Here's their view of the broken-away ice:
February 6, 2021
"Earlier today Air Station Traverse City launched two helicopters to respond to reports of over 60 ice fishermen stranded on an ice floe near Sturgeon Bay, WI."
"The ice had broken free from land, and high winds associated with the approaching winter storm system quickly pushed the floe farther away from shore. Ice continued to crack into smaller sections throughout the crews' time on scene. The helicopter crews lowered rescue swimmers to the ice to help coordinate the rescue as local first responders and other Coast Guard ice rescue assets arrived. After additional assets arrived, the helos continued conducting overflights of the area looking for signs of distress and vectoring ice rescue boats to groups of shanties. Thanks to all our local partners for their swift response and efficient work in evacuating over 60 people from the ice!"
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In one report I heard that some of the fishermen didn't even know their ice had broken away. They were peacefully in their huts, fishing (drinking?) away. God love Wisconsin.
Nice job Coast Guard!
And to the media, notice how expertly the story can be conveyed without using the words “climate change”.
Luckily, they survived all the starving polar bears trapped on the ice floe.
The word has been cheapened badly, but this kind of rescue work sure qualifies as heroic. Swimmers too? And yet, they would be right in saying this was just a professional job for which they had prepared.
Nice work.
Media and libs hate ice fisherman for some reason--always wanting to ban it. Growing up I was taught if you're on the (Saginaw) bay, and your line keeps getting pinned against one side of the hole, you're on a flow.
Fisherman. A jerk on one end of a line waiting for a jerk on the other end.
Just kidding, good job.
Get out do something they said
Go ice fishing they said
It's relaxing and fun they said
Its like sitting in your heated garage they said
All the Lienenkugles you can drink they said
It's not about fishing they said.
FU, next year I'm getting a condo in Florida
The broken parts don't match up...weird.
With 60 of them, if they get billed for the rescue it may be less of a burden.
*
Shouldn't there be a rule or a rhyme about this to tell how many people should be on the ice by now? 60 seems a bit much. 5 seems more reasonable.
"The word has been cheapened badly, but this kind of rescue work sure qualifies as heroic. Swimmers too? And yet, they would be right in saying this was just a professional job for which they had prepared."
I'll bet the people with this job *love* it and we're perfectly happy to get the opportunity to do rescues instead of waiting or practices. It's like an extreme sport. It's military, but no one is attacking them. They're getting to people who are pleased to see them, and they are toasted as heroes. What's not to love? If you can think of some things, then you wouldn't sign on for this work.
Many years ago (early 90 maybe?), my son and I stepped out on ice that had frozen off the shore of the Bay. While we were out, the tide lifted it off the shore and it started to move off. We had to wade the last few yards, and walk home half a mile sopping wet and cold from the hips down. It was a valuable lesson we won't forget.
If Darwin had his way, there'd be no rescues off the ice after Feb 1.
Lurker21 said...
With 60 of them, if they get billed for the rescue it may be less of a burden. Shouldn't there be a rule or a rhyme about this to tell how many people should be on the ice by now? 60 seems a bit much. 5 seems more reasonable.
Good Morning, Karen.
Ice fishing, Ice floe ride, helicopter ride, all in the same day!
There was a guy killed when his ATV went through the ice in my small Vermont town when the ice started to break up and he started to lose his tip ups, which cost something like $5 apiece. Pro tip, think about the currents under the ice, since 39 degree water is the densest and hangs out at the bottom, but sometimes this relatively warm water is moved by the currents and undermines the ice without you being able to see it. You have to infer that this may be happening, like if there was a recent snowmelt or rainfall.
Althouse said...
...and they are toasted as heroes. What's not to love?
Plus they get to use the jargon with the press.
"Helos", "assets", "vectoring", "local partners".
Should have worked reconnoiter in as well.
What's odd is that these words don't make it to an actual...
Search and Rescue Glossary and Acronyms
Great story. Going out of ice is a fear of mine. Even Lake Wingra, I'll not do much walking on ice.
I had an uncle in the Coast Guard. He said the job was, for the most part, planning then pretending to rescue each other.
But other than that, how was the fishing?
Ann Althouse said...
It's like an extreme sport. It's military, but no one is attacking them.
Actually no. Coast guard is not military. It's a police agency under homeland security, not dod.
In addition to police functions, other functions like s&r here, aids to navigation.
But not military like navy or army.
OT but in England, for the past 200 years or so, the search and rescue function of our coast guard has been performed by a private organization, the Royal National Lifeboat Institute.
It is roughly similar to a volunteer fire department
The RNLI is a charity in the UK and in the Republic of Ireland. Queen Elizabeth II is Patron. The RNLI is principally funded by legacies (65%) and donations (28%), with the remainder from merchandising and investment. Most of the members of its lifeboat crews are unpaid volunteers
English lighthouses are (were?} also privately owned going back 600 years or so. See Ronald coase "the lighthouse in economics" for an interesting deep dive into the history of English lighthouses. Another cg function in the us.
John Henry
Our Coast Guard buys, or perhaps licenses the design, of RNLI rescue lifeboats.
John Henry
The rescue swimmers, i.e., the ones who exit the helicopter and interact first with those needing rescue, did not have to get their feet wet this time. But imagine sitting in your nice warm hut drinking your 8th beer of the morning, when a fully kitted-out Coast Guard Aqua-Man knocks on your door to tell you it's time to go. About as close to a space alien close encounter most people will ever experience.
