Sailboat rescue on Lake Huron led to two spinoff rescues, Michigan DNR says
Conservation officers from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources rescued four people during high winds and rough water on Wednesday on Lake Huron.
The initial call was to assist two men after a sailboat flipped, the DNR said. The follow-up rescues involved assisting a paddle boarder and a kayaker who both had tried to reach the sailboat in distress.
Sailboat rescue
The DNR got involved at about 10:59 a.m. on Wednesday while working on a regular patrol in Harrisville Harbor. At that time, the Alcona County Central Dispatch issued a marine rescue call as a 16-foot, catamaran-style sailboat had flipped over in Lake Huron.
The sailboat in distress was about 1 ½ miles offshore and about three miles south of Harrisville Harbor. First responders estimated that the boaters had been in the water for about 90 minutes before 911 was called.
At the time, the National Weather Service had issued a small craft advisory for the Lake Huron waters, citing winds gusting up to 29 mph, waves 5 feet or greater, and water temperature of 67 degrees.
Four DNR conservation officers - Jeff Panich, Jesse Grzechowski, Alex Bourgeois, Nico Luna and Sgt. Jon Warner - responded from Harrisville Harbor and fought through 5-foot waves to reach the sailboat. They were able to get the boaters rescued, a man who was in his late 60s and another man in his early 30s, both of whom were vacationing in the area. The sailboat also was successfully righted and sailed to shore, accompanied most of the way by the DNR patrol boat.
Paddleboarder and kayaker rescue
While the DNR was returning to Harris Harbor, the conservation officers noticed a man who was on a paddleboard about a mile offshore and learned he had tried to assist the sailboaters. But the wind and waves blew the paddleboard rider further offshore, and he was unable to return to the beach.
The conservation officers pulled that man, a 62-year-old from Ortonville, onto the patrol boat and continued on; then they noticed a man in a kayak on the water.
Once they spoke to the kayaker, the officers learned that he too had set out from the beach to try to assist the sailboat. He was then unable to return to shore.
As the DNR patrol boat approached the kayak, a wave tipped that man out of his vessel. He was not wearing a life jacket, the report said.
The kayaker, a 53-year-old man visiting the area from Joplin, Missouri, was safely pulled aboard the DR boat.
By 1 p.m., the DNR patrol boat was back at Harrisville Harbor with the paddle, the kayak and the two men who were on the water with them.
None of the people rescued, including the sailboat occupants, requested follow-up medical treatment.
The Alcona County Sheriff's Office and the Michigan State Police Marine Services Unit, stationed in Alpena, also assisted in this series of rescues.
"That successful water rescue of four people on Lake Huron is the best possible outcome, and an excellent reminder of the importance of checking and monitoring weather conditions and using proper lifesaving gear when on the water," said Chief Brandon Kieft, DNR Law Enforcement Division.
"The Great Lakes are especially inviting in the summer months, and we want everyone to safely enjoy them, but they are powerful, often unpredictable bodies of water that must be respected at all times."
