Curt Bush describes himself as an "armchair sailor."
But on Sunday afternoon, as he scanned the rough Lake Superior waters from a friend's deck high above the Duluth harbor, Bush became a sailor's savior.
Bush, who lives near Cloquet, was visiting Marna Banks of Duluth. As a budding sailor himself, Bush said he likes to check out the sailboat traffic on the lake.
The couple was enjoying the warm, windy day outdoors, and Bush, as usual, was scanning the sailboat traffic. Using a pair of binoculars, he spotted something tiny and unusual.
"It looked like a sailboat with the mast down," Bush said. He couldn't see anyone on board, but he noticed the small boat was stuck broadside to oncoming waves.
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Bush called the Coast Guard to report a boat in distress and soon was directing a rescue crew to the foundering sailboat.
The crew located a single person on the boat, which had its mast strapped down, said First Class Petty Officer Derek Franklin. The sailor had first- and second-degree burns on his legs and hands, and apparently had extinguished a small fire on his boat, he said. Franklin wasn't sure what had caused the fire.
The sailor was then transported to Miller-Dwan Medical Center, Franklin said, where he was treated and released. The sailor's name was not available.
Read the full story in Tuesday's Duluth News Tribune.
