N.J. kayaker’s body recovered Crews comb waters off Deer Isle

DEER ISLE – The body of a 60-year-old New Jersey woman was recovered from the waters off Deer Isle early Tuesday morning.

Search and rescue teams found the body of Susan Wakelin of Rumson, N.J., a short distance from her kayak. Wakelin was wearing a life jacket and U.S. Coast Guard officials in Portland said they do not know what caused her death.

Family members reported that Wakelin was overdue from a kayak trip along the coast of Deer Isle at about 8:00 p.m. Monday, according to Senior Chief Stephen Corey at the Coast Guard Command Center in South Portland. Wakelin had left a plan of her route with relatives. She was last seen at about 3 p.m. Monday and had planned to paddle from Sylvester Cove to Dunham Point on the western coast of Deer Isle.

The Coast Guard dispatched a small boat from Rockland and also sent a helicopter from Cape Cod to search the area. In addition, the Maine Marine Patrol dispatched a boat with two officers, Spc. Troy Dow and Officer Colin MacDonald, on board. Family members had begun a search of the shoreline and they were joined by a crew from the Deer Isle Fire Department.

The helicopter crew located her kayak about a mile east of Sheep Island in East Penobscot Bay, according to Lt. Alan Talbot of the Marine Patrol. The crew from the Marine Patrol recovered the kayak at about 2:56 a.m. Tuesday. Her body was recovered a short distance away at about 3:38 a.m.

Wakelin’s body was taken to Stonington and then transported to the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta, which is standard procedure in any case of an unattended death, Talbot said.