Beyond the Breakers

This week we're on Lake Erie again to discuss the sinking of the wooden-hulled steam barge Margaret Olwill near Kelley's Island in 1899.

Don't miss Tanner's livestream appearance on OTD Canadian Military History (@OTDCanMilHis), discussing the Battle of Lake Erie from the War of 1812 - Tuesday, October 18th @ 7 PM Eastern Time. 

Sources:

Boyer, Dwight. Ships and Men of the Great Lakes. 1977

Johnston, Laura. "New shipwreck of Margaret Olwill discovered in Lake Erie." Rock the Lake, 15 Mar 2018. https://www.rockthelake.com/buzz/2018/03/new-shipwreck-discovered-in-lake-erie/

"Margaret Olwill (+1899)." Wrecksite. https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?216342

Patch, David. "Long-sought ship that sank more than 100 years ago found in Lake Erie." Toledo Blade, 15 Mar 2018. https://www.toledoblade.com/State/2018/03/15/Ship-that-sank-more-than-100-years-ago-found-in-Lake-Erie.html

"Sacramento." Great Lakes Vessel History. https://www.greatlakesvesselhistory.com/histories-by-name/s/sacramento

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This week we discuss the sinking of the craft designated SIEV-221 at Christmas Island (Australia) on December 15 2010.

Sources:

Hope, Alastair Neil. "Inquest..." Coroner's Court of Western Australia, 23 Feb 2012. https://www.coronerscourt.wa.gov.au/_files/Christmas_Island_Findings.pdf

Needham, Kirsty. "Asylum boat deaths avoidable, coroner rules." Sydney Morning Herald, 24 Feb 2012. https://www.smh.com.au/national/asylum-boat-deaths-avoidable-coroner-rules-20120223-1tqt7.html

O'Brien, Natalie. "Dirty tricks aboard a doomed boat." Sydney Morning Herald, 21 May 2011. https://www.smh.com.au/national/dirty-tricks-aboard-a-doomed-boat-20110520-1ewi1.html

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This week we're on Lake Erie to discuss one of the Great Lakes' most enduring mysteries - the fate of the train ferry Marquette & Bessemer No. 2, lost in December 1909. 

Sources:

Boyer, Dwight. Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes. Dodd, Mead, and Co. 1968.

"Captain Robert Rowan McLeod." History of the Great Lakes, https://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/GreatLakes/Documents/HGL2/default.asp?ID=s800

Feather, Carl E. "Still lost after all these years." Star Beacon, 27 May 2012. https://www.starbeacon.com/community/still-lost-after-all-these-years/article_afd3b3fe-63f3-5f20-989d-cc32ec3087b4.html

Johnston, Laura. "Phantom ship hides in Lake Erie." Cleveland.com, 05 Nov 2018. https://www.cleveland.com/news/erry-2018/11/e7fd7cda265617/phantom-ship-hides-in-lake-eri.html#incart_river_index

"The Marquette and Bessemer Dock and Navigation Company." Bessemer and Lake Erie Archives, https://blearchive.weebly.com/car-ferries.html

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This week we're joined by Brianna (@brinnabea), who's going to teach us a thing or two about weather on the Great Lakes and how it correlates with peak times for shipwrecks during the year. 

Relevant charts, graphs, and slides will be posted to Patreon. 

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In this episode, the Fabulous Breaker Boys answer listener questions and discuss the podcast up to this point. 

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In this episode, Taylor is joined by Darcy to discuss the sinking of the charter fishing vessel Muff Diver on August 9th, 1987. This is a more lighthearted episode than we typically have, but still with lessons to be taken from the incident about disaster preparedness, communication,  and the management of crew and passengers during a voyage. 

Sources:

Gentile, Gary. Shipwrecks of Delaware and Maryland. Gary Gentile Productions, 1990.

