NORTHERN DUTCHESS

Kayaker rescued from Hudson River

Emily Stewart
Poughkeepsie Journal

TIVOLI – A 43-year-old kayaker is recovering after authorities rescued him from the Hudson River.

The small red dot is a Tivoli Fire Department boat helping a 43-year-old Saugerties man whose kayak capsized on the Hudson River Friday afternoon.

A 911 call at 3:47 p.m. Friday reported an overturned kayak and a man in the water, north of the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge, said Sgt. Tyler Wyman of the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office.

The man, Spencer Sutton, 43, of Saugerties, was in the river for almost 45 minutes, police said.

A Tivoli Fire Department rescue boat pulled Sutton from the water, then transferred him to an Ulster County Sheriff's Office boat to go to shore, said 2nd Lt. Thomas Crisci, of the fire department.

"It was a smoother ride for him," Crisci said. "The water was rough."

The Ulster Sheriff's boat took him to the Red Hook Boat Club and NDP (Northern Dutchess Paramedics) brought him to Kingston Hospital, Crisci said.

"Nice work Tivoli Fire Dept. on a nice save in the river today," Red Hook police said on its Facebook page.

Red Hook Police, Red Hook firefighters, state police and the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office also assisted at the scene, police said.

Firefighters and police rescued a 44-year-old man from the Hudson River Friday when his Kayak capsized in 59-degree water.

It took 911 about 10 minutes to plot the man's coordinates based on the 911 call of a friend who was kayaking nearby, sheriff's Deputy Mark Catuzza said. The rescue operation took about 30 minutes. The man's boat was west of Cruger Island, which is in the town of Red Hook near Bard College.

"He was waterlogged, hypothermia was starting to set in," Catuzza said.

Sutton could not be reached for comment at a phone number listed for his home.

Emily Stewart: 845-437-4882; estewart@poughkeepsiejournal.com; Twitter: @estwrt