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Crash shattered boat, bonded father and sons

By CAROL HARPER
carolharper@sanduskyregister.com

SANDUSKY - Jeff Walters and his two teenage sons shoved off about 5 p.m. Aug. 30 from a marina in Wyandotte, Mich., on the Detroit River for a ride in their Four Winns pleasure boat to Cedar Point Marina.

The weather was perfect; and the trio from Commerce Township, Mich., eagerly anticipated the last trip of the summer to provide a bonding experience between father and sons.

Yet about seven hours later Walters stared down into surging water off the Cedar Point breakwall where a wave had washed Jonathan, 15, off the stern of the storm-battered boat and into the bay.

The next wave picked up the 21-foot boat and dropped it on the place where Jonathan disappeared.

"Rather than a bonding experience, I thought I had lost him," Walters said.

The trip began perfectly for Walters, a human resource supervisor at Ford in Dearborn, Mich., Jonathan, and Jeff Jr., 17.

The whole family is experienced in seamanship, Walters said. Walters attended a U.S. Coast Guard academy, he said, and the boys were raised on Commerce Lake in Michigan. Walters bought the 21-foot Four Winns Horizon 200 motor boat in 1990 when it was built.

"I loved the boat since day one," Walters said. "It's known for being seaworthy. We've taken it up to Canada. We've had a lot of fun with this boat."

Normally Walters' wife, Kathy, would have joined the group, but this trip was to be a guy thing. So Walters entrusted his float plan to Kathy for a trip he had made four times before.

Walters even knew the trip would require 26 gallons of gasoline from the 44-gallon fuel tank, he said. He followed a global positioning device and set out for Cedar Point. But two hours later the lake turned sinister as a storm blew in from the east.

"About halfway it kicked up water spouts out there," Walters said. "I turned up the gas."

Petty Officer Scott Friedhoff from Coast Guard Station Marblehead said the storm produced six-foot waves.

But the waves seemed larger than that as the threesome fought through 35-knot winds, Walters said.

Walters maintained contact with Kathy. At 9:30 p.m. Walters told her by cell phone he could see the lights of Cedar Point Marina. Kathy asked her husband to call her when they reached the marina.

Within minutes, the boat's engine quit; they had run out of gas.

"We're in deep trouble," Walters and his sons said to each other.

Jonathan fired flares; Jeff called 911 on a cell phone; Walters radioed the Coast Guard.

The trio struggled to anchor the boat and keep its bow to the wind, but the anchor wasn't holding well, Walters said.

The boat turned. Waves rolled in from the left, threatening to flip the boat. They took turns keeping watch for the next big wave, Jeff said, shifting their weight from one side of the boat to the other to keep it upright.

"We were working hard, working as a team, trying to survive, trying to keep it headed into the waves," Walters said. "Water was coming in. As it wore on, we got colder."

On one side of the boat the horizon was dark. On the other side the Cedar Point skyline sparkled with bright lights as park guests rode and screamed on roller coasters, Jeff said.

"We could see people on the rides having fun," Jeff said, "and we were out there thinking we were dying."

About 10 p.m., Kathy had not heard from Walters. Kathy also called the Coast Guard, described the family's float plan, and provided the boat's position the last time they talked by phone.

Coast Guard Station Marblehead launched a 47-foot rescue boat and found the Walters boat about 500 feet off the Cedar Point breakwall.

"With the six-foot waves, soon it was a risky situation," said Petty Officer Kaiser Hamelin from Coast Guard Air Station Detroit. The water was too shallow for the Coast Guard boat to reach the Walters boat.

Because Sandusky Fire Department owns a smaller rescue boat, the Coast Guard considered sending them to the Walters family, Hamelin said. However, the lake was too rough; the attempt would have been too risky. Also, radio communications were cutting in and out between the Coast Guard and Sandusky police and fire departments.

The Coast Guard boat stayed with the Walters' boat, keeping it in sight. About 11:40 p.m. Coast Guard Air Station Detroit was called for a rescue helicopter.

Meanwhile, the Walterses' three cell phones ran out of power and the radio became wet and useless.

About 12:30 a.m., the Coast Guard received the last radio transmission from the Walters' boat: The anchor didn't hold. The boat was hitting the rocks of the breakwall.

All at once the Coast Guard lost radio contact and the Walters' boat disappeared, Hamelin said.

Firefighters scrambled to launch a rescue on foot over the slippery breakwall rocks.

About five minutes later, the Coast Guard found the Walters trio standing on the breakwall.

Seemingly, an eternity had passed in those five minutes.

"The boat was being blown onto the rocks," Walters said. "We kept hitting the rocks. We timed it. (Jonathan) was getting ready to jump off the boat onto the breakwall when a wave swept over the boat and swept him into the water."

Walters stared into the darkness, straining to see Jonathan.

"Another wave picked the boat up and put it down where he disappeared," Walters said. "I thought I lost him."

Jeff remembers seeing his brother disappear between two rocks. When the boat came down they heard a loud crack, shattering hope they would ever see Jon again.

About 30 seconds later, Jon reappeared and scrambled onto the breakwall. When the wave picked up the boat and slammed it down, Jonathan was deep enough that he wasn't seriously injured, Walters said.

Eventually the three of them made it to the breakwall as the waves pounded the boat against the rocks. Jeff holds a picture in his memory of his dad sitting on a rock watching his boat being bashed onto the breakwall like a toy.

"It was sort of a male bonding thing," Walters said. "We did really get close, I think. I was really proud of the two boys. I thank God everything turned out well. There must be a purpose. We all have to do something."

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