5 days ago
Two paddleboarders rescued from Lake Superior near Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Two paddleboarders were rescued last week after they drifted off shore on Lake Superior near Ontonagon County, Michigan.
On Aug. 8, conservation officers Pete Shambaugh and Ethen Mapes with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources responded to a report about two paddleboarders in distress. DNR officials say a 29-year-old woman from Minnesota and a 37-year-old woman from Illinois — both originally from Ontonagon, Michigan — were located a mile from shore and 1.5 miles west of Ontonagon.
"They were in good condition overall but just could not paddle against the strong wind to get back to shore," Shambaugh said in a statement.
The officers used GPS coordinates provided by dispatch to locate the women, according to a news release. They traveled on the water in an Ontonagon County Sheriff's Office patrol boat, pulling the women aboard and bringing them back to shore.
"By this time, with the strong south wind, the individuals had drifted an additional mile and were now approximately 2 miles from shore," Mapes said. "Neither individual had a life jacket, and they had lost one of their paddles in the wind. One of the two had never been on a paddleboard before that day."
Michigan DNR says anyone paddleboarding should follow these steps:
