Family drowning while canoe fishing at The Seep Lakes

Horrible news and a reminder of taking safety seriously, water can be very unforgiving, especially this time of the year.
https://www.krem.com/amp/article/news/local/washington/1-dead-1-injured-and-2-people-missing-in-warden-canoe-accident/293-730bc41f-f3f7-41f9-ae22-ea292858bb34

very sad indeed.

Canoes are riskier craft than sit-on-top kayaks, and loading an adult and three kids into a canoe in November is a recipe for disaster. And the article says that "the father and two siblings did not surface," indicating that they weren't wearing PFDs.

Here's a couple pictures of a family canoe camping expedition which could have ended up in a disaster, but they somehow made it back to their launch site alive. There's two guys, a kid, two puppy dogs, and a ton of gear in that canoe.  Only the kid was wearing a PFD.