A boat crew leaving from Wilderness State Park to go diving went adrift for seven hours after their engine failed Tuesday, July 27. Pat McLaughlin (at left) and MaryAnn Moore, who are volunteer lighthouse keepers on St. Helena Island, helped haul Paul Ponsler, Josiah Ponsler, and Todd Culp to the island, where a friend towed them back to St. Ignace the same day. (Photograph courtesy of Sandy Planisek) Holding a rope in hand, Pat McLaughlin rode in a Zodiac inflatable boat with Mary Ann Moore toward St. Helena Island Tuesday, July 27. At the other end of the line was a 20-foot Hydrostream boat with a failed engine, that had been adrift for nearly half a day at the mercy of wind and waves. After spotting the stranded crew of Todd Culp, Paul Ponsler, and his son, Josiah, all of Indiana, the volunteers performing maintenance chores at the nearby St. Helena Lighthouse set out to aid them. No one was injured in the incident.

The three boaters had set out from Wilderness State Park near Mackinaw City around 8 a.m., planning to dive at the wreck of the Canisteo near Waugoshance Point when, an hour later, their engine cut out because of a fuel problem. The boat then drifted for about seven hours north across the Straits, as they let the current drive them.

At one point, a freighter bore down on them.

“We were very glad,” Mr. Ponsler said of the near miss with the big boat. “It was lined up so all you could see was the front of the ship.”

Grabbing their oars, the crew began waving and jumping to get the freighter's attention. It changed course, moving past them about 300 yards away.

Volunteers working at St. Helena Island Lighthouse that day saw the vessel around 4 p.m., Ms. Moore said, and couldn't tell if it was a boat or canoe. As they monitored the vessel through a telescope, the boat seemed to be taking on water as it bobbed up and down.

Ms. Moore contacted Coast Guard Station St. Ignace and was told to keep an eye on the boat, and the Coast Guard checked with her every 15 minutes for a report on the craft's condition.

Chief John Tracy of Station St. Ignace told The St. Ignace News that the agency monitors drifting boats and will send a marine assistance request broadcast asking other boaters in the area to assist. If the boat is in good condition and there is no immediate danger to the crew, a salvage company will often retrieve the boat, rather than the Coast Guard.

In this case, if the boaters had asked for help, the Coast Guard would have assisted, considering the length of time they had been adrift, he said, although the only call received was from the lighthouse. Mr. Ponsler and Mr. Culp said they did not call the Coast Guard because they believed that should only be done if they were in danger, and they felt the situation would work out without Coast Guard assistance.

At St. Helena Island, Ms. Moore and Mr. McLaughlin, a teacher from St. Louis, gathered their life jackets and life rings and went to the boat's aid.

“By the time we reached them, they were just southwest of the island, so we probably had to tow them maybe 3,000 feet,” Ms. Moore said.

A rope tossed to the stranded boat was too large to fit through the bow eye, so Mr. McLaughlin held one end while one of the crew held the other and, about 45 minutes later, the hapless boat was brought to the lighthouse dock.

Mr. Culp and Mr. Ponsler said they were impressed by the kindness of the volunteers on St. Helena Island. Once they arrived, dinner had been prepared for them and arrangements were made for them to stay the night. A friend of theirs, Joel Woodruff of Gladwin, arrived at the island, however, and helped tow them to St. Ignace.

“It really was teamwork by all of us here,” Ms. Moore said.

The motor has since been repaired.

“I just hope it doesn't stop us from doing anything else adventuresome,” Mr. Ponsler said. “I think we'll be a little more careful in the future.”