CLEVELAND — Coast Guard crews across Lake Ontario and the Niagara River had a busy weekend and responded to more than 10 cases of mariners in distress, assisting 13. Unfortunately, two lives were lost in Irondequoit Bay and the Niagara River this weekend.
Coast Guard 9th District crews throughout the Great Lakes region responded to 135 cases, rescuing six people and assisting 148 others.
The following synopses are some of the boater assist cases the Coast Guard was involved in on Lake Ontario and the Niagara River. The Coast Guard provided similar information about Coast Guard rescues and assists on lakes Erie and St. Clair, and on Lake Michigan.
A rescue boatcrew aboard a 33-foot Special Purpose Craft-Law Enforcement from Coast Guard Station Niagara, N.Y., assisted two people on a vessel taking on water in Lake Ontario one mile northeast of Olcott, N.Y., Friday afternoon. The SPC-LE placed the vessel in tow and transported the people to Olcott Harbor.
A rescue boatcrew aboard a 25-foot Response Boat-Small from Coast Guard Station Rochester, N.Y., assisted a man aboard a 23-foot vessel with engine problems in Lake Ontario near Rochester, Friday night. The rescue boatcrew began to tow the boat to shore when the man was able to restart his engine. A Coast Guard Station Buffalo, N.Y., watchstander kept communication schedule with the man until he safely moored.
Rescue boatcrews aboard 25-foot Response Boats-Small from Coast Guard Station Alexandria Bay, N.Y., and Station Sackets Harbor, N.Y., assisted three adults and one child on a 40-foot boat beset by weather in Lake Ontario near Galloo Island, Saturday night. The rescue boatcrew from Sackets Harbor located the vessel and escorted it to Sackets Harbor.
A rescue boatcrew aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Coast Guard Station Rochester assisted two people aboard a 30-foot vessel taking on water in Lake Ontario three miles west of Pultneyville, N.Y., Saturday night. A good Samaritan assisted the vessel into Bear Creek, where the vessel then ran aground. A rescue crew from the local fire department dewatered the vessel and the MLB crew escorted the vessel to Pultneyville.
A rescue boatcrew aboard a 25-foot RB-S from Coast Guard Station Buffalo, N.Y., responded to a collision between two vessels in the Niagara River near Tonawanda, N.Y., early Sunday morning. Two people were on one vessel, and one person was on the other. Also participating in the rescue efforts were rescue crews from the Tonawanda Police Marine Unit and the Tonawanda Fire Department. All three people involved in the collision were rescued by the Tonawanda Police Marine Unit and taken to shore, where emergency medical services were waiting to further transport them all to a local hospital.
Lake Ontario Coast Guard rescue crews also responded to incidents involving a 16-foot vessel that washed ashore in Black River Bay, a 24-foot vessel stuck on rocks near Bonnie Castle Island in the St. Lawrence River, and a report of a capsized vessel near Nine Mile Creek, which ended up a false alarm.
