[Paddlewise] Fatality at Cabbage Key

Fatality at Cabbage Key
By Charles Sutherland  
April 6, 2002

This past Friday readers noted a newspaper story about the death of kayaker Robert
Strickland, 51, prepared by Bob Reddy. Briefly, Mr. Strickland was paddling a 16-ft
Sit-on-top kayak off Cabbage Key near Cayo Costa State Park located about 20 miles
west of Fort Myers, Florida (Gulf Coast). He and his wife had had a picnic on Cabbage
Key that included some alcohol. It appears that Mr. Strickland set off alone from Cabbage
Island at about 11:30 am. His boat was found on the west side of Useppa Island adjacent
to the Intercoastal Waterway at about 2:30 pm. His body was found at about 3:30 pm in
the same general area where the kayak had been found (location not exactly
indicated,exact times not clearly stated).

Authorities suggested that alcohol played a roll in his death. They saw no indications that
a powerboat had hit Mr.Strickland. 

News report at: <http://www.news_press.com/news/today/020405drowning.html>

The story left a number of unanswered questions. Did he and his wife paddle off in
different directions after their picnic? The story states that "SHE" paddled off at 11:30 am
after their picnic. Did they mean "HE" paddled off at that point? Mr. Strickland was not
wearing a PFD. Was there one on his boat? What was he wearing? 

Authorities said the wind was west and the tide was coming in during the early afternoon.
We have had some speculation on Paddlewise that water temperature might have played a
roll in this accident. 

The Venice, Florida NOAA weather station is located about 33 miles north of Cabbage
Key. Data from that station for Thursday, April 4, indicates that in the early afternoon the
water temperature was about 76 d. F, the air temperature was about 74 d. F, and the wind
was West (300 d.) at about 10 knots. You may access this weather station at 
http://seaboard.ndbc.noaa.gov/maps/florida.shtml, which will show you, a map of Florida
with the NOAA stations on it. Click on station VENF1 (Venice, FL).

Cayo Costa State Park is located at the north end of La Costa Island, which is a barrier
island. The next island to the north is Gasparilla Island, which includes the town of Boca
Grande, FL. Pine Island, mentioned in the newspaper report, is parallel to and east of La
Costa Island. Cabbage Island lies just on the east side of La Costa Island, and Useppa
Island immediately east of Cabbage Island. The Intercoastal Waterway (IW) runs north
south between Cabbage and Useppa Islands. The gap between these two islands is about
3/8ths of a mile (660 yards), and the width of the IW trench is about 1/8th mile. This part
of the waterway between La Costa Island and Pine Island appears to be well protected
from westerly winds coming off the Gulf of Mexico.

The entrance to Charlotte Harbor lies between La Costa Island and Gasparilla Island to
the north. This area is shown on NOAA chart # 11427_2, which you may access at 
http://mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images/charts/11427_2.gif 

You may further examine this area through Mapquest at www.mapquest.com by entering
the location, "Boca Grande, Florida 33921". You must then change the centering of the
map by clicking on the bottom of the map until the map crosses the channel between
Gasparilla Island and La Costa Island. Center the map on the islands between La Costa
Island and Pine Island. You should see Cabbage and Useppa Islands labeled on the map.
When you have all this nicely centered, click on the satellite image option at the top left
of the map. If you get this all centered and scaled adequately, you will now see a great
image showing the islands mentioned above with the deep and shallow channels running
between them. 

Why bother with all this? After examining the chart, map, and satellite image, you may
conclude that Mr. Strickland was probably never very far from land. He was paddling in
an area under the lee of La Costa Island. He capsized for an unknown reason. Maybe he
leaned on the edge of his paddle. Since SOTs are watertight, perhaps the wind, even
though not very strong, blew his boat away from him. 

The news report said the tide was coming in. Boat traffic usually returns to port on the
flood. There may have been traffic in the IW when Mr. Strickland was paddling in the
area between Cabbage and Useppa Islands. Such power boaters don't care much about
speed limits; one of them might easily have thrown up a wake large enough to capsize
Mr. Strickland. Some even regard such behavior as FUN. The authorities saw no
evidence that a powerboat hit him. Such contact is not required to kill an unprepared
kayaker. We don't know how much alcohol he had with his lunch, or anything about his
physical condition, or skill as a paddler. A PFD probably would have saved him.
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