Well the weather was not the most friendly but we made the drive from Alpena to the show in two hours and fifty five minutes. Joe, Karen and I picked Daryl up in East Tawas on our way through. It only took us a few minutes to get the Thunder Bay Underwater Preserve display set up. The format of the event kept us traveling between two separate facilities. The Longway Planetarium and the Sloan museum.
The first presentation was Icebound Found! The ordeal of the SS Michigan presented by Valarie VanHeest. It was a very nice presentation telling the story of how the Michigan became stuck in the ice and how Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates found it with the help of Dave Trotter.
Chris Kohl and Joan Forsberg presented Shipwreck Tales of the Great Lakes. This presentation was very educational with the telling of many historic wrecks throughout the great lakes. Two wrecks were raised and placed on shore for display and they both ended up in landfills. The story of the famed convict ship Success that ended up being a wreck of the Great Lakes.
Ric Mixter was there with several presentations. One was Cutter Rescue, where he followed the history of several Coast Guard cutters with ties to the Great Lakes. The other was on Great Lakes treasure hunting, which included the Poverty Island story.
And of course Dave Trotter who presented at two sessions where he sung the praises of other fellow Great Lakes Treasure Hunters and covered a myriad of his discoveries including the biplanes that his team found in Lake Huron off Oscoda. He also revealed for the first time the name of a Schooner that he discovered this last summer South East of Alpena. He believes it to be the John Rice but more research is necessary to confirm it.
One interesting bit of information came from a little elderly gentleman that was in attendance. He had served as third mate on the Edmond Fitzgerald prior to its sinking. He has a book that is currently being printed that is contradictory to the recent popular explanation to the boats sinking. I am sworn to secrecy so you all will have to wait for the book. I would love to hear reviews from any welders or metallurgist as to their opinions of his book.
The museum did a wonderful job in putting this event together. They were the perfect host in keeping everyone informed of the schedule and kept attendees well fed with drinks and snacks along with a catered dinner! A whole day for only $17 admission.
Unfortunately, dont look for another one of these events next year. This day was put on to coincide with a traveling exhibit on Treasures. This weekend was on under water treasures. In two weeks it will be on metal detecting and rock hounding. Then it will be a type of antiques road show event.
After a long day and a lot of miles, we made it back to Alpena by 10:30 pm. A day well spent!!!
Jeff
