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As a retired Coast Guard boatswain's mate, I am very impressed by the squared-away, ready-for-operations condition of this restored 26-foot motor surfboat at Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven. If only the small but sturdy rescue boat could talk. I cannot imagine the stories it could tell of search and rescue missions on Lake Michigan out of Pentwater during the early 1900s. The wooden vessel's four-cylinder engine propelled it at eight to eight and a half knots. Tin sheathing helped protect it. F22 at 1/5, ISO 200, 14-24mm lens at 20mm

A Coast Guard rescue swimmer is hoisted to a Coast Guard MH65 Dolphin helicopter during training offshore from Ludington in the late 1990s. Station Ludington’s 44-foot motor lifeboat stands by, its crew ready to assist and conduct joint training with the helicopter crew. The Coast Guard established its rescue swimmer program in 1984 to increase its ability to save mariners, downed aviators, stranded hurricane victims, injured hikers and others in distress.

Strapped to their 44-foot rescue boat and hanging on as the small but mighty vessel takes on another huge Lake Michigan wave, Ludington Coast Guardsmen head into the teeth of a storm. If it were to capsize, the boat is designed to right itself within 15 seconds and forge ahead. Crews purposely go out to train in such weather conditions in order to be able to safely and successfully aid mariners in distress in similar wind and seas. As a Coast Guard Reservist, I served as a “coxswain” or captain of this incredible vessel, 44345, for more than 25 years. Oh to have been able to take photographs during some of those boat rides! I scrambled part way out the Ludington north breakwall to take this off-duty photograph. I think it speaks volumes and will always be one of my favorite photographs, especially because I like to think of 44345 as a best friend, one that never has failed me and never will

Small but mighty, the Coast Guard Cutter Raritan towed the carferry City of Midland into Ludington harbor. The 100-foot tug and the Coast Guard Icebreaker Mackinaw had come to the assistance of the carferries Spartan and City of Midland after the ships became lodged in the ice just outside of Ludington breakwaters in February 18, 1977. The ice, packed tight by the wind, had damaged the rudder of the Midland.