"Market size of the fishing boat charter sector in the United States from 2010 to 2022." Statista.com, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1176833/fishing-boat-charter-industry-market-size-us/

Tatum, Tom. "Facing that sinking feeling." Daily Local News, 19 Aug 2021. https://www.dailylocal.com/2007/08/21/facing-that-sinking-feeling/

"Thomas Joseph Reilly." Tribute Archive. https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/21544139/Thomas-Joseph-Riley/Edgewater/Maryland/George-P-Kalas-Funeral-Home

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This week we discuss the sinking of the sailing yacht Ouzo in August 2006 with the loss of all her crew, most likely due to a collision or near-collision with the P & O ferry Pride of Bilbao.

Sources:

"Candela." National Institute of Standards and Technology, 25 July 2019. https://www.nist.gov/si-redefinition/candela

de Castella, Tom. "Lost at sea." Financial Times, 22 Aug 2008. https://www.ft.com/content/5d5efaec-6d8d-11dd-857b-0000779fd18c

"Report on the investigation of the loss of the sailing yacht Ouzo and her three crew South of the Isle of Wight during the night of 20/21 August 2006." Marine Accident Investigation Branch, April 2007. https://www.gov.uk/maib-reports/sinking-of-sailing-yacht-ouzo-after-encounter-with-ro-ro-passenger-ferry-pride-of-bilbao-off-isle-of-wight-england-with-loss-of-3-lives

"Yacht deaths trial clears seaman." BBC News Channel, 13 Dec 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/7142272.stm

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In this episode we talk about the role of flatboats and keelboats on the American frontier in the 18th and 19th century, as well as the frontier character of the riverboat man, embodied in the semi-legendary figure of Mike Fink.

*Originally released as the November 2021 bonus episode; edited and re-uploaded to Patreon 3/29/22

Sources:

Allen, Michael. "Sired by a Hurricane: Mike Fink, Western Boatmen, and the Myth of the Alligator Horse." Arizona and the West,  Autumn, 1985, 27:3 , pp. 237 - 252

"Keelboats and Flatboats." Warren County Historical Society

Spradlin, Derrick. "Mike Fink and Frontier Cosmopolitanism in Morgan Neville's The Last of the Boatmen." The Explicator, 2009, 67:4, pp. 243 - 246

Weiser-Alexander, Kathy. "Mike Fink - A Drunken Bully." Legends of America, 2020

Wilhelm, Gene. "Pioneer Boats and Transportation on the Upper James River." Pioneer America, Jan 1971, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 39 - 47.

Further reading:

Allen, Michael. "The Riverman as Jacksonian Man." Western Historical Quarterly, Aug 1990, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 305 - 320.

Bakken, Dawn E. "A Young Hoosier's Adventures on the Mississippi River." Indiana Magazine of History, March 2006, Vol. 102, No. 1, pp. 1 - 7.

Baldwin, Leland D. The Keelboat Age on Western Waters, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1941. 

Mak, James and Gary M. Walton. "The Persistence of Old Technologies: The Case of Flatboats." The Journal of Economic History, Jun 1973, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 444 - 451.

Neville, Morgan. "The Last of the Boatmen." 1828.

Nichols, Roger L. "Army Contributions to River Transportation, 1818 - 1825." Military Affairs, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 242 - 249.

McGregor, John R. "Pioneer Industrial Complexes On The Lower Wabash." Material Culture, Fall 1992, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 19 - 34.

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In this episode we discuss not one ship, but several - the abandoned, rotting hulks embedded in the Delaware River known as 'the Dead Fleet.'

Sources:

McNulty, Bob. "Rediscovering the Dead Fleet of the Delaware River." Hidden City, 23 May 2017.

"U.S. Submarine Nautilus - 1931 North Pole Attempt." Explore North. 

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Some info about the Beyond The Breakers Fantasy League we are kicking off this week if you want to have some good wholesome fun this Fall!

(Even if you've already signed up, NFL fans may enjoy taking like two and a half minutes to listen) 

Message us on Twitter, Instagram, Patreon, or email to join!

[We do not own the rights to the opening theme song or any of the audio soundbites, please do not sue us we're just normal men, we're just innocent men]

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