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File photo courtesy of Oceana County Sheriff’s Office.
Rescuers call off search before storms
GOLDEN TOWNSHIP — After receiving a “Mayday” call late Monday night, June 24, emergency crews searched Lake Michigan between the Little Sable Point Lighthouse and Pentwater looking for a watercraft in distress, but no boat was found, according to a press release from Oceana County Sheriff Craig Mast.
Mayday is an internationally recognized radio word to signal distress.
“On Monday June 24, 2024 at approximately 11:07 p.m., we were dispatched to a report of a water emergency on Lake Michigan,” states Mast in a press release. “Mason-Oceana 911 received a call from the U.S. Coast Guard indicating that a person had put a “Mayday” call over the marine radio.
“Information from the U.S. Coast Guard was that the transmission was somewhere between the Pentwater Harbor and the Little Point Sable Lighthouse. There was no other information provided by the person on the marine radio.
“Oceana County Sheriff’s Office Marine Division, along with the Michigan DNR, and the Mason County Sheriff’s Office Marine Division responded. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter was dispatched from Wisconsin and assisted in the search as well.
“Our Pentwater Lake rescue boat is equipped with radar as well as FLIR (forward looking infrared) to assist with nighttime rescue operations.
“The Hart Area Fire Department and Silver Lake State Park DNR staff also responded to assist in trying to locate the boat in distress. Having people on land at critical vantage points are extremely helpful in determining where a boat may be located.
“After extensive search efforts by the responding boats, the U.S. Coast Guard determined that the search should be called off, as there was no other information confirming anyone was in distress.
“All four boat crews made it back to their ports safely prior to the overnight storms coming on shore.”
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