Woman rescued from lake

PORT CLINTON — A local fishing boat rescued a woman who spent most of the night missing in Lake Erie.At about 7 p.m. Sunday, a 57-year-old woman was jet skiing with her family near Put-in-Bay when they lost sight of her, said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Justin Bommer. The Coast Guard got the call from her son at about 8 p.m."We commenced our search immediately with Station Marblehead and helicopters from Station Detroit," Bommer said. The Coast Guard was helped by several other local agencies, including Put-in-Bay police, Port Clinton police and fire, the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The Canadian Coast Guard and several good Samaritans also helped.A couple hours into their search they found her jet ski with the kill switch removed which led them to believe she was knocked off the vehicle by a wave and went into the lake.As the weather got worse throughout the night, she was pushed farther and farther away from the jet ski by strong winds and waves, according to a Facebook post made by Station Marblehead. Boat crews searched for her for almost 14 hours."(At about 10 a.m.), a (fishing) boat that is local to the area found her alive and rescued her from the water," Bommer said. "She's being taken to a hospital for treatment."Bommer didn't know the woman's condition, but said he hoped the hospital visit was just a precaution since she'd been in the water for so long.This has been an especially dangerous year for Lake Erie, with multiple people being lost in the water, including a 29-year-old woman who went missing near Nickel Plate Beach Sunday. Bommer said the 57-year-old rescued today survived because she had a life jacket."There have been a lot of cases very similar to this one this year because the water is higher and the currents are stronger," Bommer said. "I cannot stress enough that the reason this woman survived was because she was wearing a life jacket."The Register was contacted by a woman who claimed she was on the boat which rescued the 57-year-old and that it was a private fishing boat, not a charter boat, like the Coast Guard originally said."We happened to see her while we were fishing. It took a few tries to get here," the woman said. "She was exhausted and said she'd been fighting all night and three boats passed her but never saw saw her."Reach reporter Michael Harrington at michaelharrington@sanduskyregister.com, follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterThe U.S. Coast Guard found the jet ski the woman was riding on shortly after starting the search. A charter boat eventually found and rescued the woman.The U.S. Coast Guard found the jet ski the woman was riding on shortly after starting the search. A charter boat eventually found and rescued the woman.The U.S. Coast Guard's Station in Marblehead.