 Do or die- wear a life jacket On May 14, 2004, a 39-year-old male while departing a dock in the New Buffalo river channel, fell off his jet ski and drowned in 6 ½ feet of water. According to witnesses he bobbled several times and went under. I spoke with BM1 Stephen Pickard, Coast Guard Station Michigan City, who responded to the case. He said the victim was only feet from the dock, he was not wearing a life jacket and according to friends was a "non swimmer". The water temperature was 62-degrees and the air temperature 55 degrees but chilled by a northwest wind. Divers located his body an hour later. Michigan law requires that jet skiers wear Coast Guard approved life jackets. On April 17th, Coast Guard (CG) Station Kenosha responded to a capsized canoe with two people in the water reportedly ¾ miles north of the Kenosha pier rhead light, Lake Michigan. The air temperature was 75 degrees the water temp 50 degrees with 1-2 foot seas. It took four minutes from the time a Good Samaritan on shore reported the capsizing to the CG to the time a CG crew reached the capsized canoe, and just in the nick of time. Coast Guardsmen, George Amon, grabbed the extended finger (yes finger) of a young male as the teen slipped below the surface. If the boat had arrived seconds later, the lad would have drowned. It was that close. Neither of the teens (ages 14 and 16) were wearing life jackets. Personnel from the Kenosha fire department rescued the other teen. Lessons learned: Wear a life jacket, especially this time of the year with cold water and fewer boats on the water to assist those in immediate need. As of May 25, 2004, the average NOAA reported water temperature around Lake Michigan was 45 degrees. Group
Grand Haven | USCG
Office of Boating Safety
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