Presumed Drowning in Seneca Lake

[Pygmy]

Two young fellows decided it would a good idea to canoe across Seneca in a 14 foot canoe...

They fished one out clinging to the swamped canoe...Last I heard they were still looking for the other one

So now it is considered a search and recovery mission, rather than search and rescue..

Sad for the families...   However I can't help but question the wisdom of crossing a killer lake like Seneca at the widest point in a small canoe, in high winds and 40 degree water..

Unfortunately the fellows were 27 years old and bulletproof... I'm sure many of us, myself included, have done our share of dumb, unsafe  stuff and were lucky enough to survive it...

[rob-c]

This has been on the local news a bunch and I just shake my head when I hear no life jackets. I’m not a must play by the book constantly guy ,but a canoe is a 100% life jacket scenario. 

[Water Rat]

Horrible news and way to young to die. Shame they didn't think of the consequences.

[Nytracker]

I can think of 4 instance of people drowning in a canoe accident   on Seneca  lake  over the years . That lake is no joke when it gets going  and it's cold.. very cold . Surface temps are 70  in the shallows at the hottest  time of the year . Go a few feet down and its 50 . Once a body goes down it sinks and it's to cold for the gasses to build  and float the body  back up . I know of 3 people where the body's  were not recovered.

I think one is attached  to a bass boat that was not recovered. Boat sank .. one guy suffered  a heart attack  his partner tied him to the boat and swam to shore for help. The boat sank  and took the body with it .

I feel sorry for the family  and the survivor. 

 

[grampy]

What a shame. To bad, as a little bit of thought could have prevented this tragedy. Sometimes, you don't get a second chance to learn a lesson.

I got a bunch of second chances in my younger days, thankfully. I learned from each one of em. I was lucky.

Some don't make it through the learning stage.

[Daveboone]

The lake is decieving. From the shore it often looks smooth out in the middle. When you go to cross you find that it is quite rough, or the wind picks up and makes it that way. If i remember right, it is only about 3 miles wide (compared to Oneidas 7 miles + at the widest point) but it is long, and depending on the wind direction she can get nasty.

 A bunch of years ago during the then annual duck hunters association perch derby , I was talking with a few guys who were still celebrating the previous nights adventure. One of them took up the (very drunkenly thought of ) challenge of rowing across the lake with only one paddle! It was well into the night but the guy called from a house on the other shore...he made it! I remember it was well towards the southern end, so it was narrower, but just the same...

[G-Man]

1 hour ago, rob-c said:

This has been on the local news a bunch and I just shake my head when I hear no life jackets. I’m not a must play by the book constantly guy ,but a canoe is a 100% life jacket scenario. 

Heck I wear a life jacket when I go in my pond

[Water Rat]

Slightly off topic , but weren't there submarines in Seneca Lake at one time ? I used to drive by that lake when I was working for the state.

[The_Real_TCIII]

We should have to jump in 40 degree water as part of hunter/boating safety. People do not have the proper respect for it. Prayers to the family

[Pygmy]

48 minutes ago, Water Rat said:

Slightly off topic , but weren't there submarines in Seneca Lake at one time ? I used to drive by that lake when I was working for the state.

There was a small Naval Station at Dresden...They had a barge anchored out in the middle of the lake ( about 600  FOW)  to research sonar gear...I don't know if it is still there or not....

[Nytracker]

Last I knew Raytheon  was contracting the navy platform . Its 500 plus there . South of Valoice there's a spot I  marked on my bottom line fish finder that was 636 feet . 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Nytracker

[Deleted Account]

Terribly sad, I feel for the young man's family. 

I've only been to Seneca Lake one time, Geneva for a conference. I was there for 3 days and I don't think I ever saw it "calm". Granted it was a raining week in October, but it looked awfully mean from where I was. 

[knehrke]

What a shame. Please keep us updated in case of a miracle. I used to fish Seneca quite a bit for perch in February, and it's no joke.

[Farflung]

When folks came to our DEC office, and were going out in a overloaded boat or a canoe for trout fishing or to set up a deer camp, I would always tell them to wear a life jacket. They said that  it was unnecessary and they could swim to shore. I  told them it was a courtesy to the Rangers as they could more easily recover the body in the 40 degree water.

[Elmo]

This is sad.

The kind of stuff I did as a kid, I'm shocked I'm still alive today.  Once when I was in middle school, I crossed the entire length of the Henry Hudson Bridge...from the bottom of it.  I cringe to think my sons doing anything like that.