The good ship and crew, was a bone to be chewed – when the gales of November came early.
These poetic words are a small part of a ballad written by Canadian Gordon Lightfoot, following the loss of a giant ore carrying boat on the Great Lakes in 1975. The ship – Sir Edmund Fitzgerald –  went into service in 1958. It was named after a Milwaukee banker, and owned by the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company at the time of the tragic loss.

In my podcast today, I will share with you the rarely discussed weather information of how a storm, with the power of an ocean hurricane, could develop and drive a 1000 foot boat 1300 plus feet below the icy waters of Lake Superior. While Lightfoot’s own rendition of the song topped the charts in both the U.S. and Canada for 13 weeks – over thirty years ago, it is Michelle Tanner‘s more recent recording we have chosen for this special informative and musical tribute.

BTW – Click here to hear Gordon Lightfoot’s own recording and see a slide show. If you are interested in still more facts about both the ship and the song’s lyrics – click here.