"June 2004"--Title page verso. Map on pages ii-iii. Includes bibliographical references (pages 265-286) and index.

Lake Michigan. Size matters ; A child's view of Lake Michigan ; What Tocqueville missed ; The beach at Good Harbor ; A view of Superior -- Lake Michigan. A meeting on the Malabar ; The history of a concrete boat ; A providential Seiche ; We begin our voyage -- Lake Michigan. Ancient oceans ; How the lakes were formed ; First people ; Hemingway country ; The King of Beaver Island ; We reach the top of the horseshoe -- Lake Michigan. The Chicago Lakefront ; Racing to Mackinac ; Dunes and sand mining ; Across the finish line -- The Straits of Mackinac. Mighty Mac ; The crossroads of the Lakes ; Wind and ice ; A brief history of the Straits -- Lake Superior. Remembering Superior ; Canoeing along the North Shore ; A brief history of the Voyageurs ; Is the water for sale? ; Stormbound ; Lessons in bushwhacking ; A Requiem -- Lake Superior. The gales of November ; The sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald ; A survivor's story -- Lake Huron. Down Huron ; We raise sail for the first time ; Matt and his knots ; Blue domers ; Georgian Bay and rumors of wilderness ; Timber and fire ; An Orangutan in Sumatra -- St. Claire River/Detroit River. Low water in the Lakes ; To the St. Clair ; Freighters and lake carriers ; Run aground ; La Salle and the Griffin ; We dock in Detroit -- Detroit River/Lake Erie. Downriver Detroit ; On to Erie ; A visit to Walleye World ; Invasion of the Zebra Mussels and other environmental matters ; A little storm on Skeerie-Erie -- Lake Erie. Downwind on Erie ; The beachcomber of Long Point ; The Welland Canal and the invasion of the Sea Lamprey ; Salmon come to the Lakes -- Lake Michigan. Lake squall, 1967 -- Lake Ontario. A liberty ship in Welland ; On to Ontario ; High water in Oswego ; A tour of a lake carrier ; Oil spills and gas fires ; Stepping the masts -- Erie Canal/Hudson River. The Erie Canal and the American dream ; We run aground again ; Raising the sticks in Albany ; Down the Hudson at night ; A Manhattan morning ; Hell gate to the Sound -- The Atlantic. Long Island Sound ; New crew in New Haven ; A storm on the Sound ; On to Maine -- Lake Michigan. Home again ; Taking issue ; Reflections on the future of the Great Lakes ; Swimming the wreck. The author provides an account of his experiences as a crew member on a tall-masted schooner during a six-week voyage through the Great Lakes, and discusses his other explorations of the lakes, looking at their history, geology, and environmental disaster and rescue.