Man Finds Lost Dog After Boat Crash: “The Right Place at the Right Time”

TWIN PORTS, Minn. — The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office responded to a water emergency on Lake Superior on Tuesday night.

“At approximately 11 p.m. we were paged out to a water emergency in the Superior entry. A boat ran into some rocks, was taking on water, and sinking,” Carter Nelson, Sergeant with the St. Louis County Rescue Squad, said.

The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office says the 35-foot-long boat collided with the break wall on the Minnesota side. Then it beached on the rocks along the wall.

The sergeant from the search and rescue team then confirmed that all of the occupants were wearing life jackets, and everyone was able to make it to shore with help from first responders. No one suffered any major injuries.

Meanwhile, one bystander was at a nearby beach with his friend having a fire. And ended up being at the right place at the right time.

“As I’m sitting there talking to him, a dog just walks out of the water. Out of the blue,” witness of the crash, Tom Acton, said.

In the midst of the crash, the dog on board the boat jumped into the water and immediately swam to shore.

“We never saw flares. We never had a distress call last night. I mean I’m sitting right here, if he would have had his flare out we would have seen it because he was right there,” Acton said.

It was something Acton described as surreal, but he was thankful he and his friend were there to give the dog some comfort, and make sure it got back home to his owners safe and sound.

“The dog is fine. The dog was fantastic. Whoever owns that dog, that is a wonderful dog. It was just wanted to be loved, and held, and I’m sure it was scared to heck. You know it had to jump off a boat and swim to find some people,” said Acton.

Although it was a bizarre night for them. The dog was eventually taken back to his owner.

And as crews work to remove the boat from the water. They remind everyone that when you’re boating, especially at night, to wear a life jacket and always stay vigilant.

“If you’re boating at night, it’s always good to kind of take things a little bit slower. You’re going to be relying heavily on your plotters, not by line of sight. So just being experienced on the water before you go out at night, and making sure you’re using those plotters, and depth finders, and things while you’re out there,” Nelson said.

Authorities say alcohol was not a factor.