Tuesday, September 14, 2010

SAILING CREW RESCUED ON LAKE SUPERIOR
(Lake Superior, ON) – On Friday, September 10 2010 the Sault Ste. Marie OPP Marine Unit received a call from the owner of a sailboat, a 38 foot double mast ketch. The owner advised that he had hired a crew of two to sail the vessel from Thunder Bay to the Caribbean where it was to be sold. On Tuesday, 7 September 2010 the crew had called in a mayday due to adverse weather conditions and was rescued west of Batchawana Bay by a freighter without incident and the sailboat was anchored, abandoned and left adrift and could not be located after the adverse weather had passed. The event was reported to the OPP Marine Unit three days later. Both the Canadian and United States Coast Guard participated in the search for the vessel. RCC Trenton had conducted calculations of the last known position of the vessel in conjunction with past weather patterns and currents of the area. The highest area of probability for the vessel to be located was determined to be in the United States waters off of Marquette, Michigan. On Sunday, 12 September 2010 OPP Marine Unit contacted the United States Coast Guard advising them that the “Journeyer” was still outstanding when they were advised that the vessel had just been spotted by a passing vessel 32 kilometers northeast of Marquette just outside of the Shipping Channel still adrift in United States waters. The owner was contacted and arrangements were made to have the sailboat returned.