VHS

"Raising the Rum Runner"
Detroit River - 25 July 1991

VHS tape containing a documentary about the rum runner boat recovery project undertaken by the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on July 25, 1991, produced by Frank Saverino and Dave Mabry. Divers Mal Sillers, Fred Dufty, John Gatz, Geof Coon, Bill Robinette, Nick Martines, and Frank Saverino; Bill Hoey IV and Bill Hoey III of the Gaelic Tugboat Company's GROSSE ILE; Dossin Great Lakes Museum curator John Polacsek; and supporting member Frank Barlage are featured as the project's crew. The video is narrated by Sillars. The first portion of the video includes footage of the trip from the Rouge River to the wreck site off of Belle Isle, the zebra mussel-covered wreck underwater, the dredging of the boat's hull, and the excavation of its rudder and propeller. Lift bags are then used to separately raise both the boat's engine and hull. The recovery team is then filmed on the GROSSE ILE inspecting beers bottles and an engine crank which were recovered from the wreck. Afterward the suspended boat and engine are towed back to a barge, where a crane is used to life them from the river. WDIV Newsbeat coverage of the raising with reporter Keith Oppenheim is also featured in the documentary. The press conference and ceremony at Harbortown following the effort are also captured at the end of the video. The video's soundtrack includes an instrumental cover of the Police's Spirits in the Material World.

The video is on a blue T-45 tape with loose printed labels which were formerly affixed to its top and side. The tape is housed within a clear plastic VHS case.