Chuck Gould wrote:
This time it was three guys from NJ.

Apparently they thought the primary purpose of having PFD aboard a
small boat was to palacate the USCG in case of inspection.

What a shame. Considering wives, kids, friends, coworkers, employers,
employees, and family members there are maybe hundreds of people
affected by each of these deaths, so it isn't entirely or solely a
personal decision.

We can only hope their possibly needless deaths will serve as
instructional examples

**************************
Boat capsizes off NJ coast, killing 3; second fatal fishing accident
since Wednesday
AP
Posted: 2007-11-29 20:04:19
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - A boat capsized about five miles from
shore, killing the three fishermen on board, authorities said
Thursday.

The 25-foot pleasure boat carrying the men was reported missing by a
friend Wednesday night when they didn't return.

The Coast Guard searched through the night for the men using boats, a
helicopter and a plane. A helicopter crew member using night-vision
goggles spotted the boat early Thursday and the bodies of Mark Stroud
and Danny Pavic, both of Galloway.

A salvage crew sent to recover the boat found the body of Jerry
Berwick, 64, of Philadelphia, inside the cabin Thursday afternoon, the
Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard Spokesman Nyx Cangemi said that there were life jackets on
the boat, but that the men were not wearing them. The water
temperature was about 50 degrees, he said.

Officials were waiting for a medical examiner to identify the body.

The men launched from Oyster Creek and were headed for Little Egg
Inlet, which is about 10 miles north of where their boat was found.

The search follows another fishing accident Wednesday in which a 72-
year-old man was killed after being trapped underneath a capsized boat
in Maurice River Township. Two others survived.

.


Here's a local news story on the same accident:

Boat capsizes off Atlantic City, killing three fishermen



The waters off southern New Jersey claimed more lives, and emergency
personnel recovered the bodies Thursday of three fishermen after their
boat, *the Knucklehead,* capsized in the Atlantic Ocean.

The U.S. Coast Guard retrieved the bodies of Danny Pavic, of Galloway
Township, Atlantic County, and Mark Stroud, 45, of Philadelphia, from
the chilly waters about 5 miles off Atlantic City shortly after 1:10
a.m. Thursday.

The body of the third member of their party, Philadelphia resident Jerry
Berwick, was discovered in the cabin of the Knucklehead when it was
righted by a boat-towing company at the scene at about
1 p.m. Thursday.

The Knucklehead was towed Thursday afternoon to Somers Point, where it
was raised out of the water after being pumped dry.

The discovery of the capsized Knucklehead follows a search for Pavic,
Stroud and Berwick that began after friends reported at about 5:45 p.m.
Wednesday that the 25-foot pleasure boat, owned by Stroud, was overdue.
That report caused the Coast Guard to launch helicopters, planes and
boats to look for the men and their craft.

The search that turned up the Knucklehead and its three fishermen was
the second search of the day by the Coast Guard - although it's unclear
whether the first search actually was for the Knucklehead: Coast Guard
spokesman Petty Officer Nyx Cangemi said helicopters were dispatched
Wednesday morning after two boats reported hearing a distress call of,
"May Day, May Day, May Day, we're going down." The distress call was
made on a channel that the Coast Guard normally does not monitor, he said.

Cangemi said the distress call did not include a location, and the Coast
Guard used the positions of the two reporting boats as a base area for
its search. The search turned up nothing, and the distress call isn't
being linked to the Knucklehead, he said. He also said no other vessels
were reported missing or overdue.

The bodies of Pavic and Stroud were brought by boat to the Coast Guard
base in Atlantic City. Atlantic County Medical Examiner Dr. Hydow Park
performed autopsies Thursday afternoon. A spokeswoman for Park's office
said results would be forwarded to the Coast Guard for public release.
Coast Guard officials said the results more likely will be reported to
the State Police Marine Services Bureau.

Berwick's body was brought ashore Thursday afternoon at the Shamrock
Towing yard in Somers Point. An autopsy also is planned to be performed
on his body.

The cause of the boat's capsizing is unknown.

Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Christopher McLaughlin said the seas
were running at about three feet and winds were blowing from the west at
about five to 10 knots on Wednesday. "It wasn't like a bad weather day,"
he said.

But McLaughlin said the water temperature was such that "you could get
hypothermia pretty quick."

The water temperature was about 49 degrees off the Steel Pier at noon
Wednesday.

Coast Guard officials said the men weren't wearing lifejackets, but had
them on board the boat.

Tearful members of Stroud's family, gathered in a darkened house they
own on Oyster Creek in Galloway Township, provided little information:
They said Stroud, Pavic and Berwick left Oyster Creek - located about 10
miles north of where the Knucklehead eventually was found - for their
fishing trip at about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. They wouldn't comment further.

"We don't want publicity," said a woman who identified herself as
Stroud's mother.

Pavic owned the M & M Motel on Route 9 in Galloway Township.

A house in front of the motel had "Closed" and "No Trespassing" signs on
its door. A row of orange highway cones stopped access to the parking
lot in front of the motel's rooms at the back of the property.

People familiar with Pavic said he stayed to himself and had been a
painting contractor for some time.

To e-mail Thomas Barlas at The Press: