CLEVELAND – Coast Guard units in Michigan, Ohio and New York had a busy weekend rescuing or assisting more than 20 people who needed help while boating on the Great Lakes and nearby waterways between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.
Friday evening, a boatcrew from Station St. Clair Shores, Mich., rescued three people who were on a 16-foot boat that was taking on water in the Middle Channel near Gull Island, Mich. The boatcrew brought all three people, who were wearing life jackets, aboard the Coast Guard vessel and took them to shore. No injuries were reported.
The Coast Guard recommends that mariners wear life jackets at all time while underway.
Saturday at 2:45 a.m., a Coast Guard aircrew aboard an MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter from Air Station Detroit airlifted two people who were showing signs of hypothermia from a grounded vessel in Lake St. Clair near Strawberry Island, Mich. A Coast Guard boatcrew from Station St. Clair Shores brought the other two people who were still aboard the vessel onto the Coast Guard boat and transported them to shore. The helicopter crew reported the two people who were airlifted showed significant signs of improvement once inside the helicopter. The aircrew brought them to Air Station Detroit and turned them over to their father, who picked them up there, and recommended he take them to the hospital for evaluation if they began showing additional signs of hypothermia.
The Coast Guard reminds mariners to dress for the water temperature, rather than the air temperature. Even when it’s hot out, the water may still be cold enough for those who enter the water to suffer hypothermia.
At 4 a.m. Saturday, the Canadian coast guard requested assistance transferring eight people to shore after the 18-foot recreational vessel they were aboard became disabled near Seaway Island, off the coast of Algonac, Mich., in Canadian waters. Canadian responders embarked all eight people then transferred them to the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bristol Bay, which was anchored in the area. The crew of the Bristol Bay then transferred the eight individuals to a 24-foot shallow water craft from Station St. Clair Shores where they waited for a commercial salvage vessel to come recover them and their vessel.
Saturday at 10:20 a.m., a boatcrew in a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Station Portage, in Dollar Bay, Mich., responded to a report of two people in a 25-foot recreational vessel that was taking on water. A good Samaritan responded to a Coast Guard urgent marine information broadcast and began assisting the boaters. When the MLB boatcrew arrived, the water level decreased enough for the mariners to transit to shore in their vessel. The Coast Guard boatcrew escorted them to shore.
At about 4 a.m. Sunday, a boatcrew in a 33-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Marblehead, Ohio, responded to a report of a vessel aground with three people aboard near Kelleys Island, Ohio. When the responders arrived, they found the vessel not aground, but taking on water near the shore. The boatcrew brought all three people aboard the response boat and brought them to Mazurik boat launch in Marblehead, where a commercial salvage company towed their vessel. No injuries were reported.
Sunday afternoon, a Coast Guard Auxiliary boatcrew was patrolling the Buffalo River in New York when they saw a rental canoe, carrying one adult and two children, capsize in the river. The boatcrew rescued all three people from the water as the canoe sank. No injuries were reported.
