Wake of the Green Storm: A Survivor's Tale

On July 4, 1999, Marlin Bree was caught in the storm of the century that ripped through the boundary waters of Minnesota and across the Canadian north shores of Lake Superior. Winds on the lake were clocked at 100 miles per hour in a gale that many dubbed the “green storm” because of the unusual color of the sky. Although Bree’s treasured wooden sailboat was damaged, he continued in pursuit of his goal of sailing the largest freshwater island archipelago in the world. Interspersed with Bree’s own adventure are the stories of other boaters’ experiences in storms on the Great Lakes, including the sinking of the excursion boat, Grandpa Woo, the survival of a man drifting on a storm-lashed raft, and the sinking of a millionaire’s yacht.