Photograph courtesy of Sheriff Curt Pennala The Keweenaw Sheriff’s 23 foot patrol vessel was used in two rescues Friday.

KEWEENAW COUNTY — On Friday, Aug. 5, deputies from the Sheriff’s Office responded to two separate distress calls resulting in the rescue of a female kayaker and a male boater.

At approximately 9:20 a.m. on Friday, according to a Sheriff’s Office statement, deputies responded to two vessels in distress. A distress call was received by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and they requested the Sheriff’s Office assist in the search.The first vessel was a kayak being paddled by a 62-year old-female. She was last seen headed towards High Rock Bay from Keystone Bay Thursday evening.

The second vessel was an 18-foot outboard motorboat reported as aground in Keystone Bay. The deputies launched the Sheriff’s Office’s 23-foot patrol boat from Copper Harbor and proceeded to Keystone Bay. A deputy also launched the Sheriff’s Office Personal Water Craft (PWC) from Lac La Belle. The kayaker was located near the mouth of Hoar Creek, just south of Keystone Bay, near Fish Cove. She had spent the night on the beach without shelter. Due to high wave action, she was transported by PWC to the patrol boat.

The motorboat in Keystone Bay was aground, partially submerged, due to the high wave action, the release stated .The boat owner, a 58-year-old male, was also transported by PWC to the patrol boat. Deputies then transported the couple to Copper Harbor by boat, from where they were driven to Lac La Belle to retrieve their vehicle.

Sheriff Curt Pennala said both rescues were made within an hour of each other.

“The first rescue was of the female,” he said, “she was in the kayak, beached at that point, because of the rough seas. She spent the night near the mouth of Hoar Creek. After they got her off the beach and out to our patrol boat, then they went and found the male boater.”

“After she was brought back to safety on the patrol boat, they went to find the guy on the 18-foot vessel, and they found him near Keystone Bay, and the boat was capsized.”

Pennala said the kayaker and the boater were a couple and somehow became separated from each other. He was searching for her when his boat capsized.

Hoar Creek is just south of Keystone Bay, said Pennala, near Fish Cove.

Neither incident resulted in injury, said Pennala, and their names are being withheld due to privacy issues.