I grew up and still live on lake Ontario... The lakes are beautiful and are alive with many moods. Get caught in a storm, pray. God bless all who work in these majestic waters
When on a ship in a storm land=danger. That is the most stressful time for a skipper behind full blown emergencies at sea. Ships handle high seas much better than most think...in open water you remove the biggest hazard: hitting something. Be it another ship....the shore....or the bottom
I've seen the waves on lake erie. It's not pretty how fast the weather can change. I appalled these brave men and women that do this job everyday. Thank you
My brother is a Mariner. Having sailed both on the ocean and the Great Lakes he said at sea, you can sail around storms most of the time. On the lakes, you have to go through them.
Great footage Cap! I was a deck cadet then 3rd mate on the Black Bay in 1980-83. I then sailed with George Turner as 3rd, and 2nd mate on the Hon. Paul Martin from 84-87. People don't believe me when I tell them how much lakers flex in storms. I'll point them to you video,. Thanks
The wave action on the lakes can be more severe than out in the open ocean. The freshwater is less dense than the saltwater, meaning the waves come much faster and more often than they do in the ocean.
@@hans2406 The North Sea is very shallow as well so its probably why it gets that huge waves as well. If I'm not mistaken then one of the oil rigs out in the North Sea has reported waves of around 30 meters.
Even then the North Sea waves are still mostly big swells due to it being mostly open ocean, the Great Lakes don't get as high as the North Sea but they have seiches so the waves are constantly bouncing off the shorelines and hitting in high frequency and from all directions and are mostly square waves. The Lakes and North Sea are both equally dangerous for different reasons, the North Sea for wave height and rogue waves and the Great Lakes for frequency, choppiness, and unpredictability of waves. Anyone who doesn't respect one or either is going to have a very bad day on both.
I've been out an aircraft carriers where storms were pitching up 50 Footers coming in the hangar Bay. But being a Michigan man myself, I can say these ore freighters do a lot more twisting and flexing, there's definitely a good amount of pucker Factor going on in the Rough Waters LOL
The big waves out in the ocean typically have a much longer wavelength..the lakes get these steep. Sided waves and do seem to twist the heck out of the ships
Sure because the ocean waves are more spread apart and from one direction...the Great Lakes the waves come in close succession and pound you..imagine 25 ft waves hitting you from different directions every two or three seconds...and that's the difference. I'm a Michigan man myself with tons of time and experience on the lakes.
Gate crasher down below, says he cant believe this is a lake...i agree...it looks like an ocean...im from michigan and camping on lake michigan shores in grand haven mi...damn im proud to be a michigander!!!
4:40 Horrendous. Look how steep and how close together the waves are. THAT is how the great lakes get you. Sure ocean waves can be bigger...but they're much further apart and not nearly as steep relative to these. I worked on the great lakes as a younger man, and the best I ever heard it described was by an old ocean captain who frequently sailed a freighter over from Europe to ports on the Great lakes.. He always said the lakes were the nastiest weather he'd ever seen, as the steep close together waves were like "sailing straight into the teeth on a saw blade"
Duh! that's why the ore ships are designed the way they are - the shorter frequency and lower amplitude of great lakes waves makes it less likely or impossible for these cigar hulls to get bridged by a couple of waves.
@@Franklin-pc3xd hmmmm....The crew of the Fitz might argue with that...or their surviving families People forget that fresh water also is much less dense so the ships are not as buoyant and sit further down in the water
@@walterwhite1 Right. I fully understand that the oceans can be more powerful in a good number of circumstances.. If you sail into a hurricane in the Pacific or the Atlantic, you've got problems.. If you sailed into a category 5.. You're basically done for, no matter what ship you're in. The sheer power of stuff like that is beyond comparison. But I simply meant that the Great Lakes can be every bit as dangerous due to the fact that they just work so much differently from oceans. Overall, yeah they're not as powerful. But what they may lack in power compared to the oceans, they make up for in trickiness. Storms can blow up on you a lot quicker. Leaving you less time to run. There's not as much open water. The oceans are so big, with enough proper planning you can always sail around even the biggest storms. On the great lakes that's just not an option sometimes. Add to that, the fact that if you're in a big ship, there's actually very few ports where you can run for cover if it gets really nasty. And sure, the ocean can make overall much bigger waves. But apples to apples, regardless of what ship you're in. Again, the steepness and close spacing of the lake waves makes them more dangerous "pound for pound". Yeah a 100 foot wave on the ocean is worse than a 20 foot wave on the lakes.. But if you had the choice between 30 foot waves on the ocean, or 30 foot waves on the great lakes, you'd pick the ocean 30 footers. At least if every Polish, Crostian, Greek, etc Captain I've ever worked with is to be trusted. And these are guys who sailed all over the world in their careers. Pretty much every ocean, up the st Lawrence seaway, and all over the great lakes.
I've never seen a Great Lake and probably never will. They must be truly awesome based on what I've seen and read. Those Merchant Marines have my respect and my thanks.
Im not a mariner, but i love living along the great lakes. Ivr lived in milwaukee, noe detroit area, and every time i think of moving i have a hard time getting far from the lakes.
@johnmiller I hope you get to see one - I grew up near Lake Michigan in Illinois & they’re beautiful. And because I had friends in the UP & eastern Michigan, I was lucky enough to see Superior & Huron. Powerful weather for sure.
@@Kazilikaya I saw an animated model of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald that showed the bow disappearing completely under waves until it could claw its way out. The captain of the Arthur Anderson said he figured the bow got buried and the screws just kept pushing it on a downward trajectory. But who knows?
Superior gets like that every fall. If you notice the lack of sea foam created by large saltwater waves, and no other navigable freshwater body on Earth gets this rough.
Lake Erie gets really bad and scary I been on lake Erie on a 14 ft boat and went out 8 miles it was like a sheet of glass then next thing we know we're in 6 to 8 ft swells and I didn't think we was going to make it back to shore we hit a wave head on and it drove our front end down deep I thought that was it. Thank God it popped back up and we slowly worked our way back to shore even the 35 ft charter boats was closer to shore then we was.
@@gibbyrock6648 well you could always be like the 729 foot Edmund Fitzgerald on superior, taking 35ft waves in 77mph sustained winds with 100mph gusts.
Aw, just come west a few miles and park at a lakeside view. Use binoculars and you will see swells equal to those in this film because Erie is so shallow and picks up quick as gibbyrock66 writes.
We went behind the Lee of an island in that kind of sea , one ship went down , only one man lived , the other made in in but she had a cracked in the hull. We weathered it out behind that island with five other ships , rather then face whose seas.
Would love to experience a ride on one of those lakers I have worked in northern Minnesota and the UP of Michigan in the past and being from West Texas those big ships intrigued me.
@@royfairchild6895 That's not it the waves in big Freshwater "lakes" are shaped differently they are sharper then the soft ocean waves, big boats can just glide through. Freshwater lake waves are more pointed so they can crack a giant ship in half. When they get like 20 feet high. But yea similar to the ocean certain months are more harsh.
@Crusty Bunny. That maybe so. I have saltwater in my veins. Theres no way your going to tell me that those lakes can ever produce what the Mighty Ocean does.
That's some damned tall waves with a very short trough. At least on the ocean you got some distance between them. I don't know that I'd want to be stuck on any small boat in that shit at all.
That's just insane. Watching this makes me respect every man and woman who does this for a living.Theres no amount of money you could pay me to work a job in that environment.
In 26 years in the Canadian Navy, I loved it when we hit rough weather. The biggest waves were in a Pacific Typhoon with a crest to the trough of over 70 feet. All that in a 3200 ton 325-foot Destroyer Escort. Also had near the same height of waves in a Hurricane off Florida in a slightly larger destroyer.
70 Knot winds and 25 foot seas, you can't even begin to imagine what the Fitzgerald endured, just seeing this video, it's a millpond by comparison, amazing
Wow that looks like an open sea in a storm. I wouldn't have guessed it was a lake. I'm sorry I'm not from the Great Lake region, I honestly wouldn't have known.
Seems more like an ocean then a lake. I been on lake erie in a 14 ft boat and went out 8 miles like a sheet of glass then came a little wind and slight rain and next thing we know we're in 6 to 8 ft swells all I saw was walls of water all around us until we peaked up a wave to see shore. I didn't think we would make it back to shore we went down a swell and got hit by a wave that drove our front end down I thought that was it. But thank God we came back up out of it and was able to slowly work our way back to shore even the 35 ft charter boats was closer to shore then we was they wouldn't even go out that far. Scary lakes all of them
I might be wrong, and I'm no mariner, but I've read and been told that what makes the great lakes so terrible in a storm compared to ocean storms are the short period waves. Oceans roll... the great lakes "chop" some times at 28 to 30 feet. Great lakes ships are built a little differently than ocean going vessels. The "chop" from what I understand leaves a large portion of the ship's hull out of water and unsupported, and this can apparently cause ship hulls to crack and break. Ocean storm where the waves are larger, and roll, keep the ship's hull mostly in contact with the water. If anyone knows whether or not I am wrong on this, please say so. I'm just curious and base what I said on what I've read.
I've read & heard that foreign,ocean crews do not like the Great Lakes especially during storms. They are said to be worse for a variety of reasons,some of which have been stated here in the comments.
@@TheMattc999 lake superior isnt just a mere lake. Its pretty much an inland sea. Its huge, deep, and cold. Ive heard sailors and Mariners say they would rather sail in the ocean than lake superior during a storm. Definitely not just a lake you go to with the family.
can't even imagine how many wrecked boats and ships are under the great lakes! I never understood why I use to hear about the rough water in the lakes. Had no concept. And this isn't even on an open ocean or sea! UGh = would never want to be there though interesting to watch what the power water really has..
Spent almost 3 years on a small destroyer escort out of Pearl Harbor and never got seasick yet some people were sick as soon as the ship took the first bob leaving the mouth of the harbor and were sick for days if we were out that long
Thank you, Captain. As a boy my favorite book was Holling C. Holling's "Paddle to the Sea." He drew Lake Superior as a wolf's head, Huron as a trapper with furs on his back. I know Erie was drawn as a lump of coal, and I think Ontario was a...Forgot it. Some vegetable. Michigan was a cuke. 50 years later that's how I see them.
I have that book! My grandfather, Alfred Heath, was a pretty well known woodcarver in the UP and make a number of copies of the Indian and his canoe. A wonderful story.
I often hear people refer to waves or seas as being of a certain size. For example, "we were in 10 foot seas". " Does anyone know how large the seas are around 3:50?
No way to get perspective...without being able to see the sides of the ship to see how high the waves are getting on the bow...I would have to guess 8-12 ft seas with the occasional 15 but steep sided...making them act 1/3 larger than they are
Fantastic Video. Being from Buffalo, I've seen Lake Erie get really ugly. Quick question, which lake would you pick to be the worst lake to navigate in bad weather?
BBBypsi, Incorrect, Lake Erie has a little less than half the estimated ship wrecks of the Great Lakes, also keep in mind that Erie gets more than 20X the amount of ship traffic than Lake Superior does. Source: boatnerddotcom. Just for fun, go to the same web sight and use their Great Lakes ASI map, it shows where all the heavy load ships are on the lakes, be sure to use the ship type filter.
Shawn h., Highest recorded waves for each of the Great Lakes. Erie 13ft, Michigan 23ft, Huron 24ft, Ontario 25ft, Superior 29ft. While Erie is almost constantly rough because it is shallow and shifting sand bars are a constant problem, up to date charts and careful navigation help to minimize that risk. The pounding of really big waves that Superior generates will put even the most experienced captains on edge.
Depends on how far back in time. I know a Lake Erie historian I used to speak with at the Barcelona Harbor in Westfield, NY. He told me from about 1670 to 1870 there were so many lost French, British and Dutch ships on Lake Erie that confusion set in for the merchant insurers. Possibly hundreds in that 200 year span.
Amazing footage!! What a weather! Is it possible for me to use and share this footage on my youtube page? I share footage from all kind of activities on our ocean. Cargo ships in the 1960s till now, oil rigs, fishing vessels, etc. Of course full credit will be given to the owner of the footage. Looking forward to your reply. Kind regards. Cheers.
Even though they don't look as big as ocean storm waves, they have an EXCEEDINGLY short wavelength and that water is wicked cold/frigid. After 24 to 48 hours of constant hogging and sagging in those conditions it's no wonder so many ships have gone down without any mayday/distress calls. I don't even want to imagine what that must've been like. No time for lifeboats or even life-preserver's, just enough time to realize that this is it...the end.
Might get bigger waves on Michigan Superior Huron Ontario but Lake Erie is the most dangerous of them all because the waves are so close together and a lot more cross chop
Erie doesn't hold a candle to Superior, the only thing that would make Erie more dangerous is that it doesn't get the respect it deserves. Superior on the other hand, all Mariners give respect or they don't live to tell about it.
@@robertlivingston1634 Since 1950 Superior has had 18 shipwrecks. Erie has had 25. Since 1950 there have been a total of 92 shipwrecks. Erie-25 Michigan-22 Huron-19 Superior-18 Onario-8 It is believed there is 10,000 wrecks on the great lakes. Only 350 have been on Lake Superior. Lake Erie is believed to have more wrecks then all the other 4 put together.
@@BBBYpsi tugs,barges and oil screws, that have collided or cought fire can hardly be attributed to the fury of the lake. You want to see ferocious stand on the cliffs of the south shore of Superior when the north wind howls.
Most of us do sleep right through it but I will say most of the time most captains will put us on the hook is a safe spot instead of going through it. Sometimes you just get caught
I want that print of the MV Louis R Desmarais... How can I get it and where? Correction I forgot to thank you for this video,, I give it 10 stars "I need to toss my cookies"..
I have to say with the age of the fleet and how many storms they must have seen, I am surprised to see them taking these waves so head on. I'm not an engineer but I know metal fatigues.
John deneau I agree, but when you see the ones taking huge hits over the bow over and over again, or going down in between swells, that looks bad to me. This just looks rough.
Back in 76 I was on a big ore boat in 60ft swells the engines gave out I had to jump in the icy waters with nothing but a tow line in my mouth I swam near bouts 15 nautical miles with ship in tow to port the lord saw fit we survived and saved our load of silly putty! Let’s just say those orphans had a wonderful Christmas
Spooky.i sure as anything felt the ghost of the big fitz in those waters.omg.what it musta been like out there.before she went down.creepy.im from ontario.a ghostly feeling if i ever seen it.
People hear the word "lake" and associate it with benign, tranquil, sparkling warm waters, maybe taking the ol' canoe out for a leisurely paddle, etc. . . .HA! Those that don't live around the Great Lakes are shocked to learn of the insane seas these lakes churn up every single year - often more dangerous than out in an ocean. We live in a village southwest of London, and are a five minute drive from Port Glasgow on Lake Erie. We have spent many a day at the beaches here but boy, can the conditions on these waters change without warning. We have seen the lake go from smooth as a mirror to 12-14 foot waves slamming into the cliffs/escarpments along the shores within the hour, and that's in the summer time, never mind being out in the middle of these lakes with no shoreline in sight, during a November Witch. The people who sail these giant ships have nerves of steel.
They don't look like lakes they look more like seas or oceans..... I figure the waves are more frequent is because of the size of the lakes being smaller then seas or oceans and their depths fluctuating more then seas or oceans.... I been to 4 of the great lakes the only one I never been to is Huron.....
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
I grew up and still live on lake Ontario... The lakes are beautiful and are alive with many moods. Get caught in a storm, pray. God bless all who work in these majestic waters
Fascinating footage. Greatest level of respect to all that have and will serve on the lakes
I can't imagine how welcome the sight of land must be when facing seas like that.
When on a ship in a storm land=danger.
That is the most stressful time for a skipper behind full blown emergencies at sea. Ships handle high seas much better than most think...in open water you remove the biggest hazard: hitting something. Be it another ship....the shore....or the bottom
I've seen the waves on lake erie. It's not pretty how fast the weather can change. I appalled these brave men and women that do this job everyday. Thank you
Grew up on Superior and live on Lake Michigan. The personality of the lake is on display whenever she wants it to be.
My brother is a Mariner. Having sailed both on the ocean and the Great Lakes he said at sea, you can sail around storms most of the time. On the lakes, you have to go through them.
I’d not heard that before-wow, that certainly paints a picture!
Great footage Cap! I was a deck cadet then 3rd mate on the Black Bay in 1980-83. I then sailed with George Turner as 3rd, and 2nd mate on the Hon. Paul Martin from 84-87. People don't believe me when I tell them how much lakers flex in storms. I'll point them to you video,. Thanks
The wave action on the lakes can be more severe than out in the open ocean. The freshwater is less dense than the saltwater, meaning the waves come much faster and more often than they do in the ocean.
Wow thank you for this.
Ever saw the waves in the North Sea?
It might be sewere waves on the lake but is nothing compare to waves in the northern sees
@@hans2406 The North Sea is very shallow as well so its probably why it gets that huge waves as well. If I'm not mistaken then one of the oil rigs out in the North Sea has reported waves of around 30 meters.
Even then the North Sea waves are still mostly big swells due to it being mostly open ocean, the Great Lakes don't get as high as the North Sea but they have seiches so the waves are constantly bouncing off the shorelines and hitting in high frequency and from all directions and are mostly square waves. The Lakes and North Sea are both equally dangerous for different reasons, the North Sea for wave height and rogue waves and the Great Lakes for frequency, choppiness, and unpredictability of waves. Anyone who doesn't respect one or either is going to have a very bad day on both.
The Great Lakes are a powerful beast
"The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee,"
Wow, never heard that one before.
The lake it is said never gives up her dead when gales of November come early.
With a load of iron ore 26,000 tons more than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
So hard to believe it's a lake.
I've been out an aircraft carriers where storms were pitching up 50 Footers coming in the hangar Bay. But being a Michigan man myself, I can say these ore freighters do a lot more twisting and flexing, there's definitely a good amount of pucker Factor going on in the Rough Waters LOL
They do flex, fore to aft. We have steel fatigue tables to calculate the number of flexes effecting yield and ultimate tensile values
The big waves out in the ocean typically have a much longer wavelength..the lakes get these steep. Sided waves and do seem to twist the heck out of the ships
Sure because the ocean waves are more spread apart and from one direction...the Great Lakes the waves come in close succession and pound you..imagine 25 ft waves hitting you from different directions every two or three seconds...and that's the difference.
I'm a Michigan man myself with tons of time and experience on the lakes.
If the maintenance on The Fitz had been done regularly like the Arthur M Anderson, she probably would have survived.
The whistle in the background, nice touch 👌
Gate crasher down below, says he cant believe this is a lake...i agree...it looks like an ocean...im from michigan and camping on lake michigan shores in grand haven mi...damn im proud to be a michigander!!!
You and me both brother! I just north of Monroe, MI. Right on old Lake Erie. Now there’s a lake that can get mean in a hurry😳
4:40 Horrendous. Look how steep and how close together the waves are. THAT is how the great lakes get you. Sure ocean waves can be bigger...but they're much further apart and not nearly as steep relative to these. I worked on the great lakes as a younger man, and the best I ever heard it described was by an old ocean captain who frequently sailed a freighter over from Europe to ports on the Great lakes.. He always said the lakes were the nastiest weather he'd ever seen, as the steep close together waves were like "sailing straight into the teeth on a saw blade"
Duh! that's why the ore ships are designed the way they are - the shorter frequency and lower amplitude of great lakes waves makes it less likely or impossible for these cigar hulls to get bridged by a couple of waves.
@@Franklin-pc3xd hmmmm....The crew of the Fitz might argue with that...or their surviving families
People forget that fresh water also is much less dense so the ships are not as buoyant and sit further down in the water
@@norml.hugh-mann - all the more to reduce the likelihood and/or magnitude of bridging versus seawater.
hahaha NO way man.. NOTHING IN THE WORLD BEATS THE WRATH OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 🌊 DUDE
@@walterwhite1 Right. I fully understand that the oceans can be more powerful in a good number of circumstances.. If you sail into a hurricane in the Pacific or the Atlantic, you've got problems.. If you sailed into a category 5.. You're basically done for, no matter what ship you're in. The sheer power of stuff like that is beyond comparison. But I simply meant that the Great Lakes can be every bit as dangerous due to the fact that they just work so much differently from oceans. Overall, yeah they're not as powerful. But what they may lack in power compared to the oceans, they make up for in trickiness. Storms can blow up on you a lot quicker. Leaving you less time to run. There's not as much open water. The oceans are so big, with enough proper planning you can always sail around even the biggest storms. On the great lakes that's just not an option sometimes. Add to that, the fact that if you're in a big ship, there's actually very few ports where you can run for cover if it gets really nasty. And sure, the ocean can make overall much bigger waves. But apples to apples, regardless of what ship you're in. Again, the steepness and close spacing of the lake waves makes them more dangerous "pound for pound". Yeah a 100 foot wave on the ocean is worse than a 20 foot wave on the lakes.. But if you had the choice between 30 foot waves on the ocean, or 30 foot waves on the great lakes, you'd pick the ocean 30 footers. At least if every Polish, Crostian, Greek, etc Captain I've ever worked with is to be trusted. And these are guys who sailed all over the world in their careers. Pretty much every ocean, up the st Lawrence seaway, and all over the great lakes.
wow uhmazin footage, hats off to these people working.
Sometimes I think calling the Great Lakes “lakes” is rather like calling the Grand Canyon a ditch.
I love to see lake has such kind of wave 👋
I've never seen a Great Lake and probably never will. They must be truly awesome based on what I've seen and read. Those Merchant Marines have my respect and my thanks.
I live right on the shore of northern lake Huron. All our great lakes, as well as the rest of the state of Michigan is a must see
Im not a mariner, but i love living along the great lakes. Ivr lived in milwaukee, noe detroit area, and every time i think of moving i have a hard time getting far from the lakes.
@johnmiller I hope you get to see one - I grew up near Lake Michigan in Illinois & they’re beautiful. And because I had friends in the UP & eastern Michigan, I was lucky enough to see Superior & Huron. Powerful weather for sure.
You have to be one hell of a Captain to endure Nov.on the lakes.
And every man knew, as the captain did too, twas the Witch Of November come stealin'!
Eric Morang could it be the North wind they'd been feelin...
Does any man know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
@@myadorablefosters The searchers all say she'd had made Whitefish Bay if she'd put 15 more miles behind her!
Just imagine what the Fitzgerald crew seen out of their wheelhouse 😟
This is what they saw that fateful morning….by dusk it was FAR worse
@@Kazilikaya I saw an animated model of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald that showed the bow disappearing completely under waves until it could claw its way out. The captain of the Arthur Anderson said he figured the bow got buried and the screws just kept pushing it on a downward trajectory. But who knows?
just thing what they saw on the storm of 1913, dude 90 mph+ winds and 50 foot high waves? this is pussy shit compared to that.
I suspect the Fitzgerald ground out or took on water in some other way. I don't think she was sunk by the waves alone.
May she always Rest In Peace
I live in Cleveland and I cannot imagine big waves in these lakes!!
Superior gets like that every fall. If you notice the lack of sea foam created by large saltwater waves, and no other navigable freshwater body on Earth gets this rough.
Lake Erie gets really bad and scary I been on lake Erie on a 14 ft boat and went out 8 miles it was like a sheet of glass then next thing we know we're in 6 to 8 ft swells and I didn't think we was going to make it back to shore we hit a wave head on and it drove our front end down deep I thought that was it. Thank God it popped back up and we slowly worked our way back to shore even the 35 ft charter boats was closer to shore then we was.
@@gibbyrock6648 well you could always be like the 729 foot Edmund Fitzgerald on superior, taking 35ft waves in 77mph sustained winds with 100mph gusts.
Aw, just come west a few miles and park at a lakeside view. Use binoculars and you will see swells equal to those in this film because Erie is so shallow and picks up quick as gibbyrock66 writes.
The Great Lake a force to be reckoned with 💙
We went behind the Lee of an island in that kind of sea , one ship went down , only one man lived , the other made in in but she had a cracked in the hull.
We weathered it out behind that island with five other ships , rather then face whose seas.
Would love to experience a ride on one of those lakers I have worked in northern Minnesota and the UP of Michigan in the past and being from West Texas those big ships intrigued me.
People don’t understand the Great Lakes can be more challenging than the oceans
@mdo686 They are hell disguised as a lake.
Maybe just as powering in certain months. More water×stronger weather=OCEANS ARE BIGGER
@@royfairchild6895 That's not it the waves in big Freshwater "lakes" are shaped differently they are sharper then the soft ocean waves, big boats can just glide through. Freshwater lake waves are more pointed so they can crack a giant ship in half. When they get like 20 feet high. But yea similar to the ocean certain months are more harsh.
@Crusty Bunny. That maybe so. I have saltwater in my veins. Theres no way your going to tell me that those lakes can ever produce what the Mighty Ocean does.
That makes since, Because the Gulf isn't as open as the Atlantic the waves are way more choppy.
There are some videos showing even larger seas than these, but these pictures are of waves that are more massive than than they appear here.
That's some damned tall waves with a very short trough. At least on the ocean you got some distance between them. I don't know that I'd want to be stuck on any small boat in that shit at all.
Awesome Video. Love the documentation of this.
It sounds unbelievable that over 200 ships have sunk in Superior, a lake. It's really a landlocked ocean!
200? Triple,quadruple that amount of ships on Superior alone.
@@shirleybalinski4535 Right. Not triple, but 350 on Superior.
That's just insane. Watching this makes me respect every man and woman who does this for a living.Theres no amount of money you could pay me to work a job in that environment.
In 26 years in the Canadian Navy, I loved it when we hit rough weather. The biggest waves were in a Pacific Typhoon with a crest to the trough of over 70 feet. All that in a 3200 ton 325-foot Destroyer Escort. Also had near the same height of waves in a Hurricane off Florida in a slightly larger destroyer.
70 Knot winds and 25 foot seas, you can't even begin to imagine what the Fitzgerald endured, just seeing this video, it's a millpond by comparison, amazing
Why in the hell would they send a ship out in these conditions ? Answer greed ! These companies care about one thing profits !
Maybe the cheapskate desing
@@douglaslett7504 most times sir they don't. More so than not it will start out calm and get stormy later.
Geez Louise, I could hear the metal creaking at times. These guys must have nerves of steel.
Louise gets blamed for everything.
"The lake it is said, never gives up her dead, when the skies of November turn gloomy"-Gordon Lightfoot
Pretty music!
Wow that looks like an open sea in a storm. I wouldn't have guessed it was a lake. I'm sorry I'm not from the Great Lake region, I honestly wouldn't have known.
I'm a newbe to these videos but I would say those are some heavy seas! Stay safe out there!
This ship is now the CSL Laurentian.
It's hard to believe this is a lake
Funny thing is, its almost not even a lake, it's a trap
Seems more like an ocean then a lake. I been on lake erie in a 14 ft boat and went out 8 miles like a sheet of glass then came a little wind and slight rain and next thing we know we're in 6 to 8 ft swells all I saw was walls of water all around us until we peaked up a wave to see shore. I didn't think we would make it back to shore we went down a swell and got hit by a wave that drove our front end down I thought that was it. But thank God we came back up out of it and was able to slowly work our way back to shore even the 35 ft charter boats was closer to shore then we was they wouldn't even go out that far. Scary lakes all of them
freshwater seas*
GateCrasher I was thinking the exact same thing.
I might be wrong, and I'm no mariner, but I've read and been told that what makes the great lakes so terrible in a storm compared to ocean storms are the short period waves. Oceans roll... the great lakes "chop" some times at 28 to 30 feet. Great lakes ships are built a little differently than ocean going vessels. The "chop" from what I understand leaves a large portion of the ship's hull out of water and unsupported, and this can apparently cause ship hulls to crack and break. Ocean storm where the waves are larger, and roll, keep the ship's hull mostly in contact with the water.
If anyone knows whether or not I am wrong on this, please say so. I'm just curious and base what I said on what I've read.
You are 100% correct.
Imagine the feeling being on deck for some of these...ah...memories....glad I'm in bed now.
@@1USACitizen192 You are correct ,I was there 1000 plus times
Excellent 👍
Even on Georgian Bay the storms could get rough and waves would go over the marina dock and swamp boats
the great lakes of Canada & the U.S. had many ships from the 1800's to the 2020's
I've read & heard that foreign,ocean crews do not like the Great Lakes especially during storms. They are said to be worse for a variety of reasons,some of which have been stated here in the comments.
Wow I actually thought a ship of that size wouldn’t get thrown around that much in storms.
AJT0420 especially not on a damn lake.....
These ships are a leaf in the wind compared to the sure size and power of the great lakes trust me i seen them all.
@@TheMattc999 lake superior isnt just a mere lake. Its pretty much an inland sea. Its huge, deep, and cold. Ive heard sailors and Mariners say they would rather sail in the ocean than lake superior during a storm. Definitely not just a lake you go to with the family.
@@unknowntrademark9992 yes.
