They headed out to Lake St. Clair on Monday for a day of boating and drinking. It didn't end well, but then again it didn't end tragically.

It was supposed to be a fun excursion, but before the day was done, the man was in the water (he says he fell; she says he jumped) and his female companion was left alone in a moving 40-foot motorboat that she had no idea how to pilot or stop.

Next came a dramatic rescue of the woman by marine officers with the Macomb County Sheriff's Office, followed by hours of searching the water for the man, authorities said.

And unlike many of the stories of people going overboard in a big lake, this one had a good result, the sheriff's office said.

About 1 a.m Tuesday — about five hours after the rescue effort in Harrison Township began — a sheriff's marine deputy involved in the search was approached by a 43-year-old St. Clair Shores man motoring a boat. The man told the deputy he was the man they were searching for.

He told authorities he had fallen overboard and swam to Strawberry Island in St. Clair County, where he was unable to locate anyone. He then commandeered a boat from the island and motored to emergency boats on the water, the sheriff's office said in a news release Tuesday.

Sheriff's Sgt. Renee Yax said the man got access to a motorboat and took it, not intending to steal it but to get help, and came right over to rescue crews.

The sheriff's marine division got involved at 8:15 p.m. Monday when it received information that a man had gone overboard while boating. His friend later told deputies he had invited her out on the boat to go drinking, and she agreed.

They spent most of the day on the lake and stopped at a restaurant to eat, the sheriff's office said. When they left the restaurant, the woman asked him to take her back to shore.

She thought the man became upset because he left the captain's seat while the boat was moving and jumped into the lake, the sheriff's office said.

She called 911, reported the man had jumped overboard and said she couldn't get the boat stopped and was unfamiliar with the lake. Marine deputies found the boat, jumped aboard and brought it to a stop.

The woman and the boat were taken to shore, the sheriff's office said. Yax declined to further identify the woman, but said she was not injured during the ordeal.

The marine division and dive team started to search for the man about 2½ miles out of the Clinton River. About 1 a.m., a marine deputy was approached by the man in a motorboat.

He was taken to shore and medically cleared by emergency responders. He then was taken to a local hospital for evaluation. Yax said Tuesday that she did not know whether the man had been released from the hospital.

The sheriff's office said it has completed its investigation and will not seek criminal charges.

More:Report: Lake St. Clair boater arrested after ramming incident

More:This part of the Macomb County Jail is old and hot

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.