Name: Tug sinks and yacht passengers are rescued after October incidents, 1985
Start: 1985-10-12
End: 1985-10-16
Location: Beaver Island

Locator map: Beaver Island highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago — Took place at Beaver IslandLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.

Event

Dates: 1985-10-12 – 1985-10-16
Kind: Accident
Where: Beaver Island
Eras: Modern era
Concepts: transportationmaritimeaccidentcommunitycommunication
Within: Beaver Island

Summary

The November 1985 Beaver Beacon reported two October marine incidents: a tug working from South Fox Island sank in the St. Mary’s River after being run over by its tow on October 14, with the crew escaping, and Coast Guard rescue of a yacht’s passengers off Beaver Island on October 16.

Evidence limits

This is a brief newspaper report, not a Coast Guard case file, vessel log, salvage record, or casualty investigation.

Sources

Sinking Ships!, Beaver Beacon, November 1985.
Reports that a barge and tug came from South Fox Island on the weekend of October 12 to collect logs, that the tug was sunk by the barge in the St. Mary’s River on October 14 with the crew escaping unharmed, and that the Coast Guard rescued passengers from a yacht sinking off Beaver Island on October 16. It is a brief newspaper incident report, not a Coast Guard case file, vessel log, salvage record, or casualty investigation. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1985-11_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, November 1985, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held nine-page November issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the two incident reports.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1985-11_Beaver-Beacon

Added 4 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Tug sinks and yacht passengers are rescued after October incidents, 1985”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-south-fox-tug-sinking-and-yacht-rescue-1985/, accessed [date], citing Sinking Ships!, Beaver Beacon, November 1985. (and 1 further source listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-04. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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