We left DeTour Village on a bright calm day without weather for a change. These lighthouses (DeTour Reef, Barton Reef, Mackinac Island, Round Island and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouses) dotted our scenery and served as chart markers, but have been lifelines to sailors in the past.
Mackinac Straits is the narrow passage between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, is filled with reefs and shoals; add storms and fog and it is a recipe for shipwrecks. These lighthouses marked the reefs and channels, sent out a beacon of light and helped steer ships to safety.
Life expectancy for a Great Lakes sailor in the 19th century was only 7 years, and with 6,000 shipwrecks from 1878 to 1898 alone, it proved to be more dangerous than the job of a whaler in Nantucket. Their memory is honored and preserved in the Straits of Mackinac Underwater Preserve. Check out www.michiganpreserves.org/straits.htm
Mackinac Straits is the narrow passage between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, is filled with reefs and shoals; add storms and fog and it is a recipe for shipwrecks. These lighthouses marked the reefs and channels, sent out a beacon of light and helped steer ships to safety.
Life expectancy for a Great Lakes sailor in the 19th century was only 7 years, and with 6,000 shipwrecks from 1878 to 1898 alone, it proved to be more dangerous than the job of a whaler in Nantucket. Their memory is honored and preserved in the Straits of Mackinac Underwater Preserve. Check out www.michiganpreserves.org/straits.htm
