Walleye Discussion Forums

Forums | Calendars | Albums | Quotes | Language | Blogs Search | Statistics | User Listing
You are logged in as a guest. ( logon | register )
View previous thread :: View next thread
Jump to page : 1
Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page]

Walleye Fishing -> General Discussion -> The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
 
Message Subject: The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Viking
Posted 11/10/2006 8:07 AM (#48862)
Subject: The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down


Member

Posts: 1314

Location: Menasha, WI
It was 31 years ago today:

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconson
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they'd been feeling.

The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind

When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it's too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya.

The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd fifteen more miles behind her.

They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.

And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.





Zoom - | Zoom 100% | Zoom + | Expand / Contract | Open New window
Click to expand / contract the width of this image
(edmund.jpg)



Attachments
----------------
Attachments edmund.jpg (2KB - 73 downloads)
Top of the page Bottom of the page
walleye express
Posted 11/10/2006 9:59 AM (#48864 - in reply to #48862)
Subject: RE: The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down



Member

Posts: 2680

Location: Essexville, MI./Saginaw Bay.
I waited many a day at bridges in Bay City on either side of the Saginaw River for that ship to pass. For the most part, them boys have a pretty easy duty after the loading and hatch loc downs are over. But God save the King, novice sailors and the hull, when any of the Great Lakes get angry.

Edited by walleye express 11/10/2006 10:00 AM
Top of the page Bottom of the page
T-Mac
Posted 11/10/2006 3:06 PM (#48870 - in reply to #48862)
Subject: RE: The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down


I remember it well. I was a sophmore at UMD and the storm was ferocious at Duluth. Some of us hopped in my car and drove down to Park point to see these monstrous waves. When we crossed that old aerial lift bridge over the shipping canal, we got hit with water. Not only with spray, but GREEN water. WAVE tops were hitting us.
That's how high the waves were coming through the canal at Duluth, that night! We didn't hang around on Park Point very long. Seems like it was only about 20 above on top of all that wind.
NASTY!
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Jump to page : 1
Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page]
Jump to forum :
Search this forum
Printer friendly version
E-mail a link to this thread

(Delete all cookies set by this site)