Good Samaritan, Coast Guard, Lakeshore Fire and Rescue Save Four from Lake; BOLAND Photos

As first reported on the Erie Shipping News's Twitter account at 1040 hours Friday, a boater fishing in 70 feet of water off of Elk Creek called Coast Guard Station Erie and reported a 25 foot vessel sinking in a position of 42' 08.817 North, 080' 18.500 West with four persons on board. The four men went into the water when their boat capsized shortly thereafter. The good samaritan managed to pull all of the men out of Lake Erie and headed for Walnut Creek Boat Access, where emergency medical technicians were being sent. The vessel rendezvoused with Lakeshore Fire and Rescue Vessel 509 off of Walnut Creek and transfered the victims to 509 at 1116 hours. Of the four victims, one was showing signs of hypothermia and was taken to shore and quickly transferred to EMS and taken to St. Vincent Medical Center for treatment.

At that time Lakeshore Towing's towboat ENDURANCE and USCG 25573 headed for the swamped vessel. Neither managed to arrive before the boat sank. The vessel is a total loss in about 70 feet of water.

New York State's environmental research vessel ARGO spent last night at Wolverine Marina.

Below are photos of the JOHN J. BOLAND, J.S. St. JOHN and ARGO. Video of the St. JOHN is also below, and I will post the BOLAND video tomorrow.

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J.S. St. JOHN outbound at 1830 hours Thursday with the BOLAND in the background.


Another view.


Stern view.


BOLAND lifts its lifeboat after conducting a fire and boat drill.


1945 hours, turning after unloading.


In the channel.


Outbound.


Close up, departing in ballast for Toledo.


Stern view.


ARGO at Wolverine Marina this morning.

CLIPPER LOYALTY DEPARTS; USCG, LAKESHORE TOWING PARTICIPATE IN WATER RESCUE OFF ERIE

Lakeshore Towing's towboats ENDURANCE and TITAN pulled the oil-containment boom from around the CLIPPER LOYALTY at 0830 this morning, and the LOYALTY departed the Mountfort Terminal and Erie at 1030 bound for Quebec City. In addition to the biodiesel taken aboard at Erie, the LOYALTY is loaded with a partial cargo of nonene from Sarnia, Ontario.

At 0915 this morning, a 26-foot Bayliner called Coast Guard Station Erie and reported that they had picked up a swimmer in the water a mile off of Gull Point. At the time, waves on Lake Erie were reported to be cresting at five to seven feet, with an occasional eight foot wave. The swimmer reported that his 20-foot ski boat had capsized and the three other people aboard the vessel were clinging to the overturned wreckage. The four had launched from East Avenue and were out for a day of fishing on a lake not suited for fishing.

Station Erie launched a major search effort with both of the station's vessels, 47241 and 25573, along with Lakeshore Towing's towboat ENDURANCE, that lasted for almost an hour before the two Coast Guard vessels rescued the other three, alive but tired and suffering from various injuries, and transfered them to waiting EMS at Beach 11. Two of the four persons were wearing personal floatation devices, and the other two were not. Two were treated for mild hypothermia, one of the vessel's occupants was treated for diabetic shock, and at least one needed stitches after being hit in the face when a wave knocked the vessel's bimini top off and hit him in the face.

Lakeshore Towing's ENDURANCE took the vessel in tow to Lampe Marina, where it was righted and pumped out before being returned to East Avenue.

This is the third salvage job Lakeshore has performed in the past two weeks. On Monday, July 27 the company's tug DON HENRY, stationed in Conneaut to perform dredging work, put a fire out on a boat that had exploded and injured two people. Yesterday, DON HENRY and barge 401 were pressed into service to salvage a 23-foot Lund fishing boat that ran up onto the Conneaut breakwall while on autopilot, injuring five occupants of the vessel. The excavator on barge 401 was fitted with slings and the vessel was lifted off and carried to the boat launch in Conneaut harbor.

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Towboat TITAN departs after assisting in removing the oil-containment boom around the CLIPPER LOYALTY.


Towboat ENDURANCE exits the channel at a high rate of speed to begin searching for the capsized vessel.


CLIPPER LOYALTY departs the Mountfort Terminal.


Lining up for the channel.


CLIPPER LOYALTY in the channel.


Stern view.


Another view.


Passing 47241. Note the group of onlookers watching the EMS on Beach 11.


25573 returning to Station Erie.

