KELLEYS ISLAND, Ohio — The United States Coast Guard rescued four people from the waters of Lake Erie early Thursday morning after the group was stranded on their boat for about 11 hours.
According to officials, the boat stalled at around 6 p.m. Wednesday, but those on board said they were not able to call for help because of poor cellphone reception. At 4 a.m. Thursday, they finally managed to use an SOS app to signal for assistance and gave information to Erie County Dispatch before being disconnected.
Eventually, the boaters managed to contact Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Trenton, a part of the Canadian Coast Guard. Both they and Erie County were able to provide information to U.S. Coast Guard crews in Marblehead, who launched a rescue operation and found the vessel at 5:10 a.m. roughly 6 1/2 miles off the coast of Kelleys Island.
The military towed the boat back to land and spoke with the boaters, who explained they were unfamiliar with Lake Erie. No injuries were reported.
"Thanks to the swift coordination between our command center, JRCC, and Erie County Dispatch, we were able to launch our RB-M (Response Boat-Medium crew) and get on scene as quickly and safely as possible," U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Cory Nussbaum of Station Marblehead Coxswain said in a statement. "Without a marine radio, the boaters were at the mercy of their cellphone reception and were unable to contact emergency services sooner."
The Coast Guard recommends all boaters carry multiple methods of communication when out on the water, with one of them preferably a Very High Frequency Marine Radio.