[Paddlewise] Round Valley Kayaker Update

Here's a sad update on the missing paddler at Round
Valley Reservoir in central New Jersey in the US.

I wonder if the "Gore-Tex Suit" was a drysuit. 

My personal experience paddling at Round Valley is
that high winds are common because the reservoir is
shaped like a big bowl. Also, the water is deep so
it's very cold year-round. 

Claire

******
Kayaker's body found at reservoir 

Published in the Home News Tribune 3/12/02 
By TONY SCLAFANI
GANNETT NEW JERSEY 
A missing kayaker who ignored rough-water warnings was
found dead yesterday morning by two of his friends at
Round Valley Reservoir in Hunterdon County as a second
day of searching began, state police said. 

Nicolae Rado, 27, of Piscataway, dressed in a life
jacket and a Gore-Tex suit, was found about 7 a.m.
near a camp site along the shoreline by friends who
were helping in the search, said Sgt. Al Della Fave, a
state police spokesman. 

Rado, a native of Romania, was found about two miles
from where he was first spotted kayaking in the rough,
freezing waters by a fisherman about 2:30 p.m. Sunday
-- when he cut off radio contact with his girlfriend
waiting at the boat launch site, Chief Ranger Steve
Colao said. 

The couple, who had been dating for at least four
months, had been talking over two-way radios since he
paddled away from shore between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.,
he said. 

An autopsy by the Hunterdon County medical examiner
was under way yesterday afternoon, said Della Fave. 

Rado had ignored three strobe lights set up around the
reservoir warning boaters of treacherous conditions.
At the time Rado was kayaking in the water, there were
about 4-foot swells and strong winds, Colao said. 

"The water was so rough you couldn't see a life-jacket
bobbing up and down," he said. 

The kayak was recovered between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
after rescue workers spotted it on shore about 50
yards from where Rado was first spotted, Colao said. 

Rado had left his parents in Romania at least three
years ago and was working with computers at Dax
Technologies in Holmdel, said a friend who was at the
scene yesterday morning. 

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