Has anyone heard the cause of the kayak accident that took the lives of the Michigan couple in Door County Wisconsin? I understand their boats were found intact and they both were found wearing their PFD. Fred *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Fred asked if anyone knew the cause of death of the couple off the coast of Door County Wisconsin--though I have not heard of an "official" cause of death, I thought that I would give what information I've been able to gather to date-- Erik and Kris Schuman of Grand Blanc Michigan were paddling near Cana Island, off the coast of Baileys Harbor Wisconsin (Door County) on Lake Michigan on Wednesday, June 21st. They were reported missing on Friday, June 23rd, by relatives. One of their boats (a Skerray) was found on Friday, June 23rd, approximately 12 miles northeast of Cana Island. Searchers found the other boat on Saturday. The footage on TV did not indicate any damage to the boats. Kris's body was found on Sunday, June 25th, approximately 4.5 miles northeast of Cana Island. Erik's body was not found until Friday, June 30th, 3 miles east of Baileys Harbor. Kris was wearing a pfd and wetsuit when found, and had a GPS. Erik is reported to have been wearing a pfd when found. I don't know whether he was wearing a wetsuit or drysuit. (I'm unsure of other equipment, though other kayakers I've talked to who have paddled with them have indicated that they were not novices. I would hope that if they had spent the money for a GPS they would have already purchased a VHF radio--my rule of radio and compass first, then think about adding a GPS.) The article that appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on June 26th quoted US Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer William Ragsdale as stating: "All indications were that these were very experience kayakers. They've done this extensively. They had all the equipment." Around noon on Wednesday, June 21st the winds were gusting out of the South to southwest to about 30 knots. (Our group paddled Wednesday evening out of Milwaukee, but stayed very close to shore due to the winds, which were so fierce that the sailboat races were canceled.) The water temperature was around 51 degrees, and the air temperature over the water was around 55 (it was around 70 on land). Strong winds from the S-SW continued through the 21st and into the 22nd. One person from that area has said that the area around Cana Island is pretty treacherous right now due to the low water levels on Lake Michigan (previously discussed on PW). There are lots of sandbars creating larger than usual waves. Cana Island is very exposed from the South and southwest. I'm afraid this all I know at this time, though I do hope to learn more over the next few days, and will post further details as they become available. John Browning *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:15 PDT