 | |||||
|
|
The MSRA Store Click on the "Add to cart" button below to order books and DVDs. This will allow you to pay using your PayPal account. If you do not have a PayPal account, the link will assist you in creating one. The prices below include shipping and handling. Books
For Those In Peril: Shipwrecks of Ottawa County Michigan is the first book from MSRA co-director Craig Rich. The lyrics of the hymn Eternal Father Strong to Save pay homage to sailors who risk their lives in the course of everyday work and aptly express the intriguing maritime heritage of Ottawa County, Michigan, a region along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan that saw many a ship and sailor lost. The lakeshore communities of Grand Haven and Holland became thriving commercial ports in the latter half of the 19th century and bore witness to the evolutionary changes in Great Lakes transportation. Early wooden sailing vessels were replaced by wooden steamers, which soon made way for steel vessels, which grew to include today's "thousand footers." Schooners laden with lumber and stone gave way to luxury passenger steamships ferrying Chicago’s wealthy tourists to Ottawa County’s grand tourist hotels. Families were changed forever when husbands and sons were lost
to the gales of November, and fortunes were lost when vessel owners
tried to get just one more trip in before the harsh winters closed the
ports. Many of these vessels were simply overtaken by age, mechanical
failure or shifting sands. Some broke up on shore while others were
refloated to sail again. Some were left to rot at the dock while others
simply sailed over the horizon into oblivion never to be seen again.
Many now serve as “ice water museums,” attracting scuba divers,
explorers and historians to these shipwrecks that comprise an important
part of the early history of Ottawa County and the Great Lakes region as
well. ISBN:978-0-9801750-2-8 136 Pages - 55 photographs >Order with PayPal Here<
On a warm summer afternoon in 1927 off South Haven, Michigan, an aged barge began taking on water. Helpless to staunch the flow and realizing their vessel would inevitably sink, the crew escaped to the accompanying tug, and watched as their ship plunged beneath Lake Michigan. Its loss unlamented, its career unheralded, it slumbered on the sandy bottom in the same obscurity that had shrouded its earlier work days as a steam freighter sailing the Great Lakes. However, the vessel’s anonymity ended in 2006 when Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates located the sunken wreck of the Hennepin. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the world’s first self-unloading vessel. Buckets and Belts: The Evolution of Great Lakes Self-Unloaders traces over a century of innovative technological advancements in the conveying of bulk cargos from the Hennepin’s conversion to a self-unloader in 1902 to today’s mammoth thousand-foot long lakers. Enhanced with the most comprehensive collection of self-unloader images ever published and dozens of underwater photographs, the book also explores the lives of the people who designed these vessels, the crewmen who sailed them and the self-unloaders that tragically went to the bottom of the lakes, often taking entire crews with them. $24.95 + $3.00 shipping and handling (US). DVD Documentaries
New! On a violently stormy November day on Lake Michigan more than a century ago, a small schooner loaded with slabs of freshly milled lumber wallowed in the trough of the huge seas as her captain and crew struggled to keep their ship afloat and their lives intact. More than a century later, Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates attempts to identify the wreck of a small schooner off Saugatuck, Michigan. Through painstaking research and several dangerous dives to this deep site, MSRA explores not only the wreck, but the lumbering industry that sustained Michigan in its early years as a State. The journey ultimately leads to a surprising conclusion when it is realized that the schooner was swallowed by...a freshwater monsoon. $23.50 (includes S & H)
MSRA's 2007 DVD documentary "She Died A Hard Death" is the tale of the history, loss and discovery of the world's first self-unloader. "She Died a Hard Death: The Sinking of the Hennepin" explains the critical role the Hennepin played in laying the foundation for the 1,000 footers of today. The Hennepin was discovered in 2006 by MSRA off South Haven, Michigan. Her loss is told through a "newsreel" style re-enactment! $23.50 (includes S & H)
MSRA and the Joint Archives of Holland bring you a newly re-mastered DVD version of a rare documentary on the "Queen Of The Great lakes -- The S.S. South American. The "South", along with the S. S. North American and the Alabama, spent many years in Holland taking tourists on excursions throughout the Great Lakes. $23.50 (includes S & H)
MSRA's most exciting video documentary! This awesome tale includes a complete, live-action re-enactment of the final days of one of west Michigan's most famous passenger steamers. The S. S. Michigan's crew braved the elements before rescuing themselves 41 days later. This updated 2006 DVD includes exciting underwater video of the newly discovered wreck of the S. S. Michigan! $23.50 (includes S & H)
MSRA & NUMA team up to search for a DC-4 airliner lost over Lake Michigan in 1950 with the loss of 58 persons. The search for Northwest Airlines Flight 2501 led to the surprise discovery of a ship that wasn't supposed to exist -- the Great Lakes car ferry Ann Arbor no. 5. Just how this vessel ended up embedded on the bottom of Lake Michigan proved as much a mystery as the plane crash itself. Join MSRA as they solve the mystery of the Ann Arbor no. 5. $23.50 (includes S & H)
See the story of the tragic loss of Northwest Airlines Flight 2501 on 23 June 1950 and the efforts over 50 years later by Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates to locate the remains of the lost DC-4 airlines. 58 people lost their lives when Flight 2501 plunged into Lake Michigan on a stormy Friday night in 1950. Join MSRA as they team up with author and shipwreck discoverer Clive Cussler's NUMA organization to solve the mystery. $23.50 (includes S & H)
The H. C. Akeley was located in deep water n May 2001. It was the first significant shipwreck discovered by MSRA and its partners. This video tell of the search for the Chicora, which led to the discovery of the Akeley, well south of her suspected location. MSRA teams up with NOAA, the US Coast Guard and the University of Michigan to survey and document this historic shipwreck. $23.50 (includes S & H)
One of the grandest pleasure yachts ever to cruise the Great Lakes now lies at the bottom of Lake Michigan in just 50 feet of water near South Haven. Just how this play toy of the rich and famous ended up sunk with the loss of three men is a tale of intrigue and reminds viewers of a cardinal rule of boating -- always stay with your vessel until it sinks! $23.50 (includes S & H) NEW!!! MSRA has opened an online store at Cafe Press. MSRA members and others may purchase a full line of quality clothing, caps, tote bags and many other items -- all with the MSRA logo. All proceeds will go toward shipwreck discovery and documentation. MSRA is partially funded through a grant from
and by private contributions from people like you. Email the Webmaster Copyright 2003-2010 Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates |
Buckets and Belts: Evolution of the Great Lakes Self-Unloaders
