A Gale on Lake Superior December 29th. 1993 aboard the Charles Wilson

[2tuque2]

the text is sooooo annoying. Have someone with 1/2 oz of design sense redo it, pleeeeaaassssee!!

[timohan100]

I have raced sailboats all over the world and the worst weather I have even been in has been on Superior and Michigan. Anyone talking smack about it not being that bad, or wearing a survival suit is a moron and couldn't hack if they tried. Great video.

[auntbecky]

actually, i think you're all acting like a bunch of jerks and doing a disservice to the men on these ships.

[LordDeathspit]

Metals not supposed to bend dipshits! These guys could've all died and Lake Superior has as many ships at the bottom of it than the Bremuda Triangle.

[tortugabob]

Really ...I thought we was going to see some hull warping. This was a big letdown. Any man wearing a survival suit in that is a homo.

[TigerLeahu]

@tortugabob that was a land lubber insult.. Yer gonna have to insult better than that if you are ever gonna get before the mast. If you want Hollywood, go watch Disney. But this type of hull action, slight as it appears to you, over the years creates the situation that when it does in fact bend like you want, the movie is lost to the waves. I would have done much better going down into the conveyor space to shoot the flex. I sailed the North Atlantic with the Royal Navy so wasn't fazed as me m8s

[tortugabob]

@TigerLeahu The Royal Navy? You must be kidding me? The Royal Navy is a bunch of wanking poofsters. And Iike I said, this isn't much of a storm. In the NZ navy we see gales 5 times worse than this and no one makes YouTube videos about them or cries like a sissy.

[KGero478]

@tortugabob Then you haven't seen what the Great Lakes are capable of yet. If you want to come and visit them.

[DouglasMiles1]

@TigerLeahu don't mind them...if they were on board, they probably would have asked where the lifeboats were located. :)

[TigerLeahu]

@tortugabob being that its on the Great Lakes.. it would be stupid to be out in weather worse than this. Great Lakers are not stupid.

[RunningSwimmingMan]

@tortugabob I will have to concur, at least with your part about the expecting to see a "Warping Hull."

[SHOUTINGJIM]

@tortugabob

lol stfu faag.

[Topfueltrooper]

@tortugabob Somone should take your stinking STD ridden carcass and toss you overboard in December off that ship, and then lets see how long you survive without a survival suit on Mr. Shithead.

[auntbecky]

@tortugabob i don't know about you but i sure saw something. can you imagine the force just to move it that little bit?

[burker1301]

I have lived on the great lakes all my life, spending most my time in Alpena. Many friends and family have sailed. Not me. These lakes scare the hell out of me! You guys have guts. Cool vid. And great music playing too! Thanks for posting.

[firebrand07]

When growing up in Harbor Springs, Mi during the 70's I recall mornings after storms (one of which sank the Fitz) when 2 or 3 freighters were at anchor in the harbor. Awesome sight for the kids up on the bluff watching from the school yard.

[granskare]

where did you anchor at the end of the vid? nice vid...thanks!

[TigerLeahu]

@granskare so long ago I can't remember

[kaarelps]

one of most terrible seas is Baltic sea... when there is a real hurricane, then evenly bigger freighters are not going to sea...

[steppanoreed]

A strong gale?? C'mon there isn't many white caps or even bow spray. The ship is actually not even working herself that bad. I have seen waves come right up on deck on the James R. Barker. I have also seen them roll ten feet high right across one side of the Beeghly and off the other.

Say my prayers? This weather would be putting me to sleep. Anyone with a survival suit on in this weather is a sissie.

Just sayin...

[auntbecky]

@steppanoreed ok, i hope you remember that if you're ever in that situation and fall overboard.

[TigerLeahu]

@steppanoreed dude, you need to read as well as watch...