Look up the White Hurricane. The great lakes have storms so violent in November if it was an ocean they would be cashed a hurricane
can't even imagine how many wrecked boats and ships are under the great lakes! I never understood why I use to hear about the rough water in the lakes. Had no concept. And this isn't even on an open ocean or sea! UGh = would never want to be there though interesting to watch what the power water really has..
I enjoyed your video, Captain. How difficult was it to maintain position during the worst of it?
I work on these I'm on one as I type this it get very intense they are made to flex. You can watch it from one end to the other .
Is the boat even moving...
Awesome
Can you water ski behind these boats
🤣🤣🤣
Feel free.
I turn the volume down and listen to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald while watching.
I love watching these videos every fall my sister and i go to Duluth to watch the ore ships come in. How do you guys prevent sea sickness?
I always wonder the same thing. Was in the USMC and on several ships....I was sick every time.
@@crocodile1313 I personally just got used to it
Spent almost 3 years on a small destroyer escort out of Pearl Harbor and never got seasick yet some people were sick as soon as the ship took the first bob leaving the mouth of the harbor and were sick for days if we were out that long
Gravol a day keeps seasickness away
@@billyboots3730 never got seasick even aboard my ship in the Navy
Am I seeing things?or can I see slight vertical movements of the hull just aft of that breakwall in the bow
Hiw do the 80 year old boats take the abuse isnt the metal weak by then?
damn nature, you scary.
Happy to subscribe; love the video🥰
Thank you, Captain.
As a boy my favorite book was Holling C. Holling's "Paddle to the Sea." He drew Lake Superior as a wolf's head, Huron as a trapper with furs on his back. I know Erie was drawn as a lump of coal, and I think Ontario was a...Forgot it. Some vegetable. Michigan was a cuke.
50 years later that's how I see them.
I have that book! My grandfather, Alfred Heath, was a pretty well known woodcarver in the UP and make a number of copies of the Indian and his canoe. A wonderful story.
My big brother sailed the lakes on these ships. He bought me the same book and I loved it
I heard Lake Ontario doesn't freeze over due to its depth.
no Lake Michigan?
I often hear people refer to waves or seas as being of a certain size. For example, "we were in 10 foot seas". "
Does anyone know how large the seas are around 3:50?
No way to get perspective...without being able to see the sides of the ship to see how high the waves are getting on the bow...I would have to guess 8-12 ft seas with the occasional 15 but steep sided...making them act 1/3 larger than they are
I was just wondering what was the name of the song in beginning of the video.
What month is that?
Video doesn't do it justice. Been there and it's greasy.
Yeah I bet. Some people will never realise this.
I love the trailer park boys reference.
Fantastic Video. Being from Buffalo, I've seen Lake Erie get really ugly. Quick question, which lake would you pick to be the worst lake to navigate in bad weather?
shawn h. superior without a doubt.
Yet more ship wrecks on Lake erie then all the other great lakes combined.
BBBypsi, Incorrect, Lake Erie has a little less than half the estimated ship wrecks of the Great Lakes, also keep in mind that Erie gets more than 20X the amount of ship traffic than Lake Superior does. Source: boatnerddotcom. Just for fun, go to the same web sight and use their Great Lakes ASI map, it shows where all the heavy load ships are on the lakes, be sure to use the ship type filter.
Shawn h., Highest recorded waves for each of the Great Lakes. Erie 13ft, Michigan 23ft, Huron 24ft, Ontario 25ft, Superior 29ft. While Erie is almost constantly rough because it is shallow and shifting sand bars are a constant problem, up to date charts and careful navigation help to minimize that risk. The pounding of really big waves that Superior generates will put even the most experienced captains on edge.
Depends on how far back in time. I know a Lake Erie historian I used to speak with at the Barcelona Harbor in Westfield, NY. He told me from about 1670 to 1870 there were so many lost French, British and Dutch ships on Lake Erie that confusion set in for the merchant insurers. Possibly hundreds in that 200 year span.
I thought they anchor in harbor if it gets bad out?
Lake Superior alone is over 30,000 area mi. Rogue storm comes up - harbor not an option.
Got my twic getting mmc this month how much pay you think ill get each month? Greenhorn
Amazing footage!! What a weather! Is it possible for me to use and share this footage on my youtube page? I share footage from all kind of activities on our ocean. Cargo ships in the 1960s till now, oil rigs, fishing vessels, etc. Of course full credit will be given to the owner of the footage. Looking forward to your reply. Kind regards. Cheers.
Even though they don't look as big as ocean storm waves, they have an EXCEEDINGLY short wavelength and that water is wicked cold/frigid. After 24 to 48 hours of constant hogging and sagging in those conditions it's no wonder so many ships have gone down without any mayday/distress calls. I don't even want to imagine what that must've been like. No time for lifeboats or even life-preserver's, just enough time to realize that this is it...the end.
