Unknown, 02-23-09
Canoeist drowns near Kake
By JAMES HALPIN, jhalpin@adn.com
Published: February 23rd, 2009
KAKE -- A 23-year-old man died Monday afternoon near Kake when a canoe with two
people aboard capsized about 40 yards offshore, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The man, who was not immediately identified, was pronounced dead at the Kake clinic
at 3:40 p.m., several hours after falling into the water near Point White.
The Coast Guard first got a report of a man missing about a half mile southwest
of Kake at 1:13 p.m.
The other person on the canoe, described as a middle-aged man, had been able to
swim to shore and report the capsizing to police in Kake.
Two Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters, from Sitka and Juneau, were dispatched
to the area, the Coast Guard said. At about 2:20 p.m. -- before the second chopper
reached the scene -- a good Samaritan on a Boston Whaler found the missing man.
Crews from both helicopters conducted CPR but could not resuscitate the man.
The people in the canoe were apparently not wearing life jackets, the Coast Guard
said.