Visitors and residents of the Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin are blessed to have ready access to one of the Great Lakes for pleasure or commerce, or some combination of the two.

Further, we are blessed to have the U.S Coast Guard to step in and lend emergency assistance, as it was recently for a handful of people and their dog, according to the Detroit News.

Initially, one adult and two kids became stranded while hiking. So a second group, two adults and a child, went out in a boat to find them.

But the second group’s boat took on water and they, too, became grounded in Marble Point, which is about 25 miles west from Ironwood.

One of the stranded people had a working cell phone, which was used to summon help.

Officials called the U.S. Coast Guard, which sent a helicopter from Traverse City to rescue the group. It dropped them off at a softball field, where they were evaluated and medically cleared.

Thankfully, no one was hurt; police say they were able to build a fire and temporary shelter overnight, the News reported.

This is all in a day’s work, Coast Guard personnel will tell you if you ask. And while that may be true technically, having them strategically positioned as they are across the Great Lakes is one of the smarter moves Washington has taken over the years.

Once again, it’s hats off to the Coast Guard for a job well done.