Boating

Tributes, grief after boating accident claims three lives, including two Wabasha firefighters

Jul 15, 2026

Authorities have identified the three boaters killed when the pontoon they were on reportedly collided with a barge on Saturday, July 11. They are: Ashley Monson, 37, of Wabasha; Manuel De Angel-Sola, 52, of Wabasha; and Nicholas Loechler, 46 of Wabasha. De Angel-Sola and Loechler were members of...

Fenstermacher tells Kiwanis about ‘Great Loop’ journey

Jun 17, 2026

Roy Fenstermacher of Lake City was the guest speaker at a recent Lake City Kiwanis Club meeting, telling about his amazing water journey. He, his wife, who was the boat’s captain, and a 110 pound dog, who got sea sick and was helped by taking doses of CBD, made the journey following the Great...

Boat sank, was salvaged, now is expected to be demolished

Nov 20, 2024

Hopes for a trip down the Mississippi River from St. Paul Park to New Orleans appear to have sunk along with the vessel. The Wabasha County Sheriff’s office responded the morning of Nov. 12 to a capsized boat tied to a fishing pier at the breakwater that forms part of the Lake City Marina’s outer...

Finstad: Boating means business in First District

May 8, 2024

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit Alumacraft in St. Peter to see firsthand the impact of our state’s marine manufacturers. Recreational boating is a cornerstone of our local economy, supporting jobs, fostering tourism, and providing $6.9 billion in economic impact to our state. The...

Yacht club’s annual sailing school attracts 23 students

Jun 30, 2021

Twenty-three people learned sailing basics during the Lake City Yacht Club’s two-day sailing school on June 19-20. “We have been running our Sunfish sailing school for at least the past 10 years at Ohuta beach,” said Ashley Tao of the Lake City Yacht Club. “Our goal is to introduce people to...

Deceased boater IDed

May 26, 2021

The person whose body was discovered May 16 near an unoccupied fishing boat on the Mississippi River near Weaver, Minn., has been identified. The Wabasha County Sheriff’s Office says the body was that of Victor Dale Grabau, 89. The cause of death was drowning.

Marina removing hundreds of boats from Lake Pepin as season closes

Oct 21, 2020

The Lake City Marina parking lots are filling up with boats pulled from the water and put there for storage over the winter months. As of Oct. 16, Marina Administrator Jeff Brand said his crew was a little over half way through the task of pulling around 280 boats, of which the marina will store...

Officials: Darkness, drinking sent pontoon over the edge

Aug 29, 2019

No one was seriously injured when a pontoon carrying three people went over the power dam on Lake Zumbro on Saturday, Aug. 24, according to the Wabasha County Sheriff’s Department. The driver of the boat, Bradley Borowski, 51, was arrested for driving a boat under the influence in connection the...

86-year-old dies after boat capsizes

Jun 7, 2018

An 86-year-old Illinois man is dead after the boat he was in capsized on Lake Pepin, according to the Wabasha County Sheriff’s Department. People a fishing boat spotted a capsized boat near Camp Lacupolis. They found Ira D. Washington, of Chicago, and two other men in the water. Washington, who...

Commercial lock traffic up in 2016

Jan 18, 2017

A big increase in commercial traffic last year kept lockages at the two Army Corps of Engineers locks nearest to Lake Pepin at or above their 10-year average. The corps’ lock and dam 3 near Red Wing was slightly above the 10-year average for combined lockages. Corps staff supported 4,943 lockages...