Although it’s currently covered by snow and ice, lighthouse Caretaker Eric Klein said the starboard — or right-hand — side of the shipwreck moved about 10 feet inland during a storm in October. Klein said it’s the first time he’s known the shipwreck to move.

The piece of shipwreck moved farther inland during subsequent storms, and Klein estimates it has now moved about 25 feet from its original location. The piece is now wedged up to the treeline, where sand is eroding and the trees are starting to topple.

Klein said there’s nothing that can be done to protect the wreck, because it’s against the law to move shipwreck artifacts or remove them from the water.

Klein said the wave action over the past few years has taken its toll on the wreckage. When water receded, the wreckage was exposed to the elements and the wood dried out, weakening it. Waves are now impacting the weakened wood.

Courtesy Photo This picture taken by state Maritime Archaeologist Wayne Lusardi shows the starboard side of the wrecked Joseph S. Fay following a series of storms that pushed the wreckage inland. The shipwreck lies along the shoreline of the 40 Mile Point Lighthouse north of Rogers City.

“It’s basically eroding the wreck, and big pieces will come off and be washed away,” he said.

He said what’s happening now is “just part of its natural progression.”

While water levels in the Great Lakes fluctuate over time, state Maritime Archaeologist Wayne Lusardi said what’s atypical are the waves that have eroded shores, actually digging out artifacts and pieces of shipwrecks that haven’t been exposed for some time.

He said that has occurred throughout the state, particularly over the course of the past six months.

A couple pieces of slab wood, or possibly pieces of shipwrecks, washed ashore along Bay View Park this summer. At Hoeft State Park, a 45-foot stretch of ribs and keel from an unidentified shipwreck, once covered by sand dunes, now lie in shallow water.

Along the Lake Michigan shoreline, just south of White Lake Channel, the remnants of a schooner also emerged from sand dunes, only to be buried again two weeks later.

As for the Joseph S. Fay, Klein worries about what might happen when the waters recede.

“The last time the lake washed out that ridge in the (19)80s, it reestablished a dune there, and I fear it’s going to cover the wreck,” he said.

Crystal Nelson can be reached at 989-358-5687 or cnelson@thealpenanews.com.