A 76-year-old man and 66-year-old woman from Ann Arbor were rescued Tuesday after their sailboat ran aground in high winds and rough water on Lake Huron.
The boaters launched near the Point Au Gres Marina and Campground, located on Green Drive, and planned to sail north to a boat slip they own at Tawas Marina.
At 2:10 p.m., Arenac County Central Dispatch received a 911 call regarding a boat that possibly had capsized off the south side of Point Au Gres, near North Rumsey Road.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officers Josh Jobin and Craig Neal heard the call and responded immediately.
The COs launched an 18-foot patrol vessel from Au Gres River Mouth public access, located off Main Street. Deputies from the Arenac County Sheriff’s Office were on shore and able to direct the officers toward the distressed vessel.
Contact was made about 400 yards offshore, where the COs secured the two boaters. Both were wearing life jackets and in stable condition.
At approximately 3:23 p.m., the boaters were safely delivered to a private launch owned by the Au Gres Boat Club Association, located on Santiago Road. Deputies from the Arenac County Sheriff’s Office met the COs and boaters at the private launch and transported the man and woman back to their vehicle. Medical assistance was not required.
The sailboat remains moored in Lake Huron at the time of this release. The DNR is not releasing the names of the rescued boaters.
The U.S. Coast Guard and Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police Department assisted.
Jobin has been a CO since 2023; Neal has been a CO since 2015. Both officers patrol in Arenac County.
Put safety first, all season long
Today is the last day of National Safe Boating Week. The DNR reminds all boaters to wear U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets, check weather conditions before leaving shore and monitor conditions while on the water.
According to most recent USCG statistics, 75 percent of boating deaths are due to drowning, and of those fatalities, 87 percent of victims were not wearing life jackets.
Michigan conservation officers are fully licensed law enforcement officers who provide natural resources protection, ensure recreational safety, and protect residents through general law enforcement and lifesaving operations in the communities they serve.
Learn more at Michigan.gov/ConservationOfficers and follow the weekly blog with updates from the conservation officer recruits in Training Academy No. 13, underway now in Roscommon.
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