LARRY'S RIVER, N.S. - On the second day of a search for three missing boaters on a pristine and frigid Nova Scotia lake, Vernon Pitts experienced one of the hardest moments of his life.
The experienced member of the Larry's River volunteer fire department looked on as RCMP divers brought the hypothermic body of Simon Pitts Jr., his first cousin's son, to shore Sunday afternoon.
Simon Pitts was one of three men in their 20s to die after an aluminum fish boat was swamped by the choppy waters of Fougere Lake - also known locally as Farm Lake - on Saturday evening, following a weekend trout fishing trip.
"These individuals, the lad that drowned was like a son to me. It's unbelievable," said Vernon Pitts, his voice trembling.
"It's like losing one of your own."
Andrew Pitts, the brother of the deceased man, managed to swim to shore, urged on by his sibling, said Vernon.
"Andrew said they all had their life-jackets on and that when the boat swamped they were communicating with each other and his older brother told him to kick his boots off because it's easier to swim."
After the 25-year-old survivor made it to shore, he ran a kilometre in his socks and flagged down a man in a passing pickup truck, who telephoned search crews.
Vernon Pitts said what made the deaths hard to bear was that all of the men were all strong swimmers, and three of them were recreational scuba divers.
"They were very close, and best of friends and from what I could understand they were trying to swim into shore together and they just didn't make it," he said.
Police confirmed the identity of Simon Pitts Jr. as one of the deceased, but were waiting until Monday to identify the two other men on the boat, as they hadn't reached family members on Sunday.
Pitts said the water temperature was frigid, roughly about 5 C, shortly after the search teams started to comb through the area.
"It was very cold. You wouldn't have lasted very long in the water," he said, estimating the boat was less than a kilometre from the shore.
The four men had been on a trout fishing expedition and were on their way back to a cabin that belongs to Simon and Andrew Pitts' father.
RCMP said the men were aboard the aluminum boat on Fougere Lake in Larry's River, about 90 kilometres southeast of Antigonish, when it began to take on water in the evening.
"Things certainly got worse and the boat capsized and sank," said Sgt. Mark Gallagher.
Leslie Grover, a local fisherman who participated in the search, said the lake had been extremely choppy the previous day.
"It's just one of those things. The boys were very familiar with the area. It was just an accident," he said.
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Article online since April 27th 2008, 0:00
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