Whitefish Bay

We arrived in Whitefish and stayed at the docks inside of the harbor.  I don't think you can call it a marina as it was very rough with no amenities but it was a welcome respite from another cold, wet day on Lake Superior.

Whitefish Bay is infamous for the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald on November 10, 1975, it happened only 17 miles from there and close to Sault Ste. Marie.  The Edmund Fitzgerald, a 735 ft freighter, was no stranger to Lake Superior, they left Superior, Wisconsin on the afternoon of November 9 meeting up with the Arthur M. Anderson as they passed Two Harbors, MN.  The two captains, Captain McSorley of the Edmund Fitzgerald and Captain Cooper of the Arthur M. Anderson kept in radio contact as they were aware that a storm warning had been issued and decided to take the northern track to gain the protections of the highlands of the Canadian shore.  At 3:30 the afternoon of November 10 Captain McSorley contacted Captain Cooper reporting some damage and that the boat had a slight list and asked if they would stay close until they reached Whitefish Bay.  I imagine the crew took a sigh of relief as they reached Whitefish.  Captain McSorley's last message to Captain Cooper was "We are holding our own."  At about 5:20 pm the crest of a wave smashed the Anderson’s starboard lifeboat, making it unusable. Captain Cooper reported winds from the NW x W (305 ) at a steady 58 knots with gusts to 70 knots, and seas of 18 to 25 feet.

According to Captain Cooper, about 6:55 pm, he and the men in the Anderson’s pilothouse felt a “bump”, felt the ship lurch, and then turned to see a monstrous wave engulfing their entire vessel from astern. The wave worked its way along the deck, crashing on the back of the pilothouse, driving the bow of the Anderson down into the sea.

“Then the Anderson just raised up and shook herself off of all that water – barrooff – just like a big dog. Another wave just like the first one or bigger hit us again. I watched those two waves head down the lake towards the Fitzgerald, and I think those were the two that sent him under.”  Excerpt from "The Fateful Journey" by Sean Ley

The entire crew of 29 men perished that night.  

Image of the Edmund Fitzgerald from the Shipwreck Museum.

The sinking led to changes in the Great Lakes shipping regulations including  mandatory survival suits, depth finders, positioning systems, increased freeboard and more frequent inspection of vessels.

I never sail in the Whitefish without remembering the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald.