Cleveland – Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary crews, partner rescue agencies and good Samaritans across the Great Lakes responded to more than 46 cases of mariners in distress this past weekend.
Coast Guard crews rescued 12 people across the Lakes.
At 10:23 p.m., Friday, a rescue crew from Coast Guard Station Fairport, Ohio, aboard a 25-foot response boat, responded to a report of two people on a 36-foot recreational boat that crashed into the Fairport Harbor breakwall. The rescue crew assisted the two people by towing the boat back to the station. The people remained on the vessel during the tow, although the boat suffered damage. There were no injuries or pollution reported.
At 9:30 a.m., Saturday, rescue crew members from Coast Guard Station St. Clair Shores, Michigan, aboard a 25-foot response boat, responded to a report of a 28-foot boat with two people aboard, sinking in Lake St. Clair. Once on scene, the rescue crew provided a dewatering pump to the people on the boat and towed the vessel to the safety of a nearby marina.
At 1:30 p.m., Saturday, a rescue board crew aboard a 25-foot rescue boat from Coast Guard Station Wilmette Harbor, Illinois, responded to a report of two people in a sinking catamaran in Lake Michigan 5 miles south of Wilmette Harbor. The rescue crew towed the catamaran with two people aboard to a nearby marina.
At 2:45 p.m., Saturday, rescue crew members from Coast Guard Auxiliary Operated Station Sodus Point, New York, responded to a call over marine radio of three people in the water after their 14-foot sailboat capsized in Lake Ontario near Pultneyville, New York. The Auxop crew, consisting of two active duty Coast Guardsmen and one Coast Guard Auxiliarist, rescued the three people from the water and assisted with righting the capsized sailboat. The Auxop crew then towed the sailboat to a nearby marina.
At 3:40 p.m., Saturday, a rescue boat crew aboard a 25-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Lorain, Ohio, responded to a report of an overturned kayak with one person in the water in Lake Erie near Lorain. The crew rescued the person and transported both the kayak and person back to the station.
At 4:35 p.m., Saturday, Coast Guard Station Ashtabula, Ohio rescue crews responded to a report of four people on a sinking boat in Lake Erie near Ashtabula Harbor. Before Coast Guard crews arrived on scene, a rescue boat crew from the Saybrook, Ohio, Fire Department rescued the four people and towed their boat to a nearby marina.
At 3:08 p.m., Saturday, Coast Guard Station Harbor Beach, Michigan rescue crews responded to a report of a person in Lake Huron near Port Sanilac Harbor, Michigan, after his catamaran capsized. Before the Coast Guard crew arrived on scene, the person was rescued by a rescue boat crew from the Sanilac County Sheriff Marine Patrol Unit while a good Samaritan took the catamaran in tow. The Sanilac rescue crew transferred the person to the good Sam who took both to a nearby marina.
At 6 p.m., Saturday, a rescue boat crew from Coast Guard Station Niagara, New York, aboard a 25-foot response boat, responded to a report of a 10-foot boat with no one aboard, going in circles on Niagara Lake near the Lewsiton-Queenston Bridge. Once on scene, a good Samaritan told the rescue crew of rescuing a person from the water after falling out of the 10-foot boat. The vessel eventually ran aground on the Canadian shoreline. The owner of the boat was transferred back onto his vessel before the Coast Guard towed the boat to a nearby marina.
At 6:45 p.m., Saturday, a rescue boat crew from Coast Guard Station Fairport, Ohio, aboard a 25-foot response boat, responded to a report of a person in the water after their catamaran capsized in Lake Erie near Madison Township Park, Ohio. Before arriving on scene, a rescue crew from the Madison Township Fire Department rescued to the person. The owner of the catamaran made arrangements with a salvage company to retrieve the catamaran.
“No matter how many times you have been out on the water previously, it is extremely important to conduct a thorough check of your boat to make sure everything is in working order,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Matt Newkirk, coxswain of the Lake St. Clair Shores rescue boat. “It is also important to check the weather before you go out onto the lakes.”