Lake Michigan used to freeze over down to Chicago's north side, back in the early 60's. I lived near the lake and used to walk out onto the lake with my Doberman. We fell in one day and I was so scared that we were able to jump out out and run home in record time. I was drenched up to my chest but didn't feel the cold because of the adrenaline rush.
I think the Door County fishermen were protected by substances other than adrenaline.
Great story. People need to take chances to combat the psychological damage from modern safety and security. The rescuer victim dynamic is important to inject prehistoric reality into our Disneyland existence.
Also, the pieces do fit, the floe moved away from and along the shore towards the camera. Foreshortening makes it difficult to match them up, but it is an exact fit if you study it carefully.
Looks like when the ice melts there are going to be a lot of shanties "below the sea".
"Also, the pieces do fit, the floe moved away from and along the shore towards the camera. "
Yeah, it fits together quite well. Cool.
Vectoring to shanties. Assets.
I have a short list of federal agencies with a high ratio of competence to arrogance. Organizations that are really quite good at what they do, but you don't much hear them bragging, or whining that they don't get the respect they deserve. Let's see:
The US Coast Guard, the NTSB, NIST.
Maybe the US Marshals Service.
Am I leaving anyone out? Including anyone I shouldn't?
Toxic masculinity to the rescue! I doubt any of them swimmers was broads.
Finally, the penguins have the area to themselves.
"It's like an extreme sport. It's military, but no one is attacking them"/"Actually no. Coast guard is not military. It's a police agency under homeland security, not dod."
It's a branch of the military. Here's the DOD page, "Our Forces": "The Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard are the armed forces of the United States..."
I see that it operates under Homeland Security during peacetime, but I don't see how that makes it wrong to say that the people who serve in it are in the military and doing something military.
"After additional assets arrived, the helos continued conducting overflights..."
Odd use of 'helos.' The usual abbreviation is 'copter.'
Odd to abbreviate 'helicopter' at all really.
And do you say 'heal-ohs' or 'hell-ohs'?
The full word is pronounced 'hell-o-copter,' but saying 'hell-ohs' for the short version sounds weird.
Ironically it reminded me of Helios, Greek god personifying the sun...
Now I know what it's like to be Althouse : )
There used to be a border collie, Piper, that worked at Cherry Capital Airport (Air Station Traverse City) chasing birds off the runway. Piper used to fly in the Coast Guard hellos, had his own set of goggles. Alas, Piper died of cancer.
A fellow member of the CG Auxiliary has a son that was a rescue swimmer there and later a helicopter pilot. During the Cherry Festival there is an open ramp at the station where the public can enter and see the workings of the air station.
Yes, the Coast Guard is considered military, but also has other duties such as law enforcement, SAR, ATONs and so forth. It also has a uniformed civilian volunteer arm, the Auxiliary, that does non-law enforcement, non-military duties for the Coast Guard. They focus more on public safety and education, though any duty they can qualify for (with the above exceptions) is open to them.
This story suggests a great single panel cartoon.
Good news and nice to read about it. It's also delightful that not a single political reference is made.
I'm curious what an ice rescue boat looks like.
Tom - it looks like a large jonboat with an airboat propeller system and a cabin. It can skid across ice, drop into the water, and then repeat.
"'m curious what an ice rescue boat looks like.”
The one near us kind of looks like a formula one race car, it’s a hovercraft with an airboat fan. Much cooler looking than these, but these look like they will do the job anyway. An Everglades style airboat would do the job, probably, at a far lower cost, I am guessing.
https://www.neoterichovercraft.com/hovercraft/rescue-hovercraft.php
I look forward to the photoshop of an ice fisherman stuck on an ice flow like a polar bear.
Old Eskimos have no comment...
I'm curious as to whether the fishermen will be charged for their rescue.
Coast Guard is definitely part of the military. In wartime, they can be brought under control of the Navy. Their aviation personnel (pilots, aircrewmen - including the rescue swimmers who are part of the helo crews) receive their training alongside the Navy/USMC aviators.
And "helo" is used at least an order of magnitude more than "copter" as an abbreviation. "Chopper" is somewhere between those two.
It also seems that the good folks of the Coast Guard were able to do this mission at minimal risk to themselves. In my area, we have not infrequent rescue events on Mt. Hood. These tend to involve helicopters in high winds and (near) whiteout conditions. Also, Search and Rescue teams that put themselves at risk and who are, I believe, all volunteer.
I'm in favor of charging for those services.
"The word has been cheapened badly, but this kind of rescue work sure qualifies as heroic. Swimmers too? And yet, they would be right in saying this was just a professional job for which they had prepared."
Any bets on the male/female/other ratio of the rescue squad, especially the swimmers?
"Any bets on the male/female/other ratio of the rescue squad, especially the swimmers?"
I don't know...women have more body fat and do pretty well in cold water at distance events.
Ann Althouse said...
It's a branch of the military. Here's the DOD page, "Our Forces": "The Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard are the armed forces of the United States.
OK, I stand corrected. As someone else pointed out they do get subsumed into the navy in wartime and served heroically running small craft in combat in wwii and Vietnam. I never doubted they were military then. I was speaking of non-war service.
I was interested to see that the Air Force counts. I always heard the usaf was "the alternative to military service" except the Misty's, of course.
(cool your jets, jes' kidding)
John Henry
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