by Daniel W. Stewart (Author), Claudia D. Goudschaal (Author)
During the nineteenth century, most boats traveling the Great Lakes were shipwrecked at some point. Caught on sandbars in harbor entrances, driven ashore by gales, colliding with other boats on the crowded waters-the hazards were many. This booklet asks the questions, Why were there so many shipwrecks during these years? How did some people survive the wrecks, while others perished? Who helped? And what happened afterward?
Author Biography
Claudia Goudschaal captained her first boat at the age of nine, using a muslin shower curtain for a sail. She later purchased the first of many "real" boats with her husband, Bob, and since 1990 has sailed on schooners with the Inland Seas Education Association. She makes frequent public presentations about shipboard life on the Great Lakes, and is the author of "Destination Leelanau: Boats Sailing Leelanau Waters, 1835-1900."