Might get bigger waves on Michigan Superior Huron Ontario but Lake Erie is the most dangerous of them all because the waves are so close together and a lot more cross chop
Erie doesn't hold a candle to Superior, the only thing that would make Erie more dangerous is that it doesn't get the respect it deserves. Superior on the other hand, all Mariners give respect or they don't live to tell about it.
@@robertlivingston1634 Since 1950 Superior has had 18 shipwrecks. Erie has had 25. Since 1950 there have been a total of 92 shipwrecks.
Erie-25
Michigan-22
Huron-19
Superior-18
Onario-8
It is believed there is 10,000 wrecks on the great lakes. Only 350 have been on Lake Superior. Lake Erie is believed to have more wrecks then all the other 4 put together.
@@BBBYpsi tugs,barges and oil screws, that have collided or cought fire can hardly be attributed to the fury of the lake. You want to see ferocious stand on the cliffs of the south shore of Superior when the north wind howls.
@@robertlivingston1634 I have seen it I've lived in Michigan my whole life since 1960
@@BBBYpsi we have something in common, Michigan since 1960
Does anyone know where the love of God goes,
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
I live on the northern shore of lake huron
Blog it
Same here. Whereabouts
Meanwhile sailors are like ”best sleep ever”
Most of us do sleep right through it but I will say most of the time most captains will put us on the hook is a safe spot instead of going through it. Sometimes you just get caught
At least it wasn't November, or November in 1913.
Just throwing this out there but there were two Edmund Fitzgerald’s. The first one was a schooner that went down and the more famous “Big Fitz”
Surfs up. In surfcity superior
I think that b hurricane
Damn that looks like fun! Can someone please get me a ride?
It just occurred to me that it's November.
I hope you crew makes 6 figures
I want that print of the MV Louis R Desmarais... How can I get it and where? Correction I forgot to thank you for this video,, I give it 10 stars "I need to toss my cookies"..
With vinaigrette?
i would contact Canada Steamship Lines ,Montreal Quebec Canada ...I am a former seafarer on these ships.22 years of it .Hope the info helps
Is this hare on the Oceen or the Rivar?
I have to say with the age of the fleet and how many storms they must have seen, I am surprised to see them taking these waves so head on. I'm not an engineer but I know metal fatigues.
The ore boats are designed to flex. There are carbon steel fatigue cycle charts available.
It doesn’t look that bad. Maybe because of the size of the ship... It is amazing that isn’t the open ocean though.
I mean the ships sides are like 20ft above the water and the front is usually higher than that and it was taking waves over both.
John deneau I agree, but when you see the ones taking huge hits over the bow over and over again, or going down in between swells, that looks bad to me. This just looks rough.
@Bass Man Maybe, but I’m no sailor. I was just saying comparatively, it didn’t seem that bad.
Back in 76 I was on a big ore boat in 60ft swells the engines gave out I had to jump in the icy waters with nothing but a tow line in my mouth I swam near bouts 15 nautical miles with ship in tow to port the lord saw fit we survived and saved our load of silly putty! Let’s just say those orphans had a wonderful Christmas
you nut. lol pretty funny
Spooky.i sure as anything felt the ghost of the big fitz in those waters.omg.what it musta been like out there.before she went down.creepy.im from ontario.a ghostly feeling if i ever seen it.
Every time I hear that song I try to imagine what it was like for those guys just before they went under.
Pants loading is 3... 2...
People hear the word "lake" and associate it with benign, tranquil, sparkling warm waters, maybe taking the ol' canoe out for a leisurely paddle, etc. . . .HA! Those that don't live around the Great Lakes are shocked to learn of the insane seas these lakes churn up every single year - often more dangerous than out in an ocean. We live in a village southwest of London, and are a five minute drive from Port Glasgow on Lake Erie. We have spent many a day at the beaches here but boy, can the conditions on these waters change without warning. We have seen the lake go from smooth as a mirror to 12-14 foot waves slamming into the cliffs/escarpments along the shores within the hour, and that's in the summer time, never mind being out in the middle of these lakes with no shoreline in sight, during a November Witch. The people who sail these giant ships have nerves of steel.
If these conditions are worse than oceans , why don't they design these freighters more like ships than big bathtubs? It seems a bit strange.
Because like ocean going ship, they have restrictions for their own set of locks (especially Soo lock).
I had no idea the Great Lakes got that shitty
That would be terrifying.
She's big
Are they still hauling Ore or is this old footage?
👍👊👊
Fi were on this ship I would prolly be wearing diapers, but that's just me.
👍
They don't look like lakes they look more like seas or oceans..... I figure the waves are more frequent is because of the size of the lakes being smaller then seas or oceans and their depths fluctuating more then seas or oceans.... I been to 4 of the great lakes the only one I never been to is Huron.....
Wow
I stopped watching from the anxiety this caused.
Why not just build a factory and make whatever the hell it is that this ship is carrying?Cheaper?no deaths??
That boat looks like the Edmond Fitzgerald.
Sammy ? Not even close.
The Fitz wasn't a self on loader and her Pilot House was at the bow of the ship
@@firstnamebunchofnumbers Doesn't matter.