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Nitro Joe · 08-09-2007, 09:57 PM

here is another article. It is very thorough on what has happened and who has said what thus far.
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/busin...ess&thispage=1

Family finds life ring that could be from Edmund Fitzgerald
8/8/2007, 3:33 p.m. EDT
By JEFF KAROUB
The Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — An apple farmer and his family believe they've found a life ring from the Edmund Fitzgerald roughly 200 miles away from where the famed ship sank in Lake Superior 32 years ago.

No definitive tests had yet been conducted to prove it's a piece of the ore carrier that sunk in a vicious storm, killing 29 men off the northern shore of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. But the director of a shipwreck museum says it matches in many ways another ring in its Fitzgerald collection.

"I saw it, photographed it and ... compared the two," said Tom Farnquist, executive director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, which owns the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, the nearest spot on land to the ship's gravesite 17 miles northwest. "It's identical in size and configuration. ... Is it possible? Certainly it is."

The orange preserver is worn by the elements and mice or other critters chewing on it. But it reads "Edmund Fitzgerald" in faded but mostly legible white letters.

Joe Rasch, a farmer from Conklin, about 15 miles northwest of Grand Rapids, said he was vacationing with his family last week in the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan's far north. Hunting for agates and other rocks along a remote beach, he saw an overturned tree where the beach meets the forest.

Hoping to find some stones underneath, he instead spotted the life ring nearby. He rolled it down to his daughters, who noticed the writing. Knowing well what it could mean, they took it to the museum.

Still, there are a few differences between the discovered ring and the one on display. The one Rasch found has no "S.S." before "Edmund Fitzgerald," as the museum's ring does. And the newly found ring reads "Duluth" on its back side. It's puzzling, Farnquist said, but not without a plausible explanation: The Milwaukee-based ship spent its winters in Duluth, Minn.

Of course, there are skeptics to such discoveries — especially when it's so far from the Fitzgerald's grave site and so many years later. It also adds to a story that is the stuff of Great Lakes legend — spawning a well-known song by Gordon Lightfoot, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," and decades of debate as to the circumstances of its sinking.

"I am smelling a rat," Frederick Stonehouse, maritime historian and author of a book on the wreck, told The Daily Mining Gazette of Houghton. "It's probably a hoax."

He said he finds it hard to believe that someone could find a life ring laying out in the open 30 years later. Anything is possible, but he would not accept it as legitimate until it's properly examined.

Rasch said Wednesday he doesn't believe it's a hoax, nor did he consider it "out in the open" — finding it as he did off an already off-the-beaten path.

Rasch said he offered to leave the ring at the museum, but Farnquist said he encouraged him to take it home and cherish it. They agreed Rasch will return it in time for the museum's annual memorial service marking the anniversary of the sinking in November.

"There's a million questions. ... The ring isn't talking, so we don't know," Rasch said.

"I have no reason to doubt. If anybody wanted to pull a hoax, they would have put it where somebody would find it."

Farnquist believes the time delay and distance from the wreck shouldn't dash hopes it's legitimate. Winds change often on the unpredictable lake, he said, and it's not uncommon to find debris a couple hundred miles from where ships sink.

On the emotional side, he knows it would be significant for people who lost loved ones in the wreck. He said he already has heard from two women who were "quite moved and excited about the possibility" that the ring is from the ship.

"Of the 6,000 ships ... lost on the Great Lakes, the Fitzgerald is the Holy Grail of all the shipwrecks," Farnquist said.

"It's an incredible story. Everyone hopes that it's the real thing. But only time will tell and the evidence will need to be acquired."

08-09-2007, 09:57 PM	#4
Nitro Joe Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Wilkie, Saskatchewan Posts: 12	here is another article. It is very thorough on what has happened and who has said what thus far. http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/busin...ess&thispage=1 Family finds life ring that could be from Edmund Fitzgerald 8/8/2007, 3:33 p.m. EDT By JEFF KAROUB The Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — An apple farmer and his family believe they've found a life ring from the Edmund Fitzgerald roughly 200 miles away from where the famed ship sank in Lake Superior 32 years ago. No definitive tests had yet been conducted to prove it's a piece of the ore carrier that sunk in a vicious storm, killing 29 men off the northern shore of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. But the director of a shipwreck museum says it matches in many ways another ring in its Fitzgerald collection. "I saw it, photographed it and ... compared the two," said Tom Farnquist, executive director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, which owns the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, the nearest spot on land to the ship's gravesite 17 miles northwest. "It's identical in size and configuration. ... Is it possible? Certainly it is." The orange preserver is worn by the elements and mice or other critters chewing on it. But it reads "Edmund Fitzgerald" in faded but mostly legible white letters. Joe Rasch, a farmer from Conklin, about 15 miles northwest of Grand Rapids, said he was vacationing with his family last week in the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan's far north. Hunting for agates and other rocks along a remote beach, he saw an overturned tree where the beach meets the forest. Hoping to find some stones underneath, he instead spotted the life ring nearby. He rolled it down to his daughters, who noticed the writing. Knowing well what it could mean, they took it to the museum. Still, there are a few differences between the discovered ring and the one on display. The one Rasch found has no "S.S." before "Edmund Fitzgerald," as the museum's ring does. And the newly found ring reads "Duluth" on its back side. It's puzzling, Farnquist said, but not without a plausible explanation: The Milwaukee-based ship spent its winters in Duluth, Minn. Of course, there are skeptics to such discoveries — especially when it's so far from the Fitzgerald's grave site and so many years later. It also adds to a story that is the stuff of Great Lakes legend — spawning a well-known song by Gordon Lightfoot, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," and decades of debate as to the circumstances of its sinking. "I am smelling a rat," Frederick Stonehouse, maritime historian and author of a book on the wreck, told The Daily Mining Gazette of Houghton. "It's probably a hoax." He said he finds it hard to believe that someone could find a life ring laying out in the open 30 years later. Anything is possible, but he would not accept it as legitimate until it's properly examined. Rasch said Wednesday he doesn't believe it's a hoax, nor did he consider it "out in the open" — finding it as he did off an already off-the-beaten path. Rasch said he offered to leave the ring at the museum, but Farnquist said he encouraged him to take it home and cherish it. They agreed Rasch will return it in time for the museum's annual memorial service marking the anniversary of the sinking in November. "There's a million questions. ... The ring isn't talking, so we don't know," Rasch said. "I have no reason to doubt. If anybody wanted to pull a hoax, they would have put it where somebody would find it." Farnquist believes the time delay and distance from the wreck shouldn't dash hopes it's legitimate. Winds change often on the unpredictable lake, he said, and it's not uncommon to find debris a couple hundred miles from where ships sink. On the emotional side, he knows it would be significant for people who lost loved ones in the wreck. He said he already has heard from two women who were "quite moved and excited about the possibility" that the ring is from the ship. "Of the 6,000 ships ... lost on the Great Lakes, the Fitzgerald is the Holy Grail of all the shipwrecks," Farnquist said. "It's an incredible story. Everyone hopes that it's the real thing. But only time will tell and the evidence will need to be acquired." __________________ Nitro Joe the handy man knows how low, low goes A whole lot of guys who won't get high say, "Where did Nitro Joe go?"