CLEVELAND — The Coast Guard responded to the report of four people on a boat taking on water then rescued two boaters who went into Lake Michigan after their boat made contact with a breakwall and capsized Thursday afternoon.
At 5:30 p.m., a radio watchstander at Coast Guard Station Sheboygan, Wis., received a phone call from a person aboard an 18-foot pleasure craft reporting the boat they were on was disabled in Sheboygan Harbor. According to the reporting source, the current was pushing the boat toward the breakwall, and water was flooding the bottom of the boat.
A rescue boatcrew launched aboard a 41-foot Utility Boat from Station Sheboygan.
As the UTB crew arrived on scene, the disabled boat crashed into the breakwall and capsized sending two people onto the breakwall and two people into the water.
The rescue crew recovered two people from the water. There were no injuries reported and the rescue crew transported the rescued people to Harbor Center Marina in Sheboygan.
The owner of the boat is arranging for commercial salvage to recover the boat.
“Boaters never know when a situation will go from bad to worse and doing something as simple as wearing a life jacket can mean the chance between life and death,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class James Myjak, officer-of-the-day at Station Sheboygan.
“Wearing a life jacket at all times is a recommended safety practice. More often than not, boaters who enter the water do so unexpectedly.”
