Ric’s underwater adventures are known to millions who watch his documentaries and news stories on television. No one can boast more promotion for Great Lakes diving, as Ric has donated some 30 shows to PBS and has also found world-wide audiences on the Vision Network and Outdoor Channel. He is also an award-winning news reporter, working for stations all across Michigan.
Ric holds several certifications in SCUBA, including advanced ratings and ice rescue.
He served several years on the Saginaw County Underwater Rescue Team as a marine deputy/diver and was also chief diver/videographer for expeditions to the Edmund Fitzgerald and Carl D. Bradley. In addition to his TV shows and documentaries, Ric has also published two CDROM’s on shipwreck diving. The Edmund Fitzgerald Interactive Explorer is the first and only CDROM on the shipwreck and continues to be a regional best-seller.
Edmund Fitzgerald
The Great Lakes may be filled with thousands of shipwrecks, but only one is recognized throughout the world. The Edmund Fitzgerald made headlines when it sank, topped the charts as a ballad, and continues to dominate conversations whenever you mention you’re a diver. It’s also likely to be the most controversial of all wrecks, and heated debates arise whenever expeditions dive to Superior’s depths to explore what’s below.
Ric Mixter has been at the center of much of the maelstrom; first as the sole SCUBA cameraman on the dive that found the first missing crewman, and finally as writer-producer of a documentary that Michigan legislators tried to ban for it’s use of the footage of the lost sailor. 10 years after hisdive, Ric is now sharing the true story behind the expeditions that visited the Great Lakes largest shipwreck.
Final Run: Storms of the Century
From the 1905 Mataafa Storm to the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, this is one of Ric’s most requested presentations. He highlights many of the Great Lakes most famous sinkings and includes exclusive interviews with survivors from the Great Storm of 1913, and rare storm footage from the 1940 Armistice Day Storm. His first hand accounts of diving the wrecks make this program unique.
The 1913 storm is considered by many to be the “King of Storms”, after taking over 250 lives and some 40 ships. Starting on November 7th, 60 mile an hour winds ravaged Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan and Erie. By November 12th, the damage was staggering, with 12 freighters completely disappearing on the lakes. Five of those ships have yet to be located
