double trouble
03-01-2005, 04:38 PM
Six fishermen, dogs pulled from ice off Catawba Island
Coast Guard: A textbook rescue
By KRISTINA SMITH
Staff writer
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News Herald/POLLY BAUMAN
Catawba Island Volunteer firefighters and the U.S. Coast Guard deliver six stranded anglers and two labrador retrievers safely to shore Sunday morning at Catawba State Park.
News Herald/, POLLY BAUMAN
Fisherman Megan Brown (left) of Cleveland is helped to safety by Scott Friedhoff of Port Clinton, who is stationed with the U.S. Coast Guard at Marblehead.
CATAWBA ISLAND -- The U.S. Coast Guard and Catawba Island Township Volunteer Fire Department rescued six ice fishermen who got caught on an ice floe near Catawba Island State Park Sunday morning.
Also taken safely ashore: two labrador retrievers.
The rescue came just two days after the Coast Guard rescued about 30 fishermen from an ice chunk about a half-mile from shore near Crane Creek State Park in Carroll Township.
No one fell in the water or was injured Sunday. The fishermen, who are not from the Ottawa County area, were returned to shore within 40 minutes after the coast guard and fire department arrived on scene, said Petty Officer Paul Gimple of the U.S. Coast Guard Marblehead Station.
"This whole thing went off without a hitch," Gimple said. "I guess you could say it was the most textbook case we've ever had. Everyone in this case should be commended."
Stan Cutcher of the Catawba Island area reported seeing the fishermen on a floe moving rapidly to the west about 200 yards from shore at 9:32 a.m., Gimple said.
Cutcher was in the area and saw the ice beginning to break loose. He went to the boat ramp at Catawba Island State Park and thought the fishermen were in trouble, Gimple said. Cutcher could not be reached for comment.
The coast guard, fire department and an Ottawa County Sheriff's deputy arrived at the state park 10 minutes later, Gimple said.
"This was a very fast response time," he said. "It was a very well-executed mobilization."
The coast guard and the fire department each used a 14-foot aluminum rescue boat to bring the group and two dogs owned by one of the fishermen to shore at 10:22 a.m., he said. The Coast Guard's Detroit station sent its helicopter, but turned it around en route to the scene after the boats completed the rescue, he said.
"These guys weren't very far off the docks," he said.
Those rescued were Doug Winans, 40, of Athens; Bob Tallon, 57, of Brunswick; Al Wellman, 49, of Lodi; Harold Owilke, 29, of Cleveland; and Megan Brown, 27, of Cleveland. The sixth fisherman left the scene before the coast guard could get his name, Gimple said.
"They were just glad to be up on land," Catawba Island Volunteer Fire Department Chief Dan Barlow said. "They were shaking in the hands of the people who brought them back in."
The fishermen had to leave behind two ice shanties and equipment sleds, said Gimple, who was not sure how long they had been fishing.
Gimple said the wind, which was moving 15-20 knots from the east, caused the ice to shift and break up. During the ice rescue Friday, the wind was moving from the southwest, and the change in wind direction was a factor in causing the floes, Gimple said.
It was the first ice rescue the fire department has done this year, but rescues are common this time of year, Barlow said. The ice is starting to thin, he said.
"(Fishermen) see an opportunity to do some fishing, and they don't pay attention to the winds, and they get stuck out there," Barlow said.
E-mail Kristina Smith at mksmith@fremont.gannett.com.
Coast Guard: A textbook rescue
By KRISTINA SMITH
Staff writer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
News Herald/POLLY BAUMAN
Catawba Island Volunteer firefighters and the U.S. Coast Guard deliver six stranded anglers and two labrador retrievers safely to shore Sunday morning at Catawba State Park.
News Herald/, POLLY BAUMAN
Fisherman Megan Brown (left) of Cleveland is helped to safety by Scott Friedhoff of Port Clinton, who is stationed with the U.S. Coast Guard at Marblehead.
CATAWBA ISLAND -- The U.S. Coast Guard and Catawba Island Township Volunteer Fire Department rescued six ice fishermen who got caught on an ice floe near Catawba Island State Park Sunday morning.
Also taken safely ashore: two labrador retrievers.
The rescue came just two days after the Coast Guard rescued about 30 fishermen from an ice chunk about a half-mile from shore near Crane Creek State Park in Carroll Township.
No one fell in the water or was injured Sunday. The fishermen, who are not from the Ottawa County area, were returned to shore within 40 minutes after the coast guard and fire department arrived on scene, said Petty Officer Paul Gimple of the U.S. Coast Guard Marblehead Station.
"This whole thing went off without a hitch," Gimple said. "I guess you could say it was the most textbook case we've ever had. Everyone in this case should be commended."
Stan Cutcher of the Catawba Island area reported seeing the fishermen on a floe moving rapidly to the west about 200 yards from shore at 9:32 a.m., Gimple said.
Cutcher was in the area and saw the ice beginning to break loose. He went to the boat ramp at Catawba Island State Park and thought the fishermen were in trouble, Gimple said. Cutcher could not be reached for comment.
The coast guard, fire department and an Ottawa County Sheriff's deputy arrived at the state park 10 minutes later, Gimple said.
"This was a very fast response time," he said. "It was a very well-executed mobilization."
The coast guard and the fire department each used a 14-foot aluminum rescue boat to bring the group and two dogs owned by one of the fishermen to shore at 10:22 a.m., he said. The Coast Guard's Detroit station sent its helicopter, but turned it around en route to the scene after the boats completed the rescue, he said.
"These guys weren't very far off the docks," he said.
Those rescued were Doug Winans, 40, of Athens; Bob Tallon, 57, of Brunswick; Al Wellman, 49, of Lodi; Harold Owilke, 29, of Cleveland; and Megan Brown, 27, of Cleveland. The sixth fisherman left the scene before the coast guard could get his name, Gimple said.
"They were just glad to be up on land," Catawba Island Volunteer Fire Department Chief Dan Barlow said. "They were shaking in the hands of the people who brought them back in."
The fishermen had to leave behind two ice shanties and equipment sleds, said Gimple, who was not sure how long they had been fishing.
Gimple said the wind, which was moving 15-20 knots from the east, caused the ice to shift and break up. During the ice rescue Friday, the wind was moving from the southwest, and the change in wind direction was a factor in causing the floes, Gimple said.
It was the first ice rescue the fire department has done this year, but rescues are common this time of year, Barlow said. The ice is starting to thin, he said.
"(Fishermen) see an opportunity to do some fishing, and they don't pay attention to the winds, and they get stuck out there," Barlow said.
E-mail Kristina Smith at mksmith@fremont.gannett.com.