Photo courtesy of Keweenaw County Sheriff Curt Pennala This Sea Doo personal watercraft acquired by the Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Office last year, turned out to instrumental in rescuing to boaters stranded in a rain storm on Porter’s Island last Friday. The successful rescue has prompted Sheriff Curt Pennala to begin exploring organizing a county-wide search and rescue team.

EAGLE RIVER — A recent rescue of two people stranded on the Lake Superior side of Porter’s Island during a storm last week has prompted the Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Office to start exploring forming a search and rescue team for the county. Sheriff Curt Pennala said it would be for incidents similar to last Friday’s rescue, in which the two people rescued had been stranded on the island for several hours with inadequate clothing or shelter, before they could be reached. They became stranded when they were forced to beach their inflatable boat, which had become overwhelmed in high seas caused by strong winds.

Pennala said the plan would necessarily require some cross-training with park personnel at Fort Wilkins State Park, in Copper Harbor, who had attempted to rescue the stranded boaters, but could not reach them for lack of small enough to watercraft to reach them near the rocks surrounding the island.

Fort Wilkins State Park Supervisor Bob Wild had been with the Porcupine Mountains State Park, where there was a well-established collaboration with the local Sheriff’s Office and also the Federal Park Service, where they have conducted search and rescue work, Pennala said.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while,” said Pennala, “so it’s just something that we’re looking at now.”

Pennala said that the plan would happily embrace a group of people from each area of the county to join in forming the team, which would greatly increase search and rescue efficiency.

“When we have something like this, if we had a team of people,” he explained, “if one of the deputies gets called out, we could page the search and rescue team, and they could come out and assist.”

Pennala said that in the past number of years, tourism has really increased significantly, and search and rescues have increased proportionately, and part of the problem facing organizations in each township, is personnel limitations.

“Like with some of the personnel with the fire departments,” he said, “they’re aging, and less people are volunteering for those.”

Marquette and Alger counties both operate successful search and research teams, particularly in the Pictured Rocks area.

Although some equipment would be necessary, said Pennala, including the Sea Doo rescue watercraft that was ultimately used to rescue the two stranded on Porter’s Island.

“We just acquired that Sea Doo personal watercraft in the past year,” said the Sheriff,“and it’s already come in handy.”

Another valuable asset the department has to its credit is K-9 Corporal Dogo, a cross-trained dog, which, with his handler, Sergeant Brad Pelli, has already proven his search and rescue skills several times.

Dogo again proved his skills earlier this week when he was called on to search for — of all things — an engagement and wedding ring lost in the sand at on the beach at Eagle River, near the Sheriff’s Office. A social media post by local resident Elsa Green, who had lost the rings, went viral as it explained that where several people had tried to find the rings, and could not, and a man using his wife’s metal detector failed to find them, Dogo easily located the rings.

The Sea Doo personal watercraft, Cpl. Dogo and his handler, Sgt. Pelli, are already valuable to starting such a search and rescue team, said Pennala; they have all proven themselves.