- Dates
- circa 1973-12-31 – circa 1974-01-01
- Kind
- Rescue
- Where
- Garden Island
- Participants
- Lyle Hansberger (survivor) · David White (survivor) · William P. "Bill" Welke (pilot)
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- maritimeshippingcommunity
- Within
- Garden Island
Summary
On New Year’s Eve, two Lansing Shoal Light Station crew members, Lyle Hansberger and David White, left in an open 16-foot boat for Beaver Island. The boat became trapped in drift ice near the north end of Garden Island. After a night in temperatures that fell to 12 degrees, Deputy Bill Welke located them by plane the following morning; the Coast Guard dispatched a helicopter, and the two were treated for exposure at Charlevoix Hospital.
Evidence and limits
The dates are reconstructed from the New Year’s Eve and following-morning sequence in the January issue. The account does not provide an official rescue report, coordinates, helicopter crew, the boat’s ownership, or the names of the other three light-station crew members. It also does not establish the men’s later medical outcomes.
See also
Sources
- Reports Lyle Hansberger and David White leaving Lansing Shoal Light Station at 4:30 p.m. in an open 16-foot oar-powered boat, becoming trapped in drift ice near the north end of Garden Island, and being located the next morning by Deputy Bill Welke in his plane before Coast Guard helicopter assistance; it reports exposure treatment at Charlevoix Hospital but does not identify the helicopter crew or the other three light-station crew members.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1974-01_Beaver-Beacon
- The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1974-01_Beaver-Beacon
Added 1 August 2026 · revised 3 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Rescue of Lansing Shoal Light Station crew members, 1973–1974”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/rescue-of-lansing-shoal-light-crew-1973/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, January 1974, “Men Against The Sea.” (and 1 further source listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
BibTeX for “Rescue of Lansing Shoal Light Station crew members, 1973–1974”RIS for “Rescue of Lansing Shoal Light Station crew members, 1973–1974”