U.P. Michigan is just beautiful , Winter and Summer - Lake Effect Snow where my three favorite words for over twenty years
Visiting the museum in Whitefish Point gives you the chills , especially when you just overlook Lake Superior
I knew about the hatches from reading books
I don’t think I ever read this before about why Lightfoot actually wrote the song
"And my dad would have been very proud to know that he’s still remembered," added Debbie Champeau, Buck's daughter. She was just 17 years old when her father died.
What does Debbie think about the song from Gordon Lightfoot that details how her father died?
"At 17, I couldn’t listen to it, to be honest. And it took me a while. In fact, I was in a grocery store when they played it and I’m like, 'I think I’m out of here,'" Debbie shared.
And then she had the opportunity to meet Lightfoot.
"And I asked him, 'Why did you write the song? What was the reason? The words? Because it’s kind of eerie?'" she said. "And he said, 'I did it to bring noticeability to the fact that ships are going out un-seaworthy.' And the ship was unseaworthy. It wasn’t up to code. There were violations."
Just 10 days before the Fitz sank, it's been reported a routine inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard found hatch covers to seal the cargo hold wouldn’t close properly, which would allow water on deck to leak in. The Coast Guard's investigation into the sinking revealed a loss of buoyance, resulting from massive flooding of the cargo hold, as the most probable cause.
