49. Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Six
T he night before the championship, the parallel parkers finally coaxed Carlton into joining them in the parlor.
Hugo cleared his throat. “So, Carlton,” he said in a tone that suggested he might have been nervous about using the older man’s first name. As if it went against everything he believed in.
“Yes, Hugo,” Carlton said good-naturedly.
“I know you’re some kind of professor, but what is it you do, exactly?”
“Actually, I’m an underwater archaeologist who sometimes guest lectures at various colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada.”
“Cool.”
“Are you on sabbatical of some sort?” asked Phil .
“I am. I’ve taken a year off to write a book about Lake Erie’s shipwrecks.”
Hugo was clearly impressed. “Dude, that’s awesome.”
Carlton laughed, amused. “I think so, too.”
“Does Lake Erie have a lot of shipwrecks?” Sarah asked.
“No one is exactly sure of the correct number because of poor record keeping hundreds of years ago. But the estimate is anywhere from five hundred to two thousand.”
Phil let out a low whistle.
“I had no idea,” Sarah said, eyes widening.
“Any treasures? Caches?” Hugo asked with a glint in his eye.
“Not as such,” Carlton explained. “Not like those Spanish galleons off the southeast coast of the country.”
Hugo leaned back, folding his arms behind his head, and stared at the ceiling. “Can you imagine? Goodbye recycling plant.”
“Are you looking at specific wrecks, or all of them?” Hugo said.
“Some of them. As much as I would like to catalogue all of them, it’s an impossible task.”
“Have you done any underwater dives?” Phil asked.
“I have. I’m working my way from Cleveland to Buffalo, stopping along the way to research, write, visit maritime museums, and if possible, dive at local sites.”
“That sounds like fun,” Hugo said .
“It is and it isn’t,” Carlton explained. “There’s a lot of research involved, and some days are spent in museums going through their archives looking at ship records and reading logbooks to try and piece together what happened and where.”
“Can you tell us some shipwreck stories?” Sarah asked.
Unused to being the center of attention outside of lecture halls, Carlton didn’t seem uncomfortable with it. He sat in the wing chair, leaned back, and crossed his legs.
“The oldest known shipwreck is the Lake Serpent . That went down in 1829 and was only discovered recently. It’s important if only to show us what the ships looked like from that time period.”
“What caused it to sink?” Phil asked.
Carlton shrugged. “No one knows. Possibly bad weather. It was a cargo ship carrying boulders.”
Phil spoke up. “So, a lot of those wrecks are out there, just waiting to be found.”
“Correct.”
“And is it possible that there may be some shipwrecks you’re unaware of?” Nadine asked.
“Possible.”
“Why are these shipwrecks so hard to find?” Phil asked. “Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes.”
“The water is murky. When I started diving in the late seventies, you couldn’t see past the end of your arm, the lake was so polluted,” Carlton Brady explained to a rapt audience. Even Herman stared at him, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. “It is better now. The field of vision has expanded to roughly fifteen or twenty feet.”
“Even that isn’t a lot,” Nadine said.
“No.”
“What’s the shipwreck that keeps you up at night?”
With a wistful expression, Carlton leaned back in his chair. “ The Marquette and Bessemer No 2. ”
“Why?”
“Because it’s never been found and because of the mystery surrounding its disappearance.” The professor paused for effect.
Hugo leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “Dude, don’t keep us in suspense.”
“It was a ferry carrying rail cars full of steel and coal. This was December 8, 1909. It left Ohio but never made its final destination of Port Stanley, Ontario. It disappeared without a trace. Although there were no eyewitnesses to the actual sinking, there are inconsistent, conflicting witness reports of the distress calls and when the ship was last seen. Afterward, a lifeboat was found containing the bodies of the crew. To this day, the ship has never been found.”
The mood turned somber as they digested what Carlton had told them. But Hugo seemed contemplative as he said, “It’s very interesting, that’s for sure. I’m thinking of giving up parallel parking and going on quests for shipwrecks.”