sugar reef

[rick stoehrer]

this past weekend several of us were at this reef at the the time specified in the story. although it's a big place we were at the same reef when this happened.

given the conditions, it's unlikely any of us would have had anything to offer in way of help but it certainly makes you wonder how we could have missed all the resulting action from the incident. yeah, the water was loud and the waves made a bit of noise but still...

while we were at race rock light on saturday and then even a month ago, it amazed me to see the position that some folks put their fishing boats in in these conditions...folks were stern and beam to the seas in 6-7 knot tidal stream and just rocking and rolling from gun'el to gun'el. i was scared looking at them! we can roll a kayak but that's rather trickier with a powerboat.

don't know the circumstances here - this is really unfortunate.

STONINGTON, Conn. -- A Connecticut man died Sunday after a boat capsized off the Stonington coast near Napatree Point in Rhode Island.

Authorities were not releasing his name late Sunday. Another Connecticut man who was on board survived after the 16-foot boat took on water and capsized at about 1:30 p.m., authorities said.

Both men, from the Stafford area, were pulled to safety by a Westerly, R.I., woman, her teenage son and a college student from Berlin, Conn., all of whom jumped into the water to rescue the men, The Day of New London reported.

They tried to resuscitate one of the men, who was floating face down in the water and later pronounced dead. He was flown to The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich. The other man was conscious but having trouble breathing. He was treated and released from The Westerly Hospital.

The boaters brought the men to the Stonington Town Dock and ambulance crews continued CPR.

Witnesses said the man who drowned was not wearing a life preserver, and the other man had one partially around his shoulder.

"With the current and the waves, I thought I was going to drown," said Mike Retano of Berlin, who was fishing from a boat with three friends. He dove into the water to help save the men.

The boat went down near Sugar Reef, less than a mile south of Napatree Point.

Vessels from the Coast Guard, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, New London police and Stonington police all responded to the capsizing.

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management was investigating the capsizing, which appeared to have occurred just over the state line in Rhode Island waters.