CLIPPER LANCER, PRESQUE ISLE, W.N. TWOLAN Due; Boom Over the Bay: An Inside Look

The latest ETA for the next biodiesel tanker, CLIPPER LANCER, is 1300 hours on Thursday. Meanwhile, on Friday the PRESQUE ISLE is due in Erie for repairs, and the W.N. TWOLAN and McALLISTER 132, loaded with lumber and paper products from Thunder Bay, is also expected. Current plans call for all three vessels to be moored at the Mountfort Terminal at once; the PRESQUE ISLE, though, would end up sticking about 700 feet off the dock, so these plans may change.

And now, the long awaited inside look at the preparations for Boom Over the Bay.

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1910 hours: Lakeshore Towing tug FLATTOP leaves the rest of the Lakeshore fleet behind as we depart Wolverine Marina. The rest of the fleet won't be stationary for long, however. Both tug DON HENRY and towboat ENDURANCE will be underway within the next ten minutes, and towboat TITAN will be underway about an hour later.


1912 hours: Clearing the West Canal Basin, we head for the Parade Street slip to pick up barges 501 and 502, moored on the east side of Erie Shipbuilding to load fireworks..


1916 hours: FLATTOP inbound the Old Ore Dock. The J.S. St. JOHN, in the distance, is resting for the holiday weekend.


1918 hours: DON HENRY catches up with us.


1919 hours: DON HENRY slides up behind the 502.


1920 hours: Fireworks on the 502.


1924 hours: DON HENRY, under the command of Lakeshore Towing President, Capt. Eric Guerrein, slides the 502 away from the wall.


1927 hours: 502 comes alongside the 501.


A closer look at the J.S. St. JOHN.


1931 hours: The grand finale and the opener were loaded onto the 501.


1932 hours: Securing FLATTOP to the tow before departing the dock.


1945 hours: Backing 501 and 502 away from the wall.


2003 hours: Westbound in Presque Isle Bay at a leisurely three knots. In the distance, towboat ENDURANCE marks the spot where the barges will be anchored.


2012 hours: Having arrived in position and turned the barges, the bow anchor is dropped to keep the barges in place.


2017 hours: The stern anchor is loaded onto DON HENRY. It will be taken out and dropped to hold the barges in place.


2020 hours: DON HENRY returns


2024 hours: Barges anchored, FLATTOP leaves to drop buoys marking the Coast Guard safety zone. No boats are allowed within 100 feet of this area until after it is determined that there are no live fireworks left on the barges after the show.


2028: First buoy goes over the side. Within 15 minutes all four will be dropped, leaving an hour of downtime before the fireworks begin.


2145 hours: Fireworks begin.


2240 hours: In the wheelhouse of FLATTOP preparing to get underway for Erie Shipbuilding. While we're underway, the traffic on the Bayfront Parkway is snarled due to the crowds.

Lakeshore Towing is First Responder to Persons in Water

What started out as another ordinary tow for Lakeshore Towing's Captain Neil Lundell aboard ENDURANCE on Wednesday evening ended with Lundell rescuing three people from the waters of Lake Erie after a search and rescue operation involving ENDURANCE, Coast Guard Station Erie, and a Coast Guard helicopter from Detroit.

Apparently, after the pleasure craft became disabled, three of the vessel's occupants decided to go swimming. While trying to reboard the craft, the swim platform on the vessel broke free and the boat drifted away from them, leaving a lone female occupant on the boat. However, she informed no one until Capt. Lundell arrived aboard ENDURANCE. By this time, the occupants had drifted quite a distance from the vessel, which was located about two miles northeast of the channel.

The vessel's occupant informed Capt. Lundell of the missing persons, and he in turn informed Coast Guard Station Erie and began searching for the three.

The three passengers were recovered by ENDURANCE at around 2030 hours Wednesday night. One of the vessels from Coast Guard Station Erie transported the three to Lampe Marina, where they refused treatment from Emergycare, though one was reported to be suffering from mild hypothermia.

Swim the Bay Completed Successfully

Today's swim across Presque Isle Bay, celebrating how clean the bay's watter has become (I doubt anyone would drink it, though) was completed successfully at around 1100 hours. At that time, Lakeshore Towing's tug FLATTOP removed the buoys lining the course and returned them to Presque Isle State Park. Lakeshore Towing's tug DON HENRY and towboats TITAN and ENDURANCE had patrolled the course during the two-hour long swim, working with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Fish and Boat Commission to keep boaters from straying into the safety zone established for the swim.