SOUTH HAVEN, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office is reporting a boat rescue from Lake Michigan that occurred over the weekend.
On Saturday, September 5, Marine Deputies were patrolling on Lake Michigan at South Haven during high wave activity.
Marine Deputies observed a dinghy (a small type of boat) being operated in the 5-6 foot waves approximately 400 yards from shore. Shortly after their initial sighting, Marine Deputies observed that the boat was now adrift toward the swim area without the operator.
Marine Deputies quickly began searching the area in the high waves and discovered the operator in the water, struggling to stay afloat without a life preserver.
The Marine Deputies to pull the operator into the Sheriff’s patrol boat where he was safely transported to shore. The operator was then transported to Bronson Hospital South Haven where he was treated and released for exhaustion.
The ensuing investigation revealed that the operator had been jumping waves and was ejected from the watercraft. He had been in the lake for about ten minutes before the rescue.
This is only one of multiple lake rescues to occur in South Haven over the past weekend in dangerous water conditions.
On that same Saturday, three separate rescues had to be initiated for various incidents pertaining to water-related dangers.
Then on Sunday, rescue personnel responded to a report of two men in distress at a buoy in the swimming area. A 19-year-old clinging to the buoy about 100 yards from shore was rescued, but his friend, a 19-year-old from the Jackson area, had gone underwater and not resurfaced.
The Van Buren County Sheriff Marine Patrol and a Coast Guard cutter conducted search patterns, but ultimately suspended their search due to the hazardous lake conditions and darkness.
The search is expected to resume once the conditions improve.
