Our guest today on the Outdoor Adventure Series is Jeff Gray.

Jeff is the Superintendent at the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, an underwater museum in a section of Lake Huron. Nestled up against the shores of northeastern Michigan are nearly 100 known shipwrecks. These shipwrecks tell the story of the Great Lakes' maritime history.

The waters of Thunder Bay are treacherous: to mariners, they were nicknamed “Shipwreck Alley,” and through fire, ice, collision, and storms, the lake frequently claimed vessels and crews. Today, the sanctuary protects these historical artifacts so that we can all – researchers, divers, and members of the public alike – continue to explore and learn from them – and last summer, sanctuary researchers found two more.

Jeff studied Maritime History and Underwater Archaeology at East Carolina University, and he is a former State Underwater Archaeologist at the Wisconsin Historical Society

 Topics We Discussed 

1. The ways that the scientists and outdoor adventurists enjoy the sanctuary.
2. The best ways to plan a trip to ThunderBay National Marine Sanctuary.
3. The impact that the sanctuary has had on the community.

Aha Moment

[Abridged]  My aha moment came when we opened the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, and we started doing programs and realized that you could be passionate about the history of archeology, but there's something even bigger than that; it’s that we can use that to inspire people to protect the great lakes.

We can use that to make this community a better place to live and to visit, and preservation and conservation can have this larger quality of life value to a place. And that, I think, drives me and my staff and some of the folks we work with to push through those projects that take 15 years.

Insight2Go

[Abridged]  There are two books; one's the Compound Effect, and the premise is that little things over a long time make a big difference and that you keep chipping away, and you don't have to hit the home run every time, and that sustained effort over time, makes big change happen. And so that, that is one of the big ones I have. 

Good to Great is another favorite book I like to read and go to. One of the takeaways from that book is to surround yourself with good people, hardworking people, and dedicated people. And you don't even have to know exactly where everybody's gonna sit on the bus, but if you get the right people there that can adapt, you're gonna make things move and move forward. 

The Compound Effect (10th Anniversary Edition): Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success, Hardcover – Special Edition, September 15, 2020, by Darren Hardy

Link: https://amzn.to/3QPIc9e

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't, Hardcover – October 16, 2001, by Jim Collins.

Link: https://amzn.to/3AjPACJ

Next Steps 

To learn more about the NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary https://thunderbay.noaa.gov/

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