MasterG2kTR
Posts: 6677
Joined: 8/7/2004 From: Wisconsin Status: offline
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It was many years after the tragedy, that speculation of the actual cause was a rogue wave between 30-100 feet high. I still get a cold chill down my spine every time I hear the song from Gordon Lightfoot. As a young child I witnessed many great lakes vessels that come into my local port bringing ore and fuel oil. When they come in fully loaded they typically would have maybe 6 feet of clearance above the waterline to the main deck. In contrast they would have 12-15 feet of clearance when they left. In the winter months they would come into port fully crusted in ice. It was a really amazing site to see. My favorite memories of such vessels was an oil carrier (can't remember the ship's name any more). My best friend and I would go to the harbor area and watch it dock. Almost every crewman recognized us, because my friend's dad owned the tavern up the hill from the harbor where they would all go. The cook was our favorite, as he would always open the porthole in the galley. He would throw us an apple or an orange, and if he didn't have anything to share he'd throw us a quarter and tell us to go buy ourselves a candy bar. One time the captain invited us aboard for a tour of the ship. That was pretty cool for a 6 year old!
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