Charlevoix Coast Guard called to multiple rescues over Labor Day weekend

CHARLEVOIX — In a final pop of summertime excitement, the Coast Guard was called to assist in the rescue efforts of several boats over the Labor Day weekend. No one was injured in any of the instances.

The most dramatic of these played out on Saturday, Sept. 3 around 7 p.m. in the middle of downtown Charlevoix’s Pine River Channel, giving onlookers a bird’s eye view of the rescue and resulting in numerous social media posts about the incident.

Bystanders watched as a sinking speed boat pulled over in the channel to evacuate its passengers, who climbed onto the channel’s adjacent walkway.

According to U.S. Coast Guard Boatswain Dalton Smith, the boat had been slammed against the waves in Lake Michigan which resulted in a cracked hull and water filling the boat as the waves splashed over the sides. The combination was too much to overcome and finally the owner, who had only just recently purchased it, had to pull the boat over in the middle of the channel.

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First on scene was a Charlevoix County Sheriff's Department officer on a jet ski, followed by the Charlevoix Fire Department and the Coast Guard. EMS was also there to provide any necessary medical attention.

At that point “it turned into an effort of trying to figure out how to get it out of the water,” said Smith.

The fire department’s dive team was able to secure floating devices to the boat while other rescue workers from the fire department worked to simultaneously pump the water from the vessel.

The entire process took almost 24 hours and the boat was able to be towed out of the channel on Sunday, Sept. 4, according to Smith.

The Coast Guard monitored the operation to make sure the boat’s fuel wasn’t leaking into the lake, and while the divers were in action they worked to keep traffic through the channel in control so as to not endanger the rescue workers. The channel runs under the Charlevoix bascule bridge and provides the only outlet from Lake Charlevoix into Lake Michigan and during the peak summer holiday season can be very congested with boaters.

During the rescue efforts in the channel on Sept. 3, the Coast Guard got another call reporting that a nearby sailboat had capsized. However, the owners were able to receive help in righting the boat relatively quickly and it did not need towing, according to Smith.

In addition, two other boats became unmoored during the weekend. The Coast Guard found one floating adrift and unmanned near Hemingway Point and the other one eventually running aground near Mission Point.

The sailboat near Hemingway Point was found unregistered and had no identifying information, which resulted in the Coast Guard initially having to rule out the possibility that the driver had fallen overboard. The effort to find the owner stretched over several days, according to Smith, and the Coast Guard had to affix a strobe light to the 30-foot vessel to ensure no night boaters would crash into it.

“We had to mark it to make sure other people didn’t hit it in the middle of the night,” said Smith.

Smith said they are unsure how the other boat at Mission Point came loose.

"People not having their boats secured properly has been a bit of an issue lately,” said Smith. “This person had abandoned their boat for quite some time and it had come off of anchor and was blowing around the lake."

Smith encouraged boat owners to periodically check on their water vessels, not to leave them unattended for extended periods of time, and to secure identifying information as well as always maintaining up-to-date registration.

“It is also very important that people make sure their boats are properly secured,” he said.

On Sept. 3 in Charlevoix County, winds peaked at 30 mph with a constant of 20 mph out of the north, according to Wunderground.com.

A small craft advisory is issued by the National Weather Service as a warning when winds have reached a dangerous speed. Sustained wind speeds that govern the issuance of a small craft advisory vary depending on geographical areas but are generally between 23 and 38 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

Contact reporter Annie Doyle at (231) 675-0099 or adoyle@charlevoixcourier.com

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Charlevoix Coast Guard called to multiple rescues over Labor Day weekend