Earlier this week it was noted on this list that a kayaker died on Round Valley Resevoir in Hunterdon County, NJ. That was last Sunday. There were high winds that day, 25-35 mph with gusts estimated over 40 mph. The resevoir is about 3 miles long by 1.5 wide and the long axis is east- west. Winds were out of the West. The paddler, Nicollae Rado, 27, from Piscataway, NJ, launched from the boat ramp at the north-west corner of the lake between 10 and 11 am that morning. Warning lights were on at the time indicating that winds on the lake were at least 23 mph. Boaters are not allowed on the lake when the strobe lights are on. Mr. Rado was last seen from shore at the southwest corner of the lake at about 2:30 pm. He was declared missing by the park rangers at 3:00 pm when a large scale search was initiated using small boats and an aircraft. Rescue personnel reported that waves were about 4 ft high over the eastern half of the lake. Winds were estimated to be 25-35 mph with gusts of 40-50 mph. Water temperature was measured by park rangers at 42 degrees F. The resevoir was a carpet of whitecaps. I believe air temperature was 45-50 degrees F and sunny. Mr. Rado bought his boat sometime last fall. This was said to be his second trip out on the water. He was wearing light clothing including a pile shirt of some sort under a Goretex jacket (not a drytop). He was wearing a yellow PFD and paddling a dark blue kayak. I believe the kayak had a rear bulkhead and bow airbag. The paddle still had a price tag on it. The rescue personnel were unable to spot either Mr Rado or his boat in spite of the relatively small size of the lake. The size of the waves and color of Mr. Rado's boat no doubt contributed greatly to their invisibility. The boat was located at the eastern end of the lake at about 9:00 pm. Mr. Rado's body was found Monday morning within 100 yards of where his boat had been found. You may look at the lake by searching <www.MapQuest.com> by entering the zip code 08833-3115. Center the map on the lake and adjust the scale so that the whole resevoir is on your screen. The Resevoir Headquarters is located under the STAR at the west end of the lake. Given his clothing, quite like that of the paddlers we heard about in Homer, Alaska, it is unlikely that Mr. Rado remained conscious for more than a few minutes after capsizing. It appears that Mr. Rado was a novice paddler with no paddling skills, knowledge of effects of wind on sea conditions, no knowledge of the dangers of capsizing in cold water, and no knowledge of how to dress for cold water paddling. But we have gone on about this before. This is a brief report for the benefit of our readers. A full report will be published elsewhere at a future date. Charles Sutherland (c) skimmer_at_mail3.enter.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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