Overturned Boat Center Harbor
 

Three missing in Lake Winnipesaukee

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Center Harbor – Three people are missing after a small boat overturned in frigid Lake Winnipesaukee.

The Marine Patrol says it got a call about an overturned boat around 9:30 Saturday morning in Cavaliers Cove in Center Harbor. It says its officers, along with Center Harbor police and firefighters and Fish and Game officers are searching for three people who had been in the boat.

UnionLeader.com will be updated later this afternoon with more details.

Two people are missing in Lake Winnipesaukee
 

From the Union Leader: Two people are missing after a small boat overturned in frigid Lake Winnipesaukee.

The Marine Patrol says it got a call about an overturned boat around 9:30 Saturday morning at Cavaliers Cove in Center Harbor. It says its officers, along with Center Harbor police and firefighters and Fish and Game officers are searching for two people who had been in the boat.

Prayers go out to the missing men and their families.

Ditto...thoughts and prayers for a safe recovery of the boaters.

Rough day
 

It was very windy on the water today. Mild whitecaps and rollers. Our thoughts are with the families. The Union Leader story says the fishermen were in their 50s and from Meredith. Sad day.

Bodies recovered....
 

WMUR is reporting that both bodies were recovered a short time ago. Story HERE.

Very tragic, my thoughts and prayers to the families involved.

How very sad to hear about this. Please wear your life vests when out on the water. They can save your life.

Complete story now on-line....
 

Full story of this tragedy can be read HERE in this morning's Citizen.

how sad
 

our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the two boaters.

I happened to be using the boat ramp when the fisherman arrived to report the overturned boat.....I had to get out of there quickly because Center Harbor rescue responded in a matter of minutes.They had a boat in the water with EMT's and wet suits very quickly.Obviously a very well trained and experienced response team and its too bad for everyone that it was too late to save them.

Overturned Boat
 

The paper is reporting two deaths in Center Harbor as a result of the overturned boat.
http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll.../0/citnews1403

Very sad story.

I will probably get flamed for this, but why would anyone want to be out there in a 12' jon boat on a windy day with water temps as low as they are? It sounds like they set themselves up for trouble. They put themselves in harms way and unfortunately came up short. Jon boats are not made for this type of conditions. Two guys, gear and rough water don't mix with a 12' jon.

I suspect they were caught unawares when the wind picked up. If they went out early in the day, the winds were light -- around 4-5 mph. See the chart below for May 2, Laconia -- the winds suddenly became strong, which might have caught them by surprise.

What a terrible shame. If only they had read our post about WEARING your life jackets when the water is they cold, and HEEDED it, they would probably still be alive. What a waste.

Very sad
 

You are right Tis it's a shame, but the more we talk about wearing your life jacket, despite an ability to swim well, hopefully more people will heed the warning. I just sent my cousin the link who is a fisherman and ironically has a place at Cavalier's Cove. My condolences to the familys.

Yes, I would not wear my life jacket in the summer in a small boat, canoe or kayak, because if I fell out I could swim, but when it is this cold, I don't care how good a swimmer you are, you can't move.

Very sad.

The newspaper article refers to death by "hypothermia," but that seems to be a misnomer.

The correct terms: "cold shock" and "swimming failure."

Google educated me a bit on this unfortunate issue: see link:

http://www.seakayakermag.com/2008/Feb08/cold-shock.htm

I wondered why a good swimmer couldn't swim 100 feet or so to safety: now I know.

Still, very tragic.

I completely agree, I was out fishing in the morning, we put in and left Center Harbor around the same time frame as these guys did. It was windy and it was clear there was a bit of a chop which only got worse as we progressed down the lake were things really opened up. Every year I see folks out there fishing in small, sometimes barely sea worthy boats with very little free board visible and wonder what goes through these people's minds. It's insane to do this, especially this time of year when the weather and conditions can change rapidly and without warning. With the water as cold as it is there is no room for error here or unfortunately people can and do die. Of course this pales in comparison to some people we saw yesterday waterskiing... yes you read correctly waterskiing. In 47 degree water.

No matter, sad for the families involved and I hope that all these guys that insist on fishing out in the middle of areas that can and do get extremely rough in these jon boats pay attention to this story.

The Lightweight Jon Boat...
 

Even as I was reading this account early this morning, I looked up to see a small jon boat trolling a good ¼-mile from any shore.

Jon boats are popular (particularly in the South) for sheltered bayous, slow rivers and marshes, but not for a still-chilly lake whose character can change with the weather.

As aircraft pilots know too well, it's the weather that can "do you in".

For those unfamiliar with a "jon boat", this is what a typical jon boat looks like:

http://www.ahlstrand-marine.com/PK%201468/1468jon1.JPG

But the above photo shows one that's two-feet longer than the jon boat that overturned!

My thoughts go out to the families involved in the sad accident.

