OSWEGO -- A Dutch man who spent nine hours floating in Lake Ontario after falling off his sailboat was hospitalized in stable condition Wednesday, authorities said.
Dick Slettenhar, 58, was pulled from the lake about 15 miles north of Oswego about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter.
Slettenhar was taken to Oswego Hospital with mild hypothermia.
Slettenhar and his wife, Ellen Kupers, 57, were sailing a 50-foot catamaran when Slettenhar fell in the water at about 2:30 p.m. while trying to fix a sail, said Petty Officer William Mitchell. Authorities could not immediately provide the couple's hometown.
The couple left Prince Edward Bay in Canada and camped Monday night at Main Duck Island, part of the St. Lawrence Islands National Park of Canada, Mitchell said.
Oswego County 911 dispatchers received a panicked phone call from Kupers about 3:35 p.m. saying her husband had fallen off the boat and disappeared. Coast Guard rescuers found Kupers on the catamaran near Main Duck Island about 4:30 p.m., he said.
Mitchell said the search was initially difficult because the wife didn't know how to sail the catamaran and was unsure how to inform rescuers of the boat's exact location. Searchers were optimistic about finding Slettenhar alive because he wore a life preserver and was in good health, Mitchell said.
Searchers in helicopters, boats and planes from Coast Guard stations in Oswego and Detroit and the Canadian Coast Guard took part in the search.
Slettenhar was taken to Oswego Hospital with mild hypothermia.
Slettenhar and his wife, Ellen Kupers, 57, were sailing a 50-foot catamaran when Slettenhar fell in the water at about 2:30 p.m. while trying to fix a sail, said Petty Officer William Mitchell. Authorities could not immediately provide the couple's hometown.
The couple left Prince Edward Bay in Canada and camped Monday night at Main Duck Island, part of the St. Lawrence Islands National Park of Canada, Mitchell said.
Oswego County 911 dispatchers received a panicked phone call from Kupers about 3:35 p.m. saying her husband had fallen off the boat and disappeared. Coast Guard rescuers found Kupers on the catamaran near Main Duck Island about 4:30 p.m., he said.
Mitchell said the search was initially difficult because the wife didn't know how to sail the catamaran and was unsure how to inform rescuers of the boat's exact location. Searchers were optimistic about finding Slettenhar alive because he wore a life preserver and was in good health, Mitchell said.
Searchers in helicopters, boats and planes from Coast Guard stations in Oswego and Detroit and the Canadian Coast Guard took part in the search.
