Date: Aug. 7, 2008

Contact: Petty Officer Bill Colclough
(216) 902-6020 office
(216) 310-2608 cell

COAST GUARD RESCUES 11 PERSONS FROM PONTOON BOAT

STURGEON BAY, Wis. - Coast Guard Station Sturgeon Bay rescued nine adults and two teenagers from a 24-foot pontoon boat taking on water near Sawyer Harbor inside Sturgeon Bay Thursday at approximately 2:30 p.m.

"We spotted a boat whose starboard pontoon was completely submerged," said Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Larry Hall.

"Another five minutes, the boat would have flipped over."

Hall and his 25-foot small response boat (RB-S) crew transported the group of six females and five males to a local marina, while the pontoon boat was towed back to a rental company.

Two off-duty members of the station, Seaman Michael Klopp and Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Joshua Kuhn, were in the area on a 14-foot fishing boat and assisted the 11 passengers prior to the crew's arrival on-scene.

"They made sure they donned their life jackets," said Hall.

Upon transfer to shore, all 11 passengers were safe and had no medical concerns.

The crew initially was en route to rescue three persons on a 14-foot rental boat in the water in Nicolet Bay, when a good samaritan plucked them out of the water safely.