Sneak Preview of the 34th Annual Great Lakes Shipwreck Festival: "Tragedy Strikes in Seven Minutes" and "Isle Royale"

Experience a FREE sneak preview of the 34th Annual Great Lakes Shipwreck Festival by enjoying four special presentations on two Saturdays this winter!

Presented by Tony Gramer

The 161-foot steamer Fred McBrier was built in 1881 in West Bay City, MI. On the night of October 3, 1890 the down bound Fred McBrier, with a load of iron ore and towing the barges A. Stewart and J.B. Lozen, was squarely hit amidships by the up bound larger steamer Progress. Both steamers misunderstood signals as they passed that night; the McBrier went down in just seven minutes, approximately 10 miles west from old Mackinaw point in Lake Michigan. Join Tony Gramer and crew as they explore the remains of this beautiful shipwreck. This 30-minute HD video program is synchronized to music and employs live narration. Tony Gramer has been diving since 1977 and is a certified PADI divemaster. He is the president of Silent World Information Masters, Inc. (SWIM). He is presently on the Dossin Maritime Group board and serves as divemaster for the Dossin Great Lakes Museum. His images have taken best in show and first place in photo contests throughout the United States, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Mexico. His images have been included in Skin Diver magazine, Dive Boat Calendar & Travel magazine, Michigan Living, Great Lakes Diving, Michigan Underwater Preserve pamphlets, advertising catalogs, Nikon Calendar and music CD covers. In 2011 and 2012 he recorded two 30-minute programs for “Everything Great Lakes” and “So Far, Safari” on CMN-TV in Troy.

Presented by Russ Haeberle

Isle Royal, which became a national park in 1940, is a group of 450 islands in northern Lake Superior. The main group of islands is 45 miles long and nine miles wide and was formed over several million years with a series of volcanic eruptions. The volcanic dome rose and collapsed numerous times, forming the layers of rock that can be seen in some areas of the islands. Many of the islands are long, narrow slivers of jagged rock rising up out of the dark depths of Lake Superior, some lurking just a few feet under the surface, forming dangerous reefs — the reason so many ships sank around the island. Join Russ Haeberle and crew on the Superior Diver Charter as they dive the America, the Chester A. Congdon, the Kamloops and the Emperor. Russ Haeberle began his interest diving on the shores of Lake Erie at the age of seven, scaring his family when he would swim under the waves and stay down over a minute before popping up 100 feet away! He started diving in 1971 and joined the Ford Seahorses in 1990. An avid shipwreck diver, Haeberle is a past chairman of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Festival and president of the Ford Seahorses.