[JohnR]

I don't think it's the Hab's man as he posted yesterday a 11am and the article says yesterday at 5am. His PC was last "here" without posting before 1pm today....

Smithfield man swept off Beavertail
The fisherman, 49, dies after a wave pulls him under in the rocky surf in Jamestown.

11:12 AM EDT on Sunday, September 14, 2003

BY ANDREW C. HELMAN
Journal Staff Writer


JAMESTOWN -- A 49-year-old Smithfield man, fishing in the rocky surf at Beavertail State Park, died yesterday when a crashing wave swept him into the water shortly before 5 a.m.

Responding to a 911 call placed by a nearby fisherman, rescue workers searched the water and rocky coast for about an hour and a half, until a passing boat spotted the body between 300 and 400 yards offshore, said fire Capt. Keith Godena.

Town firefighters pulled the man, whose name was not released, into their rescue boat and transported him to nearby Fort Wetherill State Park, where they were met by the medical examiner, Godena said.

Witnesses told Godena, "He was hanging on the rock yelling for help" after a wave crashed over him, but "another large wave came out and they never saw him again."

Godena said the man was found wearing hip boots, a jacket and a knapsack.

Edward Cabral, an environmental police officer for the Department of Environmental Management, said the death appears to be accidental. DEM is investigating the incident because the park is state property.

Cabral said the man has been coming to Beavertail to fish for the past few weeks.

"It appears that he was a pretty avid fisherman," Cabral said. "According to the family, he leaves early in the morning and then comes back later."

Cabral said the surf area tends to be popular with fishermen because the fish feed in the white water. "They become very active in that, so the fishermen do very well," he said.

But tropical storms in September tend to increase the size and strength of waves, Cabral said.

"The storm may be 100 or 200 miles out to sea, but it may cause the wave action to be a little more aggressive than normal," Cabral said. "Certainly, fishermen should be more cautious with the tropical storms around."

Cabral said there was a similar death off the coast of Narragansett last year.

I know I'm going to bore some people but we're going to have another safety thread...