This happened at the same launch site I used less than a week ago when I posted “nice day on the river”! As of the 6 o’clock news they have not found a body.
https://wwmt.com/news/local/officials-to-resume-search-for-missing-kalamazoo-man-on-monday-morning
A paddling club that doesn’t insist members wear a PFD? Perhaps this tragedy will change that.
Up here in the north, Tyler Spink’s body has finally been found nearly two years after his capsize in Lake Michigan. What the article does not state is that Tyler was not wearing a PFD nor was one on his rec kayak. Just a flotation cushion.
http://upnorthlive.com/news/local/autopsy-confirms-body-found-in-platte-bay-is-tyler-spink
Sad and God bless his soul. I am about out of patience for hot shots with no PFD. I may perish one day but I’ll have my jacket on.
These guys found one when we were at the Mackinaw Straights…
http://www.bruceslegacy.com/our-purpose/
Side scan sonar finds 'em. Then divers go down and recover the remains. One article mentioned several recoveries near shore in ten feet or less water.
@PaddleDog52 said:
Sad and God bless his soul. I am about out of patience for hot shots with no PFD. I may perish one day but I’ll have my jacket on.
Amen Dawg!
@Overstreet said:
These guys found one when we were at the Mackinaw Straights…
http://www.bruceslegacy.com/our-purpose/Side scan sonar finds 'em. Then divers go down and recover the remains. One article mentioned several recoveries near shore in ten feet or less water.
It was Bruce’s Legacy who found Tyler Spink. They started the search not long after he capsized and returned this year. Such good souls.
BTW, we have Mackinac Island, Mackinac Bridge, Straits of Mackinac, Fort Michilimackinac - and then Mackinaw City. A fun article about it: http://walkinthewords.blogspot.com/2009/05/mackinaw-vs-mackinac-spelling-and.html
Again incomplete info… We have had some losses this year where water was high and it took some couple of weeks to find them. They were from people playing on riverbanks… On shore people usually do not think PFD. And some remain absolutely clueless about the power of water.
https://www.pressherald.com/2018/04/24/body-pulled-from-androscoggin-river-in-auburn/
Well they found the poor guy last night. It’s a bit of a mystery given that he was in good shape and apparently their safety guy. The paddle club says it’s a relatively calm stretch for them. I wonder. I was on the exact same spot 3 days earlier and the current is over 3 knots in spots; we lost ground when we had to cross the river to stay on the inside of bends including the shot with my puppy where she is listening to the water gurgle. Then in the next two days we got about two inches of rain right before their club paddle. There are plenty of submerged trees throughout the river. The location is about a 45 minute drive due west from Kalamazoo so it makes one wonder if the paddlers were familiar with the river. Totally agree that it’s crazy that a club would not require pfd’s. It’s also odd and a shame that this guy apparently stopped to use the bathroom…right across the river from the launch site which includes a fine facility.
One of the biggest statistics I remember from my original lifesaving class a surprisingly high percentage of people drown in fairly shallow water - 25% in 3 ft or less. Can be lots of things, feet get taken out from under them, they hit a rock. But shallow water is underrated as a risk, add current and it ramps up.
See many or some look great in 30’ 40’s then boom dead. Few ounces in your lungs you tits up and gone.
@Rookie said:
.BTW, we have Mackinac Island, Mackinac Bridge, Straits of Mackinac, Fort Michilimackinac - and then Mackinaw City. A fun article about it: http://walkinthewords.blogspot.com/2009/05/mackinaw-vs-mackinac-spelling-and.html
“You say eether and I say eyether
You say neether and I say nyther
Eether, eyether, neether, nyther
Let’s call the whole thing off!”
Many examples, but just one:
I grew up always hearing the state out west pronounced ‘Nev ah da’ (eg, the movie ‘Nevada Smith’)
Now-a-days, I accept it and even say it as ‘Nev a (as in ‘ack’) da’, as spoken by the ‘locals’.
However, for some reason, I can’t get used to the ‘naw’ so much.
(childhood ‘vacation’ spot was in the area)
Certainly for the city, I’ll go with Mackinaw.
The island is a bit more difficult for me, I’ll hear and won’t object to …naw Island, but will say it as ‘…ac’
Now, as for the bridge, forget about it, it will always be the Mackin-‘ACK’ Bridge.
(glad the kayak wasn’t invented in that area, I wouldn’t be comfortable paddling a kayaw)
Y’all talk funny.
@Overstreet said:
Y’all talk funny.
Nah, the “acks” just make it easy for the natives to identify the fudgies. 
As Celia says, people fail to appreciate the dangers and power of strong currents, especially after periods of heavy rain or Spring melt.
We lost a dedicated river trail clearing volunteer a couple of years ago here in Pittsburgh due to such conditions. During a routine clean up he spotted a water trail marker that had fallen into the river along the shore and launched his kayak (no spray skirt) to paddle over to pull the sign out of the bank. The river was running really high volume, actually flood stage, due to recent rains (median CFPS is 2,460 and it was over 12,000 that day). When he leaned out to reach the signpost, he capsized and before other crew members on shore could respond the current had sucked him downstream, apparently tearing off his PFD, which he had neglected to securely fasten. He was unable to fight the current and was drawn under tethered coal barges, pinned and drowned
Eeeeeeggggghhhh. Gruesome.
@Rookie said:
@Overstreet said:
Y’all talk funny.Nah, the “acks” just make it easy for the natives to identify the fudgies.
I saw the trash compactor truck land on the island and drive in land. Like Disney it’s a fantasy.
The problem isn’t that he hazards are known. It’s that people tend to ignore the technical aspects and risk.
@Overstreet said:
The problem isn’t that he hazards are known. It’s that people tend to ignore the technical aspects and risk.
Oh, p’shaw… Why worry about silly stuff that’s not going to happen? That’s why there are people to call for help.
@Sparky961 said:
@Overstreet said:
The problem isn’t that he hazards are known. It’s that people tend to ignore the technical aspects and risk.Oh, p’shaw… Why worry about silly stuff that’s not going to happen? That’s why there are people to call for help.
And epirbs. Just bring one of those fellers and you dont need to worry about safety.
@Rookie said:
@Overstreet said:
Y’all talk funny.Nah, the “acks” just make it easy for the natives to identify the fudgies.
…and what’s all that about fudge anyway? There are better desserts.