GREEN BAY, Wis. – The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a 40-year-old male who fell overboard from a 27-foot sport fisher on the southwest side of Chambers Island, Sunday, at approximately 11:30 p.m.
Small boat crews from Coast Guard Stations Sturgeon Bay and Washington Island and an HH-65C rescue helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City are searching for Troy Palmer.
“We are searching an area roughly five miles wide by 15 miles right off Door Peninsula. He was reported to be wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but not a life jacket,” said Lt. Ann Sparks, Controller, Ninth Coast Guard District Command Center
A Sturgeon Bay 25-foot small response (RB-S) crew, a 30-foot small boat crew from Station Washington Island and the rescue helicopter are conducting parallel, creeping line and trackline search patterns to locate Palmer.
The girlfriend of Palmer contacted the Coast Guard after he fell overboard from the 27-footer Sunday evening. Station Sturgeon Bay arrived on scene.before midnight, brought aboard her and another male passenger, and transported them back to shore.
The law states you must have a personal floatation device on board, but the Coast Guard recommends you wear your PFD at all times when boating. It is much more difficult to locate, access or don a PFD at the moment the accident occurs.
Additional information on life jackets (PFDs), can be found at http://www.uscgboating.org/safety/fedreqs/equ_pfd.htm.
