is one of the wrecks he dived on. The book is fascinating.

Without this wreck tourism in Duluth would be down at least 15%.

Thanks for the memory, i love that guys voice. There are many a good shipwreck off the coast of Hatteras in NC. one in particular and dang if i can't remember the name of the ship it was going to Louisianna and loaded with gold bars and coins. got nailed in a hurricane.

That's quite a tribute video that guy made. I remember sitting on my father's lap watching the news accounts. I caught a documentary a few years ago that was chilling.

Paddled my sea kayak over a Lake Superior shipwreck this summer. Cabin cruiser went down just off Cornucopia while I was there. Those cold clear waters are not such a bad place to die.

That song is one of those songs that is rarely mentioned, but everyone seems to know. Great song, and a great songwriter.

The land around Lake Superior, especially in the North is so beautiful, almost haunting, especially in the Fall. The water is crystal clear and beckoning, until you set foot in it and it is freezing. I swam there once, south of Thunder Bay, and I only lasted a few minutes.

The '...lake it is said never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy...' refers to the water being so cold that bodies don't surface in the lake, they sink (lack of/slowed decomposition). Chilling enough thought.

Fantastic, that is a very sobering video.

Haven't been on the north shore. Been looking at the price of real estate east of Thunder Bay in the small towns that dot the shore. Dirt cheap. Looks like great sailing and sea kayaking along the north shore. Winters must be hell but the lake beckons me.

Yeah, you could buy a lot of land up there for peanuts. Here is where I swam, Old Woman Bay. This is a great shot of the lake...

http://www.lakesuperior.com/online/231/231congp.jpg

I used to have a GL hits 8-track :eek:
"Early Mornin Rain" was one of my favs.

In the early morning rain
With a dollar in my hand
With an achin' in my heart
And my pockets full of sand
I'm a long way from home
And I miss my loved ones so
In the early morning rain
With no place to go
Out on runway number nine
Big seven-o-seven set to go
But I'm stuck here in the grass
Where the cold wind blows
Now the liquor tasted good
And the women all were fast
Well there she goes my friend
Well she's rollin' down at last

Hear the mighty engines roar
See the silver bird on high
She's away and westward bound
Far above the clouds she'll fly
Where the mornin' rain don't fall
And the sun always shines
She'll be flyin' o'er my home
In about three hours time

This old airport's got me down
It's no earthly good to me
'Cause I'm stuck here on the ground
As cold and drunk as I can be
You can't jump a jet plane
Like you can a freight train
So I'd best be on my way
In the early morning rain
You can't jump a jet plane
Like you can a freight train
So I'd best be on my way
In the early morning rain

From Wikkepedia:
In Elvis Presley's cover of Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain", Elvis changed the lyrics in the 4th verse from "...as cold and drunk as I can be..." to "...as cold and drunk as I might be...". Gordon has remarked, while performing live, that he is amused at this change, and he now sings the song this way. Notably, Bob Dylan made the same change in his 1970 recording, which predated the Presley version.

The man has had his share of:health problems:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Lightfoot

On History Channel this Saturday
 

The History Channel has a show on this sinking.
Coincidentially, it's being aired this Saturday at 1:00 pm eastern.
Engineering Disasters #19.

I think it was a combination of wave height and distance between waves in combination with her long keel and flooded cargo holds that caused her "back" to break, iirc.
I have seen the show before.
http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=248642

Thanks for the "heads up" on the show! Anyone not familar with the storms on the Great Lakes keep in mind that that ship was 729 feet long. That is 2 football fields and a tennis court I believe.