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| Bob Agra of First Lady Cruises and the Mercury, Chicago's Skyline Cruiseline is the son of Captain Bob Agra and was aboard the Mercury boat that day in 1974 |
August 6, 1974:
The Queen of Andersonville, a
tour boat operated by Wendella Sightseeing Boats, sinks just south of the Coast
Guard station at the Chicago lock where the Chicago River meets Lake
Michigan. Hero of the Day is Bob Agra,
the captain of a Mercury sightseeing boat, who maneuvers his boat, loaded with
about 70 people, alongside the stricken Wendella craft and helps evacuate all
23 passengers, many of them wearing life jackets. “Some of the rescued people were a little
shook up,” Agra states. “But they
weren’t hysterical.” [Chicago Tribune, August 7, 1974] Agra attaches the foundering boat to his own
with three lines and tows it to an area behind the breakwater, southwest of the
lock. All three lines eventually break,
and the Queen of Andersonville sinks
before the hoist at the Coast Guard station can be lowered to secure the
vessel.
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