May 15, 2020 – Big Cedar Lake, WI – It was an eventful day for four young men installing a dock on Big Cedar Lake on Friday afternoon. Nolan Kasten, 19, of West Bend is with Kasten Marine in Richfield.
“We were out on Big Cedar and there was a guy on a little boat who was going magnet fishing,” said Kasten.
“The guy was about 60 years old and wearing waders. We were chatting with him for a bit and then we went to work on the south end by Boettcher Launch putting in a big dock.”
The small boat of the magnet fisherman was in about 60 feet of water. “Out of the corner of my eye I saw him headed north on the lake and I mentioned to the guys about seeing the little boat again,” Kasten said.
It was within the next two minutes Kasten said he thought something was wrong. “I saw the boat do a little spin and then I thought it capsized,” he said. “But the guy was in the water and he didn’t have his safety tether on and the boat was in full throttle and just spinning around.”
Kasten said he could hear the man call for help, so they took the barge and headed his way. “He was about a quarter mile away from us; right near the drop off so not too far,” he said. “We did not even have time to think about calling for emergency rescue.
“The guy had on waders and those filled up with water and we rushed out there as fast as we could,” he said. “We scooped him out of the water and everything was alright; it was good.”
Kasten said the rescue took a bit. He said the man’s head was above the water and he was a little spent because he had been treading water in his waders. The man in the water grabbed the side of the barge and asked to catch his breath.
“He wasn’t a small guy,” said Kasten. “And then the water in his waders added another 150 pounds and you can’t swim in those waders.”
It took a couple seconds and then the foursome on the barge hefted the man on board.
The water, according to Kasten, was chilly; about 55 degrees.
The men from Kasten Marine did not get the man’s name. All they remembered was the name of the little boat was the S.S. Minnow.
“He thanked us after we brought him to shore. It was nice. We just did the thing we hoped anyone would do,” said Kasten. “This is the boating community and we just help everyone out.”
The others involved in the rescue include Carson Stingle, who left today for the U.S. Air Force, Dan Studer, and Will Kasten.
