R.I.Singer30
10-25-2006, 07:17 PM
I'm posting this to anyone who is still going out(JCSOH,etal) The winds are up and the water is cold.wear your PFD's.
N.Y. man dies after dinghy capsizes on Block Island
01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, October 25, 2006
BLOCK ISLAND — A 53-year-old New York man died last weekend after waves stirred up by gusty winds swamped the dinghy he and a friend were trying to take back to a sailboat moored on the Great Salt Pond.
The police say Mark Gilligan, of Delhi, N.Y., and Lance DeMeo, 35, of Margaretville, N.Y., caught a ferry to the island Friday and then took a dinghy out to the Sonsy, a 30-foot sailboat owned by Gilligan’s brother that was moored on the Great Salt Pond. The two men returned to the shore for shopping and dinner that night, Lt. Troy Reynolds said. Between midnight and 1 a.m. Saturday, they tried to take the dinghy back to the boat, which had gotten loose from its mooring, Reynolds said.
As they searched for the Sonsy, the dinghy became swamped, landing the men in the water. The pond was extremely choppy as winds gusted up to 50 mph. The two men attempted to swim to shore for close to an hour. DeMeo began pulling his friend in after he noticed that he could no longer keep up, Reynolds said. Once on land, DeMeo called the police about 3 a.m. from an unoccupied house.
The police and rescue workers found Gilligan at Indian Neck, on the eastern side of the pond. He was pronounced dead by the island doctor, Reynolds said.
Gilligan’s body was sent to the medical examiner, where autopsy results were pending yesterday.
N.Y. man dies after dinghy capsizes on Block Island
01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, October 25, 2006
BLOCK ISLAND — A 53-year-old New York man died last weekend after waves stirred up by gusty winds swamped the dinghy he and a friend were trying to take back to a sailboat moored on the Great Salt Pond.
The police say Mark Gilligan, of Delhi, N.Y., and Lance DeMeo, 35, of Margaretville, N.Y., caught a ferry to the island Friday and then took a dinghy out to the Sonsy, a 30-foot sailboat owned by Gilligan’s brother that was moored on the Great Salt Pond. The two men returned to the shore for shopping and dinner that night, Lt. Troy Reynolds said. Between midnight and 1 a.m. Saturday, they tried to take the dinghy back to the boat, which had gotten loose from its mooring, Reynolds said.
As they searched for the Sonsy, the dinghy became swamped, landing the men in the water. The pond was extremely choppy as winds gusted up to 50 mph. The two men attempted to swim to shore for close to an hour. DeMeo began pulling his friend in after he noticed that he could no longer keep up, Reynolds said. Once on land, DeMeo called the police about 3 a.m. from an unoccupied house.
The police and rescue workers found Gilligan at Indian Neck, on the eastern side of the pond. He was pronounced dead by the island doctor, Reynolds said.
Gilligan’s body was sent to the medical examiner, where autopsy results were pending yesterday.