ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 19, 1997 TAG: 9704210066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE
A boating accident claimed the life of one man Friday when high winds and rough waves on the lake caused his boat to capsize. The accident happened between 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. near Saunders Marina, said Lt. Kent Robey of the Bedford County Sheriff's Department.
Two construction workers near the scene of the accident attempted to rescue the man but were unable to reach him in time.
"By the time they got their life jackets on, the man had gone under," said Lt. Karl Martin, a game warden with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
The body of the unidentified man and his boat, which sank in 60 to 80 feet of water, had not been recovered Friday evening.
Capt. David Falwell of the Franklin County Fire and Rescue Scruggs Dive Team, said the wind and waves were too severe to send divers into the lake to search for the body.
"This is one of the worst days I've seen out here," he said. "We're not able to conduct operations out here because we can't anchor the boats.
"It's not good to have all those propellers and divers floating around in one area," Falwell said. "It's already a bad situation, we don't want to make it any worse."
Falwell said the divers will attempt to locate the boat this morning if conditions are better.
Two bass fisherman who saw the man about 10 minutes before the boat capsized said the man didn't seem to be in trouble when he passed them going in the opposite direction. But given the high winds, they wondered why the small boat was on the lake.
"When we saw the boat, our thoughts were that he shouldn't be out here," said Steve Jordan of Roanoke.
"The boat seemed too small for the conditions," said Dave Bumgarbner of Virginia Beach.
Both men said the boat appeared to be between 14 to 16 feet in length, considerably smaller than their boat.
Law enforcement officials at the scene said the man was probably going or coming from a camping trip. Camping equipment was found in the water not far from where the accident occurred, Martin said.
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: JANEL RHODA THE ROANOKE TIMES. Game wardens check Smithby CNBMountain Lake for a man and his boat that sank early Friday. color. KEYWORDS: FATALITY