59°Boater missing off Port Clinton
Jul 24
2010
PORT CLINTON
The Coast Guard searched unsuccessfully for hours Saturday for a boater washed away by a large Lake Erie wave when he went into the water to untangle a line from around the propeller.
The missing boater, Gregory Shaw, 64, Dublin, was an experienced sailor, the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. He entered the water about one mile north of the entrance to the Portage River.
The Coast Guard received the call at 1:45 p.m. and immediately launched a search and rescue operation using two boats and a helicopter, said Auxiliarist Fred Overholt.
The Lakeside and Catawba fire departments joined in the search with their own boats and Port Clinton’s police department and the sheriff’s office also helped.
“We’ll suspend the search for the night because of darkness,” Overholt said shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday. “We usually do a first light search in the morning.”
Shaw was not wearing a life preserver, Overholt said. There are no signs alcohol was involved.
Shaw had recently sold his boat, a 1981 26-foot AMF Paceship sailboat. Saturday morning, Shaw took the new owner’s nephew, Kelly M. Russell, 23, Wooster, and the nephew’s mother, Elizabeth J. Russell, 56, Wooster, out on the lake, the sheriff’s office said.
When the wind and the waves increased, Shaw began lowering his sails and started the engine to return to port under power. As he lowered the sail, a line went under the boat and became tangled in the propeller and propeller shaft, stalling the motor. Shaw went into the water with a knife, intending to cut the line, but a large wave swept him away from the boat and the Russells quickly lost sight of him.
The Ottawa County Sheriff’s office released portions of the 911 call Kelly Russell made on his cell phone, pleading for quick action to save the boat’s captain.
“We need someone out here immediately,” Russell said. “He’s gone. We don’t know where he is.”
When Shaw became separated from his boat, winds were blowing from the south and southwest at 15 to 20 knots, with waves of three to five feet.
The incident underscores the importance of wearing a life jacket when out on the lake, Overholt said.
“If he were wearing a life jacket he could have been located and pulled out of the water fairly easily,” he said.
Listen to the 911 audio via the Ottawa County Sheriff's office news release by clicking HERE.
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01:26 PM
lestrade says
Yeah,it's pretty hard to dive underwater with a life vest on! Iam going to assume that Blue AngleRose did not read the artice fully.If he was swept over the deck by a large wave and not wearing a vest then yes, your comment would be appro.Good sugestionSarah,on tying a rope around you weather you can swim or not.Whatever the circumstances I send my condolences to the family.
10:51 AM
SarahTonin says
To Blue Angel Rose:
I'm sorry that my inexperience shows dear friend. I have a great deal of respect for the Coast Guard BUT I say again, would you or someone at the Coast Guard care to demonstrate the technique of cutting a rope free, that is fouling a sailboat propellor, from it's entanglement while wearing a life vest? I'm up for a good laugh! It cannot be done, period. For you to suggest that it can, or that this captain should have been wearing one, is pure lunacy.
Not only have I had to make the same manuever, that is cutting a fouled rope from a propellor on a sailboat, but had to do it in similar conditions. I tied a rope to my waist so that I would not be separated from the boat. Over the past 30 years, I have owned three sailboats and sailed in the Pacific, the Atlantic, four of the Great Lakes plus the Carribean and various other bodies of water. I have taken every level of class that the Coast Guard offers, plus!
In general, your advice is correct but here, you are really showing that you have never tried this manuever. Recommending that this captain should have been wearing one is really dumb. Please don't comment further until you have tried this!
10:03 AM
BlueAngelRose says
To Sarah:
Yes, it is a tragedy. But don't comment on something you don't know about. I am a Coast Guard Auxiliarist also and we teach boating classes to the public and we STRESS wearing life jackets, because they SAVE LIVES. Had this skipper been wearing a life jacket, he would be here today. And yes, we do know how to swim, but try swimming without a life jacket in 3-5 foot waves or even 1-2 foot waves. How long would you be able to fight those waves and stay afloat and swim 1 mile to shore. And don't forget the currents that can take you under very quickly. Even when the lake is calm, there are still currents. So far 4 people have died from drowning in Lake Erie this year and none of them were wearing a life jacket. I will say it again LIFE JACKETS SAVE LIVES!!! Take a boating class and find out for yourself. My prayers go out to his family.
08:42 AM
SarahTonin says
Coast Guard Auxiliarist Overholt really recommended wearing a life jacket to go under the sailboat to cut away the line fouling the propellor? Would the Coast Guard please care to demonstrate the technique for us? Can Overholt swim?
I am sorry to hear about this tragedy. Sailors are masters of the wind and waves and losing a sailor is very sad. My heart goes out to his family.