The two men that were rescued can thank their lucky stars for Sara Overhoht, 19, and her three friends Michael McRae, 19, Katie Froberg, 18, and Randy McClain 14. In mid September, while walking on Grand Haven’s South Pier about 9 p.m., they noticed a man bobbing in the Lake Michigan surf shouting for help. Just moments before they had seen him surf boarding and now there he was without his board, screaming for help.

They rushed to a nearby emergency 911 call box only to find it not working. Fortunately the bright warning light atop the box caught a crewman’s eye aboard a Coast Guard Motor Life Boat (MLB) inbound Grand Haven, channel. The coxswain nosed the MLB up to the channel side of the pier; a crewman passed a rescue heaving line to the girls. Because the surfer was on the seaward side of the pier, shallow waters and heavy surf prevented the Coast Guard vessel from approaching him.

The girls raced over to assist the man but now had to deal with a second person in the water. A Good Samaritan, responding to the frantic teens urgent calls for help, had leaped into the water to assist the surfer, and after doing so found himself consumed in the heavy surf. After several tosses, the girls pulled the Good Samaritan, with help from his wife, onto the pier. Then the teens hauled the wind surfer to safety. Sara Overholt said at one time he yelled: "I cannot do this anymore I’m already dead." The men were extremely lucky. If not for the teen’s quick actions, the outcome might well have been another Lake Michigan pier fatality. I’ve responded to several fatalities wherein Lake Michigan piers and breakwaters had their way. One involved a fisherman, 69 who, while fishing off the South Breakwater in Manistee in mid-October, slipped on the slimy algae surface and fell in.

According to another fisher who frantically greeted me at the station, the fisherman had bobbed twice and went down, pulled under by his fishing waders. It took us several days to find his body.

Two drownings near the same breakwater a year later prompted Manistee city officials to install poles with life rings. According to city officials, since then there have been no fatalities off Manistee piers or breakwaters.

While life rings definitely enhance the chance of retrieving a person in the water, there is no greater prevention than using extreme caution when around breakwaters and piers, especially now with water temperatures cooling. As of this writing water temperature along the Lake Michigan shoreline averaged 53 degrees F.

In such water, one will quickly lose use of the hands as hypothermia quickly advances. Time becomes crucial, especially since rescuers must take time to don protective gear to respond. That’s if they can reach the victim. As with the men floundering in the surf off Grand Haven’s South Pier, heavy seas and shallow waters often prevent approach by boat. These conditions- I believe most professional rescuers would agree - are the most difficult, most hazardous, and most frustrating rescues to perform. The victim is so close and yet agonizingly out of reach.

In all, this is not painting a very encouraging picture for someone who might end up in such a dilemma. Good. That’s exactly the intent of the column- to urge people to use extreme caution when around piers and breakwaters. And, to understand that despite all the excellent rescue resources available, they may still be on their own. At least long enough for the Lake to make its claim. Be smart, never allow the Lake the opportunity. As for the teens involved in the rescue they might want to consider a career in the Coast Guard- what an introduction.

Special Note: The body of the fisherman that fell off his 16-foot boat just north of the Muskegon North Pierhead in September washed up onto the beach seven miles north of Muskegon on October 14, 1999. That was the case involving the dog adrift on the boat. His master was not wearing a life jacket.