What? I wasn't there but I would bet that the waterskiers were wearing wet suits and appropriate PFD's and were being dutifully observed from a sea-worthy tow boat that was prepared to quickly pick them up whenever necessary. Hardly a potentially life threatening situation.

Sadly, another fatal boating incident
 

I was actually up at the lake this weekend but didn't hear anything about it until today. If someone else posted this in a thread, my apologies for the duplicate. My thoughts and condolences go out to their families and friends. Be safe out there.

"CENTER HARBOR, N.H. -- The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department has released the names of two men who died after their small boat overturned in Lake Winnipesaukee over the weekend.

The department said William McCann, 56, and Daniel Benjamin, 50, both of Meredith, were recovered from the frigid water Saturday.

The Marine Patrol said it received a call about an overturned boat at about 9:30 a.m. Saturday in Cavaliers Cove in Center Harbor. The bodies were recovered Saturday afternoon. Investigators said the men had been fishing. It does not appear alcohol was involved in the deaths.

The patrol said the water temperature was 48 degrees."

http://www.wmur.com/news/19361785/detail.html

Thanks for posting this info...one of the men was my uncle, and I'm sure he thought he would have time to put on his lifejacket and get back to shore if the weather got too rough. Just the fact that there were lifejackets on board tells me that he and his friend were caught by surprise...it's very possible they hit thier heads when the boat capsized, too.

Thank you to everyone on this forum for your prayers and kind thoughts...our family takes great comfort from the fact that he died doing something he loved.

Terrible thing. Hope they did not suffer.

Where is Cavalier's Cove? Not a name I know.

Cavelier's Cove
 

It's in the Northeast corner of Centre Harbor ,way to the right of where the Mount docks as you enter the harbor. You may remember the property as the Oak Corner House property. Very sad, our next door neighbor saw the MP pull one of the men out of the water in front of our cottage. Kitt, very sorry for the loss of your Uncle.:(

Not exactly a smart thing to do either IMHO. Even in the best of circumstances it's still risky due to the water temps. That's all I was implying. Think about it if they heaven forbid had some mechanical failure and the boat and skier got separated? Probably not likely to happen, in the same way I bet those guys who went out fishing in that jon boat didn't expect what fate awaited them either.

Waterskiing is not a big deal.
 

With a decent wet suit, water skiing at this temperature is not too much of an issue. Some cold fingers and toes though. Falling in with street cloths is clearly life threatening.

jetskier:cool:

Quite Tragic
 

Hello Kitt,

My husband and I were very sorry to hear about the loss of these two fishermen. Even sadder to know that a forum friend lost a loved one. Our condolences to you and your family for your loss.

Saturday morning started out quite calm and mild and then the wind did pick up considerably. I'm sure they both were caught unaware. You should definitely take comfort in the fact that your uncle was doing something he loved to do.

With sympathy,

Celia & Paul

Very sad!

I had the pleasure of meeting Dan recently. He did some terriffic drywall finishing in my house a couple of months ago.
What a nice guy! I would come home from work to hear him singing to his head phone radio and he would give me a big smile when I walked up the stairs to say hi.
Then he would tell me funny stories about sleeping out in his bob house.
seemed to love fishing and the Patriots.
My heart felt condolences to all of Dan's family and friends and I am glad to have met him.
To those who are commenting on boat safety, I really don't think this is the thread! The guys have lost their lives!

Waterskiing would be fun at this time of year as long as your spotter is ready to get you out of the water really FAST.
My crazy 5 year old grandaughter went SWIMMING on April 25th...that warm saturday. The more I called her crazy...the more she laughed,splashed and tried to soak me.
Never even got a case of chattering teeth.....must be nice to be 5.

I'm also very sorry to hear about this tragedy.


As a waterskier, I'm sure anyone skiing in those temps would have a wetsuit or even more likely a drysuit on.

It is sad that these men lost their lives. Most fishermen know the dangers of cold water and prepare for it. But accidents still happen.

You really can't compare falling unexpectedly from a boat, fully clothed, with heavy boots and fishing gear with intentional exposure like water-skiing. We've all seen pictures of these polar bear clubs running into figid water in January. You can dunk yourself in cold water for a few seconds or minutes with relative safety, if you're prepared and have someone to back you up. With a wet-suit you can even tolerate more. White water kayakers often brave very cold spring rivers with wet-suits.

It's not just the water temp, it's the whole set of circumstances.

Being from Portsmouth and also a recreational lobsterman & fisherman I have been out fishing by the isles of shoals in the ocean many,many times and have seen kayaks miles offshore and thought the same thing!!And although I have a couple myself I would never take them out there,but as for these guys it sounds like they may have know the lake fairly well but I think they just got caught by surprise with the weather,that lake can change as quick as the ocean sometimes as i am sure you who spend as much time there as I do all know,Sad,Sad Day,I feel for the families,Everyone stay safe out there this year.D.G.-Northeast Electric