Catamaran capsizes near Fairport Harbor, Coast Guard gets boaters to safety

FAIRPORT HARBOR, Ohio - The U.S. Coast Guard helped two men to Fairport Harbor after their catamaran capsized Tuesday afternoon.

A Good Samaritan radioed to the Coast Guard station in Grand River that the boaters were trying to re-right a capsized catamaran about 200 yards west of the Fairport Harbor lighthouse, authorities said.

When the rescue boat arrived, both men were wearing life jackets and continued to work on the 16-foot catamaran. After about 30 minutes, the boaters in the water were exhausted and asked for help, the Coast Guard said. They were taken aboard the 25-foot rescue boot and a commercial salvage company came to tow the catamaran.

“The two people on the catamaran were not expecting to capsize but dangerous situations come unexpectedly and it is good that they were wearing life jackets,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class James Bozeman said, in a news release.

No injuries were reported. The Coast Guard wants to remind boaters the importance of wearing a life jacket.

“This a perfect example of how it is easier to wear a life jacket than to put one on during an emergency,” Bozeman said.