50 Years since the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and how it influenced my own life

Brian Zinchuk

Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online

By Greenmars, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=106988525

Fifty years ago on Nov. 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald split in two and sunk in the eastern end of Lake Superior. Gordon Lightfoot’s famous song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” has been a haunting tale ever since.

I once asked my late stepfather, Brad Stroud, what he thought of the song. You see, as a young man around 19-21, he spent two seasons working on a tugboat based in Churchill. Since the tiny tugboat had to spend the winters on the east coast, he sailed with it to Halifax or Newfoundland (I can’t remember which) for its annual layup. That meant a trip around the entirety of Quebec, Labrador and Newfoundland, in November or December, a distance roughly the same as Newfoundland to Ireland, in conditions that at times would have likely mirrored what the SS Edmund Fitzgerald endured.

He was likely on that tugboat when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank.

The stern said “Winnipeg,” although that city touches no ocean. It had two 342 horsepower Cummins diesels, and was 65 feet long and 19 feet wide. That’s a really small boat to sail on a really big ocean.

With regards to the song, Brad said there was one piece in particular he indentified with, where Lightfoot sang:

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck,
Saying “Fellas, it’s too rough to feed ya.”

Brad said he knew what that was like. After two years, he had had enough of being a tugboat hand. I can’t imagine it, being on such a tiny boat (a fraction the size of the Edmund Fitgerald) while sailing off the coast of Labrador in December. He ended up in the oil industry instead, and that’s what led me into the same business.

SS Edmund Fitzgerald sailed from Superior, Wisconsin, on Nov. 9, 1975. Those in the oilpatch in the know might glom onto the fact that Superior was the original terminus of the Interprovincial Pipe Line, which later became known as the Enbridge Mainline. The reason it was built from Edmonton to Superior is that Superior is the westernmost port on the Great Lakes, meaning it was the first place you could load Canadian oil onto a tanker. Initially Canadian oil was shipped by tanker, on the Great Lakes, until the pipeline system was built through Michigan. That includes the now-embattled Line 5, which transits the Straits of Mackinac.

If it had made it to its destination of Zug Island, part of Ford’s massive Detroit complex, its load of taconite (a form of iron ore) would have been made into cars and trucks.

Here are some videos in commemoration of the SS Emund Fitzgerald.

• 0104 SaskPower SASPO-2907 Hero Video_30sec
  0104 SaskPower SASPO-2907 Hero Video_30sec
• 0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended
  0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended
• 0101 VP Energy Road to adventure
  0101 VP Energy Road to adventure
• 0100 Turnbull Project Manager
  0100 Turnbull Project Manager
• 0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p
  0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p
• 0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD
  0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD
• 0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
  0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
• 0092 Turnbull projects big and small
  0092 Turnbull projects big and small
• 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
  0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
• 0087 Lori Carr Coal Expansion
  0087 Lori Carr Coal Expansion
• 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
  0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
• 0076 Latus only
  0076 Latus only
• 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
  0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
• 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
  0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
• 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
  0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
• 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
  0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
• 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
• 0022 Grimes winter hiring
• 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
• 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
• 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
• 0002 gilliss casing services
  0002 gilliss casing services
• 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
  9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
• 9001

• 0104 SaskPower SASPO-2907 Hero Video_30sec
  0104 SaskPower SASPO-2907 Hero Video_30sec
• 0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended
  0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended
• 0101 VP Energy Road to adventure
  0101 VP Energy Road to adventure
• 0100 Turnbull Project Manager
  0100 Turnbull Project Manager
• 0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p
  0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p
• 0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD
  0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD
• 0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
  0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
• 0092 Turnbull projects big and small
  0092 Turnbull projects big and small
• 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
  0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
• 0087 Lori Carr Coal Expansion
  0087 Lori Carr Coal Expansion
• 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
  0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
• 0076 Latus only
  0076 Latus only
• 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
  0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
• 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
  0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
• 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
  0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
• 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
  0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
• 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
• 0022 Grimes winter hiring
• 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
• 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
• 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
• 0002 gilliss casing services
  0002 gilliss casing services
• 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
  9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
• 9001

• 0104 SaskPower SASPO-2907 Hero Video_30sec
  0104 SaskPower SASPO-2907 Hero Video_30sec
• 0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended
  0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended
• 0101 VP Energy Road to adventure
  0101 VP Energy Road to adventure
• 0100 Turnbull Project Manager
  0100 Turnbull Project Manager
• 0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p
  0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p
• 0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD
  0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD
• 0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
  0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
• 0092 Turnbull projects big and small
  0092 Turnbull projects big and small
• 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
  0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
• 0087 Lori Carr Coal Expansion
  0087 Lori Carr Coal Expansion
• 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
  0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
• 0076 Latus only
  0076 Latus only
• 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
  0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
• 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
  0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
• 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
  0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
• 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
  0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
• 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
• 0022 Grimes winter hiring
• 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
• 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
• 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
• 0002 gilliss casing services
  0002 gilliss casing services
• 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
  9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
• 9001

• 0104 SaskPower SASPO-2907 Hero Video_30sec
  0104 SaskPower SASPO-2907 Hero Video_30sec
• 0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended
  0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended
• 0101 VP Energy Road to adventure
  0101 VP Energy Road to adventure
• 0100 Turnbull Project Manager
  0100 Turnbull Project Manager
• 0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p
  0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p
• 0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD
  0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD
• 0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
  0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
• 0092 Turnbull projects big and small
  0092 Turnbull projects big and small
• 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
  0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
• 0087 Lori Carr Coal Expansion
  0087 Lori Carr Coal Expansion
• 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
  0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
• 0076 Latus only
  0076 Latus only
• 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
  0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
• 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
  0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
• 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
  0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
• 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
  0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
• 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
• 0022 Grimes winter hiring
• 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
• 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
• 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
• 0002 gilliss casing services
  0002 gilliss casing services
• 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
  9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
• 9001

• 0104 SaskPower SASPO-2907 Hero Video_30sec
  0104 SaskPower SASPO-2907 Hero Video_30sec
• 0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended
  0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended
• 0101 VP Energy Road to adventure
  0101 VP Energy Road to adventure
• 0100 Turnbull Project Manager
  0100 Turnbull Project Manager
• 0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p
  0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p
• 0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD
  0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD
• 0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
  0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
• 0092 Turnbull projects big and small
  0092 Turnbull projects big and small
• 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
  0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
• 0087 Lori Carr Coal Expansion
  0087 Lori Carr Coal Expansion
• 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
  0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
• 0076 Latus only
  0076 Latus only
• 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
  0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
• 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
  0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
• 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
  0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
• 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
  0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
• 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
• 0022 Grimes winter hiring
• 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
• 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
• 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
• 0002 gilliss casing services
  0002 gilliss casing services
• 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
  9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
• 9001