Old Pier

This is all that remains of an old pier at the Whitefish Point Lighthouse on Lake Superior. I'm pretty sure, based on the slope of the wood, that this particular one was used by the U.S. Life-Saving Service to launch their surf boats. They would launch in the worst weather imaginable and paddle out into the lake to try to save the crews of sinking ships. These guys were either incredibly brave or completely nuts ... I'm not entirely sure which. The Life-Saving Service was the predecessor to the U.S. Coast Guard. As a side note, the famous Edmund Fitzgerald sank 17 miles northwest of here, which is roughly the direction I was facing when I shot this.