On the forecast of a rainy/thunderstorm Wednesday, we opted
for the Valley Camp Freighter Museum in Sault Ste. Marie. Luke posed amongst the many large anchors and
buoys on display.
One of the many big “lakers” came by as we waited to go into
the museum. She was obtaining a space in
the lock as she waited.
They did a nice job of turning the freighter into a
museum. Here is a shot of the cargo
hold, now holding relics and informational tidbits about commercial boating on
the Great Lakes.
I LOVE this …. The phone from the boiler room to the
cockpit…note the name…”Hear-Here”!
How about this exposure suit pack….if you can read it, you
are about to go jump ship, cold water and all, and wait for some distant
boat to find you and pick you up…last instruction is “Relax – you can not sink”…sure…
The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is still a big deal here,
as it is the last of the great disasters.
For more info, click Edmund Fitzgerald. Here is one of the two recovered life boats (that didn’t save any lives - all aboard perished).
This one sure didn’t work…
AMAZING to us --- the laker ship Arthur M. Anderson passed by as we were watching the St Mary's river. This is probably historically the most relevant laker afloat. She was the closest ship to the Edmund Fitzgerald (memorialized in "the Ballad of the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot) before she sank. The Arthur M. Anderson had maintained radio contact and helped the Edmund Fitzgerald as they were both weathering a very severe November storm in 1975. The Edmund Fitzgerald had lost her radar masts, and developed a list as she approached the eastern end of Lake Superior. They lost sight of the Edmund Fitzgerald as she sailed into a severe squall, and she was never seen again. The Arthur M. Anderson raced to save the crew, but she was about 10 miles away and with the terrible storm could not reach The Fitz in time. Built in 1952, she is very close to the design of the Edmund Fitzgerald ( built in 1957) and she is still in service AND passed in front of us as we stood outside of the museum! For more info, click Arthur M. Anderson
Here I am, standing on the deck of the
Valley Camp, as another large freighter passes by.
Luke opted for his photo to be taken outside of the Bridge
(pilot house).
It was a good tour. Today we did a ferry ride to Macinac Island and a tour of the island - will post that one in a day or so.
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