PORT AUSTIN -- November 10, 2011 marks the 36th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald sinking in Lake Superior. While the ship remains as one of the Great Lakes' most prominant shipwreck, there are thousands of lesser-known shipwrecks that lie in the lakes.
After learning to SCUBA dive, I explored one of these shipwrecks myself. I dove the Barbara Lyn, a 51 foot 800 horsepower aluminum tugboat. A storm hit on October 1st, 1990 while she had two construction barges in tow. The ship went down very quickly and all the crew members except for the captain were able to make it to the barges. The captain was later rescued but died of hypothermia.
After an effort to salvage the ship from over 200 feet, the ship now lies in relatively shallow water off the coast of Port Austin.
You can learn a lot about shipwrecks in the Great Lakes at the Bay County Historical Museum, where you can even find artifacts.
One of my SCUBA instructors, Ric Mixter, explored the sunken Edmund Fitzgerald. Hear his story in the video box below.
