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Clear Waters of Lake Michigan Reveal Its Many Shipwrecks
This 133-foot long wooden steamer, the Rising Sun, is in 6 to 12 feet of water just north of Pyramid Point, where she stranded on October 29, 1917. All 32 people on board were saved. (U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City )
The ice over Lake Michigan has finally melted, but the water is still very cold. That, along with the good weather conditions, has left the water extremely clear. So clear in fact, that turn-of-the-century shipwrecks are visible from the air:
The U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Traverse City noted the crystal clear water conditions and the lost ships during a routine patrol. Last week, they posted a handful of pictures to their Facebook page. The images come from the area near Sleeping Bear Point known as the Manitou Passage Underwater Preserve, which is “one of the richest areas in Michigan for shipwreck diving,” according to the preserve’s website. The lumber industry put the area on a shipping route. The North and South Manitou Islands, just north of the point, provided a somewhat sheltered area for ships hiding from storms…
Other wrecks in the Manitou Passage include The Francisco Morazan, an ocean-going freighter driven aground during a snowstorm on November 29, 1960. The Morazan sank right on top of the remains of the Walter L. Frost, a wooden steamer lost on November 4, 1903. Both wrecks are in shallow water just a few hundred yards from shore, the preserve’s website reports.
You can check out all the shipwreck photos here.
Published in Culture, General
Almost makes me wish I was writing Michigan Shipwrecks rather than Texas Shipwrecks.
Seawriter
When you finish Texas Shipwrecks, you could write King James and the Mormon Lumber Pirates of Beaver Island.
Somebody ought to, anyway.
EDIT: More on the Pirates of Lake Michigan.
I grew up in Michigan, but have not lived there since I was in my 20s. It is hard to write local history from halfway across the country.
Seawriter
I’m guessing the invasive species Zebra mussels are contributing to the water clarity.
Sleeping Bear Dunes is one of my favorite places in the US I’ve seen. Undiscovered jewel, right up there with some of the ‘biggies’ National Park-wise. Some of the best sunsets I’ve ever experienced – high recommend the trip.
If you don’t feel like driving all the way around, on calm days you can paddle by my house about 1/2 mile south and see one on the Wisconsin side.
It would be nice if this could be the year that Le Griffon is finally found.
Thank you so much! The “mouth of the Kalamazoo” is my part-time ‘hood and it’s got a fascinating history. But this is a really cool bit of local history that I’d never heard of. I will be showing it off when I’m up there this weekend.
Martin O’Malley’s campaign is now sunk in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Does that count?
Sheesh. It looks like Tahoe.
Metaphorically, they try to keep the water rough and foggy, but every now and then you get complete stillness and clarity and you are able to see the widespread wreckage of Democrats policies.
If anyone does want to write Michigan Shipwrecks or The Lumber Pirates of Beaver Island, private message me and let me know. I can provide an introduction to the appropriate editor at Arcadia Publishing or History Press.
Seawriter
Yup. That’s what makes the water so clear.
My father was in charge of buying land for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in 1971-72, before it became an official park. I spent 6th grade at Frankfort, MI. It was by far the best year of my pre-college life. I started in Boy Scouts there and had daily outdoor adventures. I was a feral child that year. I’ve always been sorry we moved away.
Are we to the point yet that saying “turn of the century” means “this century”?