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    Wednesday, May 08, 2024

    UPDATED: Evening kayak trip turns fatal as boaters blown across sound

    HARTFORD — Two people died and two others survived what was supposed to a short boating trip after their kayak and paddleboard got blown far off the Connecticut coast by strong winds.

    The boaters left Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison at about 6 p.m. Sunday. A woman and her young daughter who were in the kayak were found Monday morning on a beach across Long Island Sound in New York. Her boyfriend’s body was found nearby.

    The body of a 44-year-old Manchester man who had been traveling with them on the paddleboard was recovered shortly after noon Monday in a nearby bay.

    Coast Guard Lt. Matthew Richards said winds gusting at about 40 mph blew them about 14 miles across the sound.

    “They were just doing a day trip around Hammonasset,” said Richards. “But they were overcome by the gale-force winds. At one point it capsized the kayak.”

    Authorities say the mother and daughter were found on a beach in Southold, New York, at about 4 a.m. Monday by people who heard their cries for help. The woman’s 31-year-old boyfriend was found a short distance away and had succumbed to hypothermia, Richards said.

    The 44-year-old’s body was recovered just after noon Monday from Gardiners Bay, near Southold, after being spotted from a search helicopter.

    The woman and child were being treated for hypothermia at Eastern Long Island Hospital.

    Authorities had not released the victims’ names Monday.

    Richards said the 44-year-old man was wearing a personal floatation device and theoretically could have survived for up to 13 hours in the water, which was just above 60 degrees.

    It was one of two boating accidents Sunday on Long Island Sound, according to Richards.

    One person swam to shore and another was missing after an inflatable raft overturned in Bridgeport Harbor earlier in the day, he said. That missing boater was not wearing a life jacket, he said.

    There was a small craft advisory posted for the area Sunday because of the wind conditions, he said.

    “On sunny days it feels like it’s a nice time to go out there,” he said. “But conditions can change very fast and the water is still very cold. It’s very dangerous.”

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