I found this page through a boating newslist a few days ago. Paul Vandenbosch has put a lot of effort into the story about this boat. I like what he has done here and even if you don't get to build this boat a lot of what he has to say will stand you in good stead in your workshop.
Shown is one of his pictures and at the bottom of the page you will find a link to Paul's site. He did say he is working on improving some of his descriptions and providing a few drawings and that way you will be in touch with his latest copy.
To come back to woodenboat.net.nz you will have to use the back button on your browser to go to your favourites.
Thank you for the opportunity Paul and WOW we are impressed by the number of clamps you have there. Are you the USA agent for F clamps?
Dave Robertson

I bought those clamps from a Czechoslovakian flea market just over the border in Germany and then smuggled them into the USA. This was back before the border was opened, so I was probably buying illegal goods and also smuggling illegal communist made goods into the US of A. I can only make these comments public since the statute of limitations now allows me to tell all.
Paul Vandenbosch

Can we print that? John and I get into trouble with our senses of humour, Is the market ready for a third one of us? The sheer size of the Great Lakes is not well understood down here. Could you tell us about your local boating conditions.
Dave

Yes you can print that. South Haven is downwind from the Windy City (Chicago) and is part of a long sand beach and dune shore that stretches about 300 miles from Indiana to northern Michigan. A long lee shore, it is broken with rivers that break through the dunes about every 30 miles or so. These are the harbors that would naturally be blocked by a sand bar, but are dredged and protected with piers to allow shipping. During the winter, the shore is covered with icebergs to a height of up to 30 feet, and extending out into the Lake as far as you can see. The Lake warms up during summer and becomes a beautiful 70 F, so our sand beaches are well used by swimmers and sunbathers. During the frequent thunderstorms of summer, waves can build to 10 or more feet as the northwest winds cross a fetch of 150 miles before reaching the sandy shore. The storms of the fall season are evil, biting cold wind from the arctic Canadian plains whipping up the froth of a Lake that seems alive in its anger. Yet on a good day, the Lake is smooth as glass, like a pool of blue oil. At its deepest, it is nearly a thousand feet, and many ships lie on its bottom. Lake Michigan is the result of a huge glacier that pressed the earth down and eventually melted. The water rolls, so that the water at the top moves east, and at the bottom it moves west, and the scientists say the the core is still pure glacier water untainted by the runoff from rivers and streams over the last few thousand years.
Paul

I have been to Lakes Michigan and Erie in summer and can vouch for the good bits. As for the sunken ships Gordon Lightfoot'said it all.
The Wreck Of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Summertime Dream) 6:28

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called 'Gitche Gumee'
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ship's bell rang
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T'was the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'.
Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya.
At Seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in, he said
Fellas, it's been good t'know ya
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searches all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
May have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral.
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call 'Gitche Gumee'.
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early!

Hit Paul's link and head on over to the USA for a good read. I recommend you check out the link to his home page while you are there. Remember you might need the back button or favourite listing to get back to woodenboat.net.nz. If I am not here when you get back I have probably had my butt sued off for printing the words to that song.
Dave [which incidentally is one I have always liked a lot].