In the wheelhouse, sitting 40-some feet above the water, Capt. McSorley felt secure as he headed his 729-foot oreboat northward. It was warm here, with only occasional bits of Superior spray on the forward windows, and the boat -- despite its "wiggling thing" that they had been living with for years -- was humming Read More
BREE'S BLOG: In The Wake of the Fitzgerald
Trouble at Two Harbors: The Storm Begins
September 15, 2017
When the Fitzgerald was well out to sea, about an hour and a half after leaving the Superior entryway of the Duluth - Superior Harbor, the Weather Service broadcast gale warnings. The weather was worsening, with winds gusting from 34 to 38 knots. Capt. McSorley heard the crackle of a radio message. It was the 767-foot Read More
On the track of the Fitzgerald: Two Harbors
September 5, 2017
Cautiously, I was sailing up the North Shore, always with one hand on my tiller and the other hand very close to the mainsheet. Persistence was a centerboarder and did not have any outside ballast -- no lead mine below to lever me back up. In fact, I had been warned on this matter: " Read More
The Edmund Fitzgerald: A blog on the final voyage
August 29, 2017
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Up north, the big lake is freshening with a sense of urgency that fall is approaching. Go out beyond the breakwaters and you know you have a force of nature beneath you. Careful, mariner! The countdown is beginning now for the annual observance of the last voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I know something Read More