http://www.ocean-institute.org
Randy and Meredith McKenzie with Duke.
Ocean Institute staff came to the rescue of a 65-lb. Boxer named Duke on Wednesday morning January 18 when the dog took a misstep while trying to board his owners’ vessel in the Dana Point Harbor.
Three crew members of the Ocean Institute’s Spirit of Dana Point heard cries for help sometime before 9 a.m. Carly Rocha, Mary Elizabeth Portwood and Eric Martel put their Ocean Institute training in action.
About 80 feet away from The Spirit of Dana Point, Rocha, Portwood and Martel first saw a woman in distress who was hanging half on and half off a 69 Columbia sailboat. It wasn’t until the crew’s 14-foot dinghy closed in on the boat that they saw the dog in the 58-degree water.
Meredith McKenzie was holding her dog by the collar and chest, trying to keep its head above water. Lines from the boat had entangled the one-year-old, deaf Duke, the Boxer.
Rocha and Portwood untangled Duke.
“Both the dog and the woman were exhausted,” said Martel, who motored the dinghy alongside the boat for the rescue. “We are used to rescues because we regularly do “Man Overboard” training for our ships at the Ocean Institute.”
According to Portwood, “We unhooked the dog’s paw, hoisted the dog on our dinghy and waited for the woman to catch her breath.” Duke was handed back over to his owners.
Prior to the rescue, Rocha had been preparing for a school presentation that was part of an Ocean Institute Kids’ Conference on Watershed.
Duke’s owners, Randy and Meredith McKenzie, had only purchased the boat around Christmas. “Duke is part of our family. He lives and eats with us on the boat.”
The incident interrupted an outing to buy Duke’s life vest and take him for a walk. The McKenzies will complete Duke’s training by giving him lessons on using the swim steps. Sign language is Duke’s main form of communication.
For Duke it was an unexpected cold dip.
For Ocean Institute staff it was “another day at the office,” according to Martel.
Founded in 1977, the Ocean Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to ocean preservation through education, setting the standard for educational excellence and serving as a leading resource for universities, museums, teachers and all others seeking to increase their knowledge of the ocean. The Ocean Institute is open to the general public on weekends, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Cost: $6.50 adults, $4.50 children (ages 4-12), Ocean Institute members free. Unique maritime and ocean-themed items are available in the Chambers Gallery everyday, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Institute address: 24200 Dana Point Harbor Dr., Dana Point. Website: www.ocean-institute.org.
