more geniuses in canoes without pfds
Another contribution to darwin survival of the fittest. What are people thinking going out in cold water without pfds?
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/201...ton_canoe.html
Accident, Mercer County, Must-See Stories »
Man drowns in Princeton canoe accident
By The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk
April 05, 2010, 6:01AM
PRINCETON TOWNSHIP -- A beautiful afternoon turned tragic Sunday when a man drowned in the Delaware and Raritan Canal after the canoe he was riding in overturned.
Two other men in the canoe were rescued by passers-by on the canal towpath.
According to police, the men’s canoe capsized about 3:45 p.m., after becoming entangled in some partially submerged branches.
Crews from municipalities across Mercer County responded to the scene, including a dive team from the Trenton Fire Department, as they attempted to locate the third canoeist.
The body of the 26-year-old victim, whose name is being withheld pending the notification of his family, was recovered by divers in 20 feet of water about 5:30 p.m.
The other two individuals, Anandkuma Duraipandian, 26, and Ramkumar Rengamani, 29, both of Plainsboro, were not injured.
Police said that none of the men was wearing life jackets at the time.
The men rented their canoe from Princeton Canoe and Kayak Rental on Alexander Road, near the canal, police said.
All renters are required to sign a release form and are given life jackets to wear while on the water, management at the business said.
They declined to discuss the incident further pending the police investigation.
One witness, who said she was a frequent canoeist on the canal but added that she never wears a life jacket, said the incident served as a lesson to her.
“I never use a life jacket because I can swim and I’m a strong swimmer,” she said, asking not to be identified, “but not after this.”
The incident comes just two weeks after Princeton Borough resident Chris Baldwin disappeared while canoeing with his son on the Delaware River in West Amwell.
Baldwin is missing and presumed dead after his canoe overturned as it passed through the area of the wing dam just south of Lambertville between West Amwell and New Hope, Pa. His son survived the incident.
- Matt Fair/Times of Trenton
