A Wisconsin kayaker died of hypothermia yesterday after capsizing in Lake Superior. He appears to have capsized in Squaw Bay between the Squaw Bay caves and Meyers Beach in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. The water temperature was reported to be 42 degrees F. Neither the kayaker nor his companion, who also capsized trying to rescue him and just barely survived, was wearing a wetsuit nor, apparently, a dry suit. Air temperatures in the area have been in the 80s lately. The body of the deceased was recovered with his PFD wrapped around his arm. Whether he was wearing the PFD at the time of the accident, I don't know. The kayakers are estimated to have been in the water for close to three hours. As far as I know, this is the first kayaking fatality in the Apostle Islands area, though I have heard of some close calls. Story here: http://wcco.com/minnesotawire/MN--HypothermiaDeath/resources_news_html Water temperature map here: http://www.coastwatch.msu.edu/superior/s1.html My wife and I had planned to be in the Apostle Islands this weekend, but unfortunately had to cancel because of a wrist problem. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Jun 27 2007 - 11:04:51 PDT
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