GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — The U.S. Coast Guard is celebrating the Coast Guardsmen who performed a rescue 25 miles off of Grand Haven on Memorial Day.
"We're all excited, we're excited to get to get a SAR case and to be able to do what we trained for with a relatively experienced crew upfront," said Leo Lake, the Operations Officer at Air Station Traverse City and Aircraft Commander during the flight on Monday.
On Memorial Day, a man was stuck aboard his sinking sailboat about 25 miles off the coast of Grand Haven in Lake Michigan. Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard Stations in Grand Haven and Traverse City responded immediately when they got the call.
"A vessel taking on water. My main concern is that quickly turn into a person in the water and the water temperatures are very cold. So we quickly went to the helicopter and we changed out. We push the helicopter out and hopped in it. We were doing about 160 knots on the way down there. So we're pulling as much power as we could and this is a coordinated effort," said Lake.
The Coast Guardsmen who rescued the man were assisted by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan Command Center in Milwaukee. The guardsmen were able to bring the man onto the boat, saving his life just moments before the boat sank completely. Moments after the rescue was completed, the sailboat sank into 300 feet of water. Lake says the weather played a big factor in the rescue risk.
"It was a bad weather day, we were flying through some pretty hard rain and we were flying in the clouds. We're very fortunate that we fly a very capable aircraft. The seas were only four to five feet this time. If you have big seas and the seas can build quickly, you can get very large waves here in the Great Lakes. So those sort of things add to our risk, but fortunately this time it was relatively straightforward for us," said Lake.
After the man was rescued, he was taken back to shore and transferred to EMS. The Coast Guardsmen were able to save his life. Lake says for anyone out on the lake this summer, it's important to be proactive before going into the water.
"So wearing a life jacket is super important. Knowing that the water is cold, even if it's a pleasant sunny day outside. Being prepared for contingencies, having a radio, having a way to communicate, in this case, a sat phone because he's farther offshore. Those were all things that set him up for success," said Lake.
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