<P> From 1844 through 1857, palace steamers carried passengers and cargo around the Great Lakes . In the first half of the 20th century large luxurious passenger steamers sailed the lakes in opulence . The Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company had several vessels at the time and hired workers from all walks of life to help operate these vessels . Several ferries currently operate on the Great Lakes to carry passengers to various islands, including Isle Royale, Drummond Island, Pelee Island, Mackinac Island, Beaver Island, Bois Blanc Island (Ontario), Bois Blanc Island (Michigan), Kelleys Island, South Bass Island, North Manitou Island, South Manitou Island, Harsens Island, Manitoulin Island, and the Toronto Islands . As of 2007, four car ferry services cross the Great Lakes, two on Lake Michigan: a steamer from Ludington, Michigan, to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and a high speed catamaran from Milwaukee to Muskegon, Michigan, one on Lake Erie: a boat from Kingsville, Ontario, or Leamington, Ontario, to Pelee Island, Ontario, then onto Sandusky, Ohio, and one on Lake Huron: the M.S. Chi - Cheemaun runs between Tobermory and South Baymouth, Manitoulin Island, operated by the Owen Sound Transportation Company . An international ferry across Lake Ontario Rochester, New York, to Toronto ran during 2004 and 2005, but is no longer in operation . </P> <P> The large size of the Great Lakes increases the risk of water travel; storms and reefs are common threats . The lakes are prone to sudden and severe storms, in particular in the autumn, from late October until early December . Hundreds of ships have met their end on the lakes . The greatest concentration of shipwrecks lies near Thunder Bay (Michigan), beneath Lake Huron, near the point where eastbound and westbound shipping lanes converge . </P> <P> The Lake Superior shipwreck coast from Grand Marais, Michigan, to Whitefish Point became known as the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes". More vessels have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior . The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve serves as an underwater museum to protect the many shipwrecks in this area . </P> <P> The first ship to sink in Lake Michigan was Le Griffon, also the first ship to sail the Great Lakes . Caught in a 1679 storm while trading furs between Green Bay and Michilimacinac, she was lost with all hands aboard . Its wreck may have been found in 2004, but a wreck subsequently discovered in a different location was also claimed in 2014 to be Le Griffon . </P>

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