[buddy1924floyd]

@steppanoreed I love how you call people a sissie when u prob never been in a storm on the lake or even been in a rough sea so why dont u take your coments and put them in your ass like u like it .... i been sailing the great lakes for the last ten years and I will tell u that when your in a rough sea like this and in superior i dont blame them.... the lakes even in the summer does not get over 50degrees so fuck off you

[loveunderlaw]

Awesome vid! The great lakes are nothing to play with, I don't think people realize how deadly they all can be.

[TigerLeahu]

@loveunderlaw 93 93/93 ?!.

[surfr009]

the thing is ocean waves roll and swell more and have a longer wave lenght lake waves while not as big are sharp and break making dangerous and can reach heights of 35 feet

[TigerLeahu]

@surfr009 aye m8, the fetch is different.

[christof139]

Great Lakes have claimed ~6,000 ships & boats. All ships are called boats on the Lakes, even the 1,00-ft. ore carriers. If a storm such as the one that took the Fitz & tore up the Sweddish sea-going ship Avafors or the Great Storm of 1913 hit ANYTHING it would be bad. Some survivor(s) of the 1913 storm claimed they saw 70-ft. wave(s), & modern studies indicate rogue waves of over 50-ft. are very possible. Seas of 30 to 40ft. are confirmed on the Lakes.

[1leadking]

My dad sailed the South Pacific for four years in WWII. Rode out typhoons and storms. He came back and sailed the Great Lakes in the early '50's for a couple of years. He said the worst storms he has ever experienced was on the Great Lakes.

[loveunderlaw]

@1leadking Yeah the Great Lakes can turn fierce in an instant, I wouldn't want to be out in the middle of any of them during a major storm!

[Psilaxs]

@1leadking

Exactly, people from the coasts have no idea how utterly effing brutal the great 'lakes' can be when they decide to get angry.

I have heard MANY people say Superior is as bad and in some ways worse than the north atlantic. They can be truly scary.

[kustomchainwerks]

That was nothing.

[TigerLeahu]

@kustomchainwerks I sailed in North Atlantic Gales and Hurricanes in the Caribbean, so it was odd for me to see men getting into survival gear on this occasion, I did not however. They were not accustomed to seing a hull work at all, and they can't imagine what salty dogs have seen. The Fitz is still too fresh and reinforces the concept of a freshwater sailor vs a jack tar salt.

[kustomchainwerks]

@TigerLeahu I sailed the great lakes and the Gulf for 14 years as an Engineer myself. Been through some pretty bad storms and I hadn't ever seen anyone put on a survival suit either. In heavy seas I've been out on deck aboard thousand foot vessels and watched how they bend and twist. If they didn't bend they'd break up. I certainly wasn't knocking your vid, I liked it I just didn't think the storm was all that bad for guys to be wearing suits. Just my opinion.

[TSM8088]

That's what snapped the Fitz in two...

[slimtny]

You must have a unexperienced crew? Thats a good thing if the ships flexing. Its when your all iced up and the ship isnt flexing is when you should start to worry. Also i have been in way worse and if it was that bad on the big lake you should have been huggin the canadian side.

[Rattles02]

Wow. Amazing video! My bro would love your choice of music.

[spassgrl]

Holy cow! How big were those waves? This is an amazing video. I live in Marquette, and I can't imagine being out on the lake during weather like that.

[CyrusNixes]

I have been looking forever for a video of the waves out in the middle of Lake Superior during a storm. Finally I found this! Thanks for posting.

How big do you think the waves were? Its hard to tell in this video.

[Trainle]

It's even cooler to watch in the tunnel.

[canadiantimberwolf1]

Agree,I remeber seeing the Cederglen when she was berthed in Goderich,Her access tunnels were cabled and 2 boards too walk on and then you had to go through the frame holes into the other bay.Cargo on one side a bulkhead on the other and the holes were not very big and flexing as well.I was told if you were not carefull it could cut you in half on a flex or if you fell over into the grain,you could drown.Interesting days way back when.