A paddleboarding excursion on Minnesota’s North Shore turned into a major rescue operation over the weekend — one that ended with everyone safely back ashore.

The call for help arrived just after 8 p.m. Saturday. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said a parent reported their four daughters — ages 8, 10, 13 and 14 — had been paddleboarding at Black Beach, along the Lake Superior shore near Silver Bay.

The girls had paddled out to the smaller of two rocky islands a short distance apart and a short distance offshore — and lost their paddles while on the island.

First responders tried reaching the island by boat — a former U.S. Coast Guard boat at the Silver Bay Marina, designed for large waves — but conditions on Lake Superior prevented them from rescuing the girls.

“They were able to make

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