ROCK CREEK — Until a week ago, the last time Dennis Hale had sailed on Lake Huron was during a November gale that claimed 28 of the 29 crew members aboard the Daniel J. Morrell.
On June 10, Hale, 69, returned to the site where the Morrell sank Nov. 29, 1966, and placed his hand on the rope that descends 285 feet to the Morrell’s mast.
“That was enough for me, putting my hand over the side (the boat) and holding it. That gave me a closeness,” Hale said of his visit to the Morrell’s grave last week.
The two-hour boat trip out of Bad Axe, Mich., was arranged by a Canadian film crew working on an installment of “Deep Sea Detectives,” which airs on several documentary channels. The filming also included a stop at Harbor Beach, where Hale was first taken after being rescued from the icy lake shore.
The installment in which Hale is to appear deals with the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. To help shed light on what might have happened to the Fitzgerald, Hale was called upon to tell his story of survival. He spent 34 hours on a life raft on Lake Huron, huddled under the frozen bodies of other sailors, after the Morrell broke in half.
Hale wrote a book about his experience and has an autobiography ready for publication this year. He frequently speaks at libraries, museums and schools about the Morrell and the night she sank, but until this month Hale had rejected offers to return to the site, including one to visit it in a submarine.
This offer was different, however.
“I just felt that, for my own peace of mind, I had to do it,” he said. “Needless to say, it was pretty emotional and a frightening thing. I’ve always had this feeling it missed me the first time and would get me the last time.”
As it turned out, the day of the recent trip was beautiful, and it went without incident. Hale spent about six hours at the site, much of it being interviewed. As he shared his recollections of the sinking and his ordeal on the life raft, divers followed the yellow rope down to the site and filmed the wreckage. Hale says he did not see any video feed from the depths, but the crew is supposed to send him a DVD of their shoot.
“I was surprised I handled it as well as I did,” Hale said. “I had feelings about not going, but I felt I had to do it.”
Hale planned to place a wreath on the water — the bodies of several crew members are believed to be in the ship — but decided against it because it would signal separation and closure. That fateful night of Nov. 29, 1966, did more than change the direction of Hale’s life: It gave him a mission.
“I want to keep the memory of the Morrell alive,” he said. “I don’t want it to die, at least as long as I’m alive.”
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