Goodtime I ship freed after being stuck on Lake Erie reef; local captain helped passengers to safety
It was just before 5 p.m. on Thursday when the U.S. Coast Guard was alerted that the island cruiser had hit the Buckeye Reef, which sits in shallow water on the east end of South Bass Island near Ballast Island.
Investigators said it does not appear the Goodtime I was heavily damaged when it ran aground and there was no fuel leak into the water.
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Among the first local mariners to learn about the stranded vessel were the longtime operators of the Sonny-S Boat Line, Captain John Schneider and his brother.
They headed to the scene and after carefully navigating around the reef, they made two trips to the grounded boat, picking up 60 relieved passengers the first time and 49 the second.
They safely transported all of them to Put-in-Bay, where they were able to take the Miller Ferry back to the mainland.
'I was happy just to be able to help the Goodtime I and get the passengers off of there, trying to lighten the load of the boat and hopefully they'd be able to get off the reef on their own,' Schneider said. 'Unfortunately it didn't work out that way, but I think the passengers were pretty grateful to be able to continue their journey back to the mainland because nobody wants to be stuck out on a reef.'
We are told Buckeye Reef is a well-known underwater obstruction on the lake and safe passage is marked by buoys.
'I can't speak for what was going on in the captain's mind, somehow he got out of the navigation channel and got onto the reef and I'd rather not speculate as to how he did that, but that's what happened,' said Schneider.
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The Coast Guard said the effort to free the Goodtime I was a two-part project. They had planned to offload a large amount of fuel that was weighing down the vessel into a barge, and then call in a tugboat that would pull the ship from the reef and then tow it back to shore.
The Coast Guard confirmed to FOX 8 News that the ship was eventually refloated and transported to Port Clinton just before 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.
The grounding incident will now be the focus of a USCG investigation.
'It is something that unfortunately we see happen multiple times throughout the year. Whether it's a passenger vessel or a recreational vessel or a commercial vessel, as I'm sure you're well aware, there are multiple groundings that happen every year on the Great Lakes,' said Petty Officer 2nd Class Omar Faba.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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