Another deadly tourist season iis here...!!

Pathfinder1 · 07-06-2012, 06:10 PM

Hi...

Well, another deadly tourist season has started here in the lower Catskills.

Already this week we've had a 14-year old swimmer drown in a small pond near the Neversink River, another 34-year old drowned in the Delaware River, and a teenage girl fell down a 60 foot cliff above the Delaware River. She is the only one who survived these tragedys (so far, anyway).

If this continues, this might be a record breaking year for same...a record that we'd rather not have.

And for the record, almost all drownings are caused by not wearing a life jacket...!!

I hope that the summer has been less tragic elsewhere...at least for those not in the path of wildfires or windstorms....(which have also yielded tragic results).

Hikenhunter · 07-06-2012, 11:47 PM

I spend time up in the areas between Callicoon and Narrowsburg and some times further south. You can see lots of people on and in the river without life jackets every day. Everybody thinks bad things can't happen to them until it's too late. It is such a shame some people have to learn the hard way.

Pathfinder1 · 07-07-2012, 09:24 AM

Hikenhunter;
I spend time up in the areas between Callicoon and Narrowsburg and some times further south. You can see lots of people on and in the river without life jackets every day. Everybody thinks bad things can't happen to them until it's too late. It is such a shame some people have to learn the hard way.

Hi...

You are absolutely correct. There's no danger here...lets party. Uh oh...!!

Also, the seventeen year old girl who fell from the 60 foot cliff along the Delaware River this week didn't make it.

Lorax · 07-07-2012, 10:51 AM

The Delaware is always good for one or two per season. That you can always count on. It's heavily used every summer by a lot of tourists, tubers and boaters. Some times in groups too large to actively manage from some of the things I've seen.

Pathfinder1 · 07-07-2012, 01:38 PM

Lorax;
The Delaware is always good for one or two per season. That you can always count on. It's heavily used every summer by a lot of tourists, tubers and boaters. Some times in groups too large to actively manage from some of the things I've seen.

Hi...

That "one or two" (and sometimes more) is right on, just around my County alone. Right on also...regarding the large groups of (mostly ignorant) tourists.

Lets jump right in...we don't need any life jackets...have another beer...uh oh...!!

Hikenhunter · 07-08-2012, 11:06 PM

I'm goingb to be bringing my grandson up there in a week or so. we are going to kayack Callicoon to Skinners falls for his 12 year birthday. He's Kayacked on Locust lake a couple times but never on a river so that is his birthday gift from me. He really wants to see the eagles. Incidetally, I have taken many boy scouts on the river in the past and my rule was always that if you were within 10 foot of the rivers edge you had better be wearing a proper fitting pfd. Some think it was a bit too much but I never lost a boy to the river. My grandson gets the same rules those boys got back then.

Grandpa · 07-08-2012, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hikenhunter

I'm goingb to be bringing my grandson up there in a week or so. we are going to kayack Callicoon to Skinners falls for his 12 year birthday. He's Kayacked on Locust lake a couple times but never on a river so that is his birthday gift from me. He really wants to see the eagles. Incidetally, I have taken many boy scouts on the river in the past and my rule was always that if you were within 10 foot of the rivers edge you had better be wearing a proper fitting pfd. Some think it was a bit too much but I never lost a boy to the river. My grandson gets the same rules those boys got back then.

It's good to see you have and stick to your rules Hikenhunter but my first reaction is that ten feet is the most dangerous, requiring a pfd as well. Snags, rocks and trees become real hazards close to shore. One of the drownings near here last spring was a strong swimmer got swept under a deadfall and trapped.....only two feet from the shore.

ponderosa · 07-09-2012, 01:03 AM

I think maybe Hikenhunter meant he requires his kids to wear a PFD when they are on the bank, walking within ten feet of the water's edge. That's how I read it. I hope that's what he meant, because anywhere in a river can be dangerous, including the waters very near the shore.

Grandpa · 07-09-2012, 04:19 AM

Awwww, I read that wrong. My apologies hikenhunter. And an excellent strategy on your part.

Pathfinder1 · 07-09-2012, 09:57 AM

ponderosa;
I think maybe Hikenhunter meant he requires his kids to wear a PFD when they are on the bank, walking within ten feet of the water's edge. That's how I read it. I hope that's what he meant, because anywhere in a river can be dangerous, including the waters very near the shore.

Hi...

That's the way I read it too. Hope we get their their trip report...with pics.