gosh, my favorite colors have been black and yellow for as long as I can remember...wonder if that influenced anything

The Bradley is sailing northeast now, having left the Wisconsin mainland by sailing along the Door Peninsula and is now racing across Lake Michigan. She has slowed to 14-15 mph, crossing into Michigan waters and soon to sail past Poverty Island.

Despite this, Captain Bryan worries for the ship - a few months ago, in a letter to a friend, he stated he knew the ship was faring badly and should not be out in heavy weather. But this storm is not particularly bad. Things should be alright.

The Bradley continues northward, along the western shore of Lake Michigan to keep out of the storm as long as possible. Yet still, the winds are nearly 60 mph,waves slamming against the ship.

Captain Roland Bryan is known for his skill as a "heavy-weather" captain. The Bradley is in good hands.

Two powerful storms are merging on the Great Lakes. Thirty tornadoes have spawned between Illinois and Texas. A foot of snow fell in the Dakotas. Two feet in Wyoming. Six inches in Tucson, Arizona. Even Nevada felt temperatures below freezing.

Winds will reach 65 mph tomorrow.

Sailors joke the ship is "held together by rust", and whenever the ship enters heavy wind, they sweep hundreds of popped rivets into buckets as the ship bends and twists.

The Bradley left Gary's port at 10 PM, two hours ago. Winds blow at 25-35 mph on southern Lake Michigan.

Now, all they need to do is get to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and to dock the ship, and they can all go home for the winter.

The Bradley is scheduled for some much-needed repairs this winter, a full replacement of her rusty bulkheads and cargo hold.

She travels back and forth along Lake Michigan-Huron, between the quarries of Calcite, Michigan, and Gary, Indiana.

Most of her crew hails from the nearby town of Rogers City, Michigan, and are excited to be home. They've just completed their last haul of the season.

Between her launching in 1927 and the launch of the Wilfred Sykes in 1949, the Carl D. Bradley was the longest ship sailing the Great Lakes - the "Queen of the Lakes". She is owned by the Michigan Limestone company, a subsidiary of US Steel, and ferries limestone to steelmaking factories.

His song made the Edmund Fitzgerald a legend along all the Great Lakes - certainly the most well-known shipwreck in the area. (I have a shirt of the Fitz, for goodness sake.)

But she is far from the only lost ship on these beautiful, dastardly inland seas.

In 2006, the Ontario government began requiring licenses to dive the Fitz, deeming it a protected site.

On May 2, 2023, the Mariners' Church rang its bell 30 times - once for each man on the Fitz, and once for Gordon Lightfoot, who had died on May Day.

Two divers actually swim down to the wreck that year, becoming the only people to touch the wreck.

That same year, an atmospheric diving suit is used to retrieve Fitz's bell, replace it with a replica, and place a beer in the pilothouse.

The bell is on display at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.