Ocean Wave Maritime Trails Marker
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Ocean Wave Maritime Trails Marker
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Ocean Wave Maritime Trails Marker at Whitefish Dunes State Park
 
Details
Attraction
Location
Body of Water: Lake Michigan
Trail Name: Green Bay/Door County
Year Built: 2005
Nearest Address: Whitefish Dunes State Park
Nearest City: Sevastapol
County: Door
Zip Code: 54235
Latitude: N 44°55.58000'
Longitude: W -087°10.92600'
Attraction
Features
Open to public?: Yes
Mooring buoy?: No
Mooring buoy in place?: No
Snorkelable?: No
Dive guide?: No
Trails sign?: Yes
National Register?: No
Attraction
Description
Four miles southeast of here, in 110 feet of water, lie the remains of the Ocean Wave. The two-masted wooden ship was a scow schooner, a boxy, flat-bottomed vessel of the late 1800s. Scow schooners could enter shallower harbors than more shapely vessels, and they connected small frontier towns to large city markets. In the early morning of Sept. 23, 1869, the Ocean Wave was delivering a load of limestone to White Lake, Mich., when she struck a 'deadhead' - a floating log or timber. She sank quickly, barely leaving the crew time to launch the lifeboat. In his haste, Captain Fletcher Hackett reportedly left $160 in his cabin. The crew rowed through the night and finally reached shore near this sign. Today, the bow of the Ocean Wave is largely intact and displays a figurehead, unusual for small coasting schooners. It is a crudely carved eagle, with open mouth and extended tongue. The sides of the ship have fallen outward, and the aft deck and its intact cabin lie nearby. The wreck of the Ocean Wave is marked by a seasonal Wisconsin Historical Society mooring buoy.
 
Map
 
Nearby
Attractions (1)
Ocean Wave Maritime Trails Marker
© 2026 - Wisconsin Sea Grant, Wisconsin Historical Society