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community weblog
The Mighty Fitz & Me
For the past week we have been hammered by November storms. Much of this essay was written at anchor off Long Point in Lake Erie, where we sought refuge along with nine other ships. For 48 hours the wind did not drop below 30 knots and regularly gusted to 50. As I sat typing in my cabin I could hear the wind rage, rattling the super structure around me. Sleet and snow frenzied at my cabin window. At times the ship strained against the anchor chain and sent judders through the hull which I could feel 600 feet aft at my desk. Despite being in the lee of Long Point, the waves were tall and relentless. For 24 hours there was not a single ship moving across the entirety of the Great Lakes. Currently we're storm routing up the American side of Lake Huron and we anticipate many more weather related delays before the season is done. Winter has arrived and this year her claws are out.
Nick Tabone is a writer, a sailor, a runner, and a skateboarder. Other essays on life working the Great Lakes are here.
posted by Hardcore Poser on Dec 05, 2025 at 6:51 PM
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I spent a summer in the early 80s working on a gas drilling barge on Lake Erie and remember a storm off long point that broke all the welds in the derrick. We spent a long and very scary night listening to it waving around above our sleeping quarters. The derrick was repaired but a month later, a different crew was there for a day-time sudden wind event, watching a small commercial fishing boat flounder with three men on board..and this was Lake Erie, the shallowest one. I hate to imagine Lake Superior.
posted by brachiopod at 7:26 PM
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Frightening story, Brachiopod. Curious for your take on this: I'd always been told Lake Erie is the most dangerous because of how shallow it is. Lake Superior, being deep, would therefore not be as risky. Thoughts given your experience?
Regarding the post, this is excellent! Thank you for putting it here, Hardcore Poser!
posted by glaucon at 7:51 PM
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I was just reading about a guy who's planning to take his homemade "houseboat" all the way through the Great Lakes to Chicago, then eventually into the Atlantic Ocean (!!!). After one miserable overnight trip he decided not to try braving the lakes' weather just as winter was setting in. Yeek.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:20 PM
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It's a misnomer really; any place else they would call these enormous bodies of water "seas".
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:25 PM
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Past crew members of the Fitzgerald have claimed that the hull moved or 'worked' more than most ships. (Remember that large ships, like skyscrapers are made to move, to bend and flex according to the conditions and their cargo.) They said that when they used the side tunnels (the tunnels that run the length of the deck, below the cargo holds) in bad seas, the watertight door at the end wasn't even visible, such was the corkscrewing of the hull.
This is nightmare fuel. Seriously.
posted by ashbury at 8:39 PM
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A lovely read. Thanks!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:45 AM
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I'd always been told Lake Erie is the most dangerous because of how shallow it is. Lake Superior, being deep, would therefore not be as risky. Thoughts given your experience?
That summer was enough for me, so I can't compare Erie to anything else. I discovered get seasick on big water craft - having to work while throwing up at intervals is no fun. Also, being an insufferable 19 year old art student and low man on the totem pole in a gang-like work environment is no fun.
posted by brachiopod at 4:10 AM
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What a great read. I love the closing. I'll be printing it out and mailing it to my father-in-law, who lived in Michigan, served six years on nuclear sub, and loves a good sea story. Thanks, Hardcore Poser.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 6:11 AM
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Oh my, this is a fabulous read so far. I have to leave off to tend to something else, but I can't wait to finish up, God willing.
Even if you visit Duluth in the summer or early fall, observing Lake Superior from the shore is sobering. While I was visiting in September 2018, a family out for a kayak trip on the lake met with misadventure, on a day that wasn't particularly stormy. Several of them drowned.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 7:01 AM
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On November 26 2025 it was described on FB group Ontario Storm Reports as The Lake Erie Storm Party when a fleet was forced to anchor off of Port Dover/Turkey Point.
I also learned about the Lake Erie Seiche when the Western part of the lake was oddly uncovered.
It's something, but nothing compared to the Biblical devastation of the Great Lakes Storm of 1913...
More curious than devistating was the rare 1996 Lake Huron Cyclone...
In related, if your idea of a fun time is sitting in a motel room drinking your beverage of choice while just outside your window an interesting very large vessel is slowly rising or lowering, then I would highly recommend The Inn at Lock Seven on The Welland Canal (near-ish St. Catherines/Niagara Falls).
posted by ovvl at 9:25 AM
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I'd always been told Lake Erie is the most dangerous because of how shallow it is.
Why would shallowness confer danger? As a Michigander, the general vibe I've gotten throughout my life is that Lake Superior is the scary one. I've spent a some time on Erie and even more on Lake Huron. Neither of them felt particularly dangerous. The reputation of Erie is more "dirty" than "dangerous."
posted by axiom at 10:43 AM
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Metafilter: more "dirty" than "dangerous"
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:25 AM
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Good essay and interesting writer. Just to note in case you hear things from climate denialists about this 'cold winter', the actual arctic has never had so little ice and is running like +7C over pre industrial.
posted by anthill at 11:32 AM
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Because its so shallow the waves are not like ocean waves/ Ocean waves are longer and more rolling motion. on lake Eirie the waves can be very steep and come very close together.
Here's some photos
posted by yyz at 11:34 AM
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Wow, yyz. Those photos are amazing.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 12:08 PM
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... and because it's shallow, sediment is picked up more easily and sand bars can shift. Ice is also more frequently a big problem on shallower lakes.
posted by oneirodynia at 12:09 PM
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Here's some photos
These are great but can't tell the scale - could really use a kayak or surfboard floating around in there. Are they 30-foot Mavericks-magnitude waves?
posted by Rash at 6:20 PM
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Why would shallowness confer danger?
Another reason is that the whirlpools* and strong currents are much closer to the surface than in a deeper lake.
*Firsthand experience from growing up near the southeastern edge of Lake Erie and, as an adult, losing a friend (who was a very strong swimmer) to drowning off Point Abino in southern Ontario, Canada.
posted by Scout405 at 8:46 PM
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I have been out on Superior only once: on the ferries to & from Isle Royale. They were little boats, and both trips were mild, thankfully.
We encountered a Coast Guard boat partway through the hiking trip, at a dock on a blazing hot July day. We had just dangled our sweaty feet into the lake's water -- and yanked them back, shouting at the pain of the cold. The crew fought their way out of blaze orange survival suits, and checked the temperature: 53 F. "You wouldn't last five minutes in there!"
Every time I've looked out from Split Rock Lighthouse, or even coming up the interstate into Duluth, the water stretches clear to the horizon. The waves are tiny white lines on the gray, and I can't imagine the pain and fear of being in that water.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:32 AM
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