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Accident Case Index
Our Case Index makes it easy for you to access the 25+ close calls and fatalities on our web site. Cases are also attached at the bottom of each Golden Rule page. Several others can be found in the Cold Water Articles resource section. In addition to Lessons Learned, each case highlights Major Contributing Factors - things that we see again and again in our analysis of close calls and fatalities.
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Rule 2 / Case 1
Always Dress For The Water Temperature Irina McEntee and Carissa Ireland May 16th, 2010 - Casco Bay, Maine The water was calm and the...
Rule 2 / Case 2
Always Dress For The Water Temperature Michael and Daniel Madders August 23, 2009 - Loch Maree, Scotland Dr Michael Madders, 52, a...
Rule 2 / Case 3
Always Dress For The Water Temperature Kevin Dammen June 7th, 2011 Little Sand Bay, Apostle Islands Area, Lake Superior On the afternoon of June 7th, twenty-year-old twin brothers Kevin and Kyle Dammen of Austin, Minnesota, and their friends Grant Schlicter, 21 and Travis Hawley, 19, of Winona, Minnesota launched their kayaks at Little Sand Bay on Lake Superior. They planned to paddle across two miles of open water to Little Sand Island and then return via the same route. All
Rule 2 / Case 4
Always Dress For The Water Temperature Fengquan Guan May 9th, 2010 - Milford, Connecticut While on an annual visit with friends in...
Rule 2 / Case 5
Always Dress For The Water Temperature Mark J. Tamkus March 17th, 2011 - Millsite Lake, Redwood, New York Mark J. Tamkus, 62, of 42607...
Rule 2 / Case 6
Always Dress For The Water Temperature David Arthur Dickerson April 21st, 2012 - Omena Bay, Lake Michigan Dave Dickerson on the Sand River, Ontario, Canada Family members said that Dave Dickerson, 43, loved being out on the water and usually paddled his canoe for an hour every evening on Omena Bay, starting around 6 p.m. From all accounts he appears to have been a lovely, kind, generous, and thoughtful man who was well-respected in his community. According to the information
Rule 2 / Case 7
Always Dress For The Water Temperature Nine U.S. Marines March 6th, 1968, Potomac River, Quantico, Virginia It was 4 p.m. on a...
Rule 2 / Case 8
Always Dress For The Water Temperature Randy Morgart February 19th, 2010 Mississippi River, Missouri Note: This Case History consists of 3 separate articles and 1 video. We recommend that you read the articles in sequence, starting with Cold and Alone on An Icy River. The location is about 25 miles north of St. Louis, MO. Cold And Alone on An Icy River Randy Morgart's gripping account of his near-death experience on the freezing Mississippi River is one of the finest fi
Rule 2 / Case 9
Always Dress For The Water Temperature Brigitte Manspeaker March 21, 2026 - Tomalas Bay, CA The Accident Just after 6pm on Saturday, March 21, someone on shore called 911 and reported a capsized kayak with two people in the water. The location appears to have been close to Kilkenny Beach. Multiple rescue units responded from the Marin and Sonoma County Sheriff's Offices, Marin County Fire, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the National Park Service. Accident Location on Tomalas Bay
Rule 2 / Case 10 - The Rock Lake Tragedy
Always Dress For The Water Temperature Christopher Gormley April 1, 2012 - Rock Lake, Washington Accident Location in Washington State The Accident On a cold morning in April 2012, a group of seven paddlers drove from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, to Rock Lake, a remote body of water about an hour southwest of the city. They brought with them two double kayaks and three singles. When they launched their kayaks from the boat ramp around 10:30am, four women were
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