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1990 Sharp, Jesse June 5 1990; Niagara Falls 28 YO
Topic Started: Nov 27 2009, 09:02 AM (1,326 Views)
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http://nitespyder.com/sharp.htm
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Jessie W. Sharp, a 28 year old bachelor from Ocoee, Tennessee attempted to ride over the brink of the Horseshoe Falls in a 3.6m long kayak on June 5,1990. Sharp, unemployed at the time, was an experienced white water kayaker. Three people who accompanied Sharp to Niagara Falls to video-tape his trip told police that Mr. Sharp had been planning the trip for years. They also told police that Sharp was attempting to go over the Falls in the kayak to advance his career in stunting.
Sharps idea was to gain enough speed in his kayak to project himself over the falls and the pummeling water that would surely claim his life. He would then transverse the rapids below eventually ending up four miles downstream in Lewiston. So confident was Jesse about making the trip that he parked his car at Artpark in Lewiston and made dinner reservations for that evening.
Powerhouse operators, noticing what was about to unfold, diverted water from the river in an attempt to ground the kayaker. But to no avail, Jesse Sharp was determined, and simply skirted around the rocks in his kayak. Just as Sharp reached the brink of the falls he raised his paddle above his head and then, at 1:45 pm, the kayak plummeted over the brink and vanished into the raging waters below.
Sharp did not wear a protective helmet so his face would be visible on film. He also didn't wish to wear a life jacket, believing it would interfere with his ability to escape in the event that he was caught underneath the Falls. After "shooting the Falls", he intended to continue down river through the rapids to Lewiston, New York. He had made dinner reservations there. His body has never been recovered.
http://www.infoniagara.com/niagaradaredevils/jessesharp.aspx
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June 25, 1990Vol. 33No. 25Tennessee Outdoorsman Jessie Sharp Challenged Niagara's Mighty Falls in a Tiny Canoe—and LostBy Michael Neill
The secret of Jessie Sharp's obsessive dream now lies with him, somewhere under the roiling waters at the foot of Niagara Falls. Brandishing his paddle aloft, the 28-year-old Nashville native went over the crest of the 176-foot Horseshoe Falls in a closed-deck canoe on June 5. He was wearing neither a helmet nor a life jacket. His paddle popped to the surface in 10 minutes. His dented canoe, named Rapid-man, was spotted several hundred yards downstream an hour later. A week after the plunge, Sharp's body had yet to be found.

The canoeist's ride over the falls on the Canadian side of the river took place in front of horrified honeymooners, police officers and three friends of Sharp's from the tight-knit white-water paddler community near the Tennessee-Georgia border. The three are back home—and they are definitely not talking to the press.

Others are, though often reluctantly and anonymously. As one white-water guide in Ocoee. Tenn., where Sharp had lived for most of the past year, put it: "Paddlers are like a big family, and when a brother gets killed, we don't want to talk about it; we just want to get in our boats and go out on the river and paddle." After a pause he adds, his eyes lighting up, "It was tragic, you know—but, man, what a way to go."

Sharp had spent a lot of time running the rapids on the Ocoee River, which has five miles of some of the most challenging white water in America. The son of a Nashville lawyer, Sharp had moved there after his discharge from the Army, and, although he occasionally worked in a photographer's studio, it seemed that most of his days were spent on the water. And always, there was the dream of Niagara. He had proposed running the famous falls as long ago as 1979, when he was 17, but had been talked out of it. "He'd talk about it when he came in," says Roger Scott, owner of Ocoee's only kayak store, "and while I hoped he wouldn't, I felt he was somehow going to go through with it eventually. There was something about him that told you he wasn't just boasting, that he was really going to do it."

Since Annie Edson Taylor survived a plunge over the falls in a barrel in 1901, 11 other daredevils had attempted the feat; three had died. Nevertheless, Sharp was confident enough to leave his car downstream and make dinner plans. His parting words to his friends were, "See you at Howard Johnson's."

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the attempt was Sharp's decision not to use protective equipment. "To have a chance of surviving, he would have to have had a properly designed life jacket with a crotch strap," says Scott. "But Jessie felt he would stay with the boat. I think he really believed he would make it—but to do that he would have had to land in a pool. It's clear from the condition of the boat that he landed on rocks. He didn't have it worked out carefully enough."

A Nashville lawyer who has known Sharp since he was a boy insists that there was nothing frivolous about Jessie's doomed dream. "Make sure people understand this was not a stunt; this was a quest," he says. "Jessie was a great guy, and there was nothing crazy or irresponsible about him. He was an adventurer. Jessie Sharp had the blood of Admiral Peary flowing through his veins."

—Michael Neill, Gail Wescott in Ocoee
http://www.people.com/people/archive/artic...0118065,00.html


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Jessie Sharp, a 28 year old expert kayaker from Tennessee had always dreamed of conquering the mighty Niagara Falls with a kayak.

He had experience navigating Class 4 rapids. Niagara River Rapids are considered Class 6, the most difficult.

Sharps idea was to gain enough speed in his kayak to project himself over the falls and the pummeling water that would surely claim his life.

He would then transverse the rapids below eventually ending up four miles downstream in Lewiston.

So confident was Jesse about making the trip that he parked his car at Artpark in Lewiston and made dinner reservations for that evening.

On June 5, 1990, Sharp entered the waters above the falls around Dufferin Islands in his sleek 12 foot red kayak named Rapidman.

Powerhouse operators, noticing what was about to unfold, diverted water from the river in an attempt to ground the kayaker.



Jessie Sharp's kayak was found below the falls but his body has never been found

But to no avail, Jesse Sharp was determined, and simply skirted around the rocks in his kayak. Just as Sharp reached the brink of the falls he raised his paddle above his head and then, at 1:45 pm, the kayak plummeted over the brink and vanished into the raging waters below.

At approximately 3:00 p.m. Sharp’s kayak surfaced just below the falls but the poor man’s body was never found.

http://www.reservationsystems.com/niagara_...ssie_sharp.html


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http://www.nflibrary.ca/nfplindex/show.asp...ref=oo&id=90560
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Next, there's the tale of Jessie Sharp, a 28 year old bachelor from Ocoee, Tennessee. On June 5th 1990, Jessie attempted to ride over the Horseshoe Falls in a 12-foot long, 36-pound polyethylene KAYAK. He brought with him a film crew to videotape his journey into the darkness of the river.

Being the fashion conscious young man that he was, Jessie didn't wear a protective helmet, because it would cover his face for the video. He also didn't wear a life preserver, because he thought it would hamper his escape if he was caught under the Falls.

Sure enough, Jessie was filmed going over the Falls in his Kayak. However, he was never seen again nor his body ever been recovered. But at least he looked good at the end.

http://www.beans-around-the-world.com/niagara.html
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