Family Rescued Near Round Island

A man and his dog were back safe on Mackinac Island after becoming stranded on Round Island, and his wife and daughter were rescued as their small boat drifted out into the Straits of Mackinac Saturday, June 10, following a family outing.

The excitement began as the family left Round Island in a small inflatable boat and their dog jumped overboard. The man jumped into the water after the dog, leaving his wife and daughter in the boat.

They did not know how to operate the boat and it drifted out into the Straits of Mackinac, while the man and dog made for dry ground on Round Island.

The Mackinac County Sheriff's Department marine patrol was in the vicinity and was able to pull alongside the drifting rubber boat and take the wife and daughter to Mackinac Island.

Shallow water at Round Island prevented the Sheriff's Department or a Coast Guard

Auxiliary boat from St. Ignace from picking up the man and his dog, so the Mackinac Island Fire Department was dispatched with its inflatable boat for the rescue.

The boat was manned by Jason St. Onge and Dan Wightman.

The incident underscores the danger of small boats on the Great Lakes.

"The inflatable shouldn't have been out in that kind of weather. It was too choppy," said Boatswain Mate Third Class Miranda Yarger from Coast Guard Station St. Ignace.