I'm a bit of a history nerd and find the story of the Life Saving Service fascinating. The storms on the Great Lakes are legendary, and to willingly go out in them in a row boat takes a special kind of — umm, insanity? Here's a YouTube video of what Lake Michigan can look like late in the year. This was shot a few miles south of the Sleeping Bear station. And, note, this is a sunny day.
The Life Saving Service began as an all volunteer organization founded in the late 1700's by the Massachusetts Humane Society — seriously. I haven't been able to find out if this is the same Humane Society we think of today that handles stray dogs and cats but here's a Wikipedia link about them (link).
By the mid-1800's, Congress had realized the value of the Service and began funding it, allowing for a transition from all-volunteer to a paid, professional organization that eventually grew into what we know now as the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Sleeping Bear Point station was built in 1901 and was actually moved to its current location in 1931, building by building, to get it farther from the lake shore as the sand dunes kept trying to swallow it up. The station is now part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (in other words, a national park) and open to visitors during the summer months.