Edmund Fitzgerald

[Bailey Guns]

While not having gone down at sea,this has gone down in history

For a minute there I thought you were referring to Monica Lewinsky.

[cebeu]

The EDMUND FITZGERALD, Beyond the MYSTERY, a STRENGTHENING FAITH

November 12, 2010 - 11:21 AM | by: Lauren Green

[MichiganMilitia]

Well, growing up in Michigan, I do know a bit of history here...

The real difference between the Great Lakes and the oceans is the wavelength: Ocean waves can easily be 60 feet high, but are commonly hundreds of feet long, sometimes as much as 1000 feet long. The Lakes can produce waves 35 feet high in rough seas, but they are almost never any longer than 200 feet.

As for the Edmund Fitzgerald, I was taught that the ship (which was over 700 feet long) got caught with a large wave at each end as SNAFU said and the keel could not support the full load of iron ore and promptly broke in half and sank in over 500 feet of water in less than 10 minutes.

I lived about 25 minutes from Lake Michigan (and I loved it) but Lake Superior is a very different animal. I swam in Lake superior when I was a kid in early April and it was so cold that my dad had to pull me out because I was losing muscle control due to the very cold water. A lot of people don't realize how big the Great Lakes are, especially Lake Superior..

[Bongo Boy]

Under the right conditions the ice heaves and cracks. It makes a truly awesome sound that is hard to describe.

I've heard this on Lake Huron many times. It's either 'cool' 'eerie' or 'sickening', depending on how close you are, I guess.