CLEVELAND — The Coast Guard assisted two people aboard a boat that was taking on water five miles north of Windsor, Ontario in Lake St. Clair early Monday afternoon.
The names and hometowns of the individuals rescued are not being released, and there is no Coast Guard imagery.
At around 12:15 p.m., a search-and-rescue coordinator, from Coast Guard Sector Detroit, received a distress call, via VHF-FM channel 16, from a good Samaritan reporting a boat with two people aboard was taking on water.
Upon receiving the call, the SAR coordinator issued an urgent marine information broadcast and directed the launch of a rescue boatcrew from Coast Guard Station St. Clair Shores.
The rescue boatcrew aboard a 25-foot Response Boat-Small arrived on scene at around 12:40 and immediately started dewatering the 30-foot vessel using a P-6 pumpl. A boatcrew from the Canadian Coast Guard arrived on scene shortly after 1 p.m., and also assisted the distressed boaters.
“This rescue was a prime example of our great working relationship with the Canadian Coast Guard,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Zach Ogden, the coxswain of the 25-foot RB-S. “The rescue crews worked seamlessly together and because of that we were able to get both people and their boat to shore safely.”
A boatcrew member from the U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard operated the Coast Guard’s P-6 pump aboard the vessel as it made way toward a marina in Windsor. The remaining boatcrew members escorted the vessel.
The cause of the flooding was believed to be a crack in the hull of the boat.