Another Tragic Day at the Lake....

[Meniscus]

OK, for all you folks considering swimming, David makes an excellent point about the fishing line. I suppose all of you "swimmers" are going to carry one of these just in case you encounter fishing line you could get tangled in?

Meanwhile, all of you PFD wearers are going to dive down how without pulling the vest off?

Sure it sucks to lose a boat. Use a retrieval boat, fishing pole even with a big treble hook to snag it off of the bottom, or a raft, but understand, there are always going to be things you could get tangled on and not be able to reach the surface.

Live to run a boat another day. Simple as that.

[Rumdog]

A boat sinking is one thing. A stalled boat is totally different. Hence the PFD. If you have good floatation, There's a pretty good chance you won't have to be diving.

[Doby]

To those that swim after their boats;

Please have the following ready at a moments notice.....

Last will and testament of (insert name here);

Dear Mom/ Dad/ Wife/ Brother/ Sister/ Significant Other/ etc.......
Due to my untimely death , I leave all my posessions to...(insert names here).

To everyone that ever cared about me, please let me explain why swimming after a dead boat was more important to me than providing you all with a living Mom/ Dad/ Wife/ Brother/ Sister/ Significant Other/ etc.......

Well, its like this ....(insert lame ass excuse here).


I'm sure they will be comforted by this and understand your reasoning.

[trepanned23]

Yep. I lost my Miss K shovel in the middle of the lake last week. Full speed turn and barrel roll. Boat stopped rolling right side up but started taking on water, nosed up and slipped down to the floatation line in nose. Wind started blowing it away and in an hour it was dark. Went back the next morning but she was gone. Oh well, I'm not swimming 200 yards out to the middle of a lake in my street clothes while it's getting dark.

[sailr]

Nobody here is being alarmest, just trying to get everything to stop and think and use common sense. I see it's lost on some of you so if you are champion swimmers and don't want to be told what to do then just do what you want. You drown, we won't worry about you.

[crabstick]

But then again its probably smartest to run your boats in a place you do know.

Best Idea! Thats what I do, After watching a boat sink and loosing it, I only run at a few places, mostly only with a dinghy present

*my club pond and only when there is a dingy present or if its windy (so the boat will blow to shore)
* a small pond at a local park - only about 3 feet deep at its deepest point
* the sea where I live when the tide is in as you can wade out for about 300m at high tide before it gets to about 4-5 feet deep.
*lake hakanoa, but only with a rescue dingy present.

[adamb]

I try and run mine at the park. The pond has 2 large drains (covered with a grate) so if my boats flip or die, I can wait the 5 minutes it takes for them to come to the drains.

[mschaffer66]

04DarkShadowGT is an idiot...I know him well...lol...but besides that I have to agree with him.

I think the reason everyone is so against swimming is because every once and awhile you hear about someone drowning to get their boat but no one thinks about the millions upon millions of people that swim every single day either for recreation or to retrieve their boats.

Something tells me that the people that swim for these boats and drown are those who are probably questionable swimmers, just jumped in the water fully clothed or unprepared or whatever....

As with anything a little precaution and common sense should be taken into account and you should know your limitations before you try to Michael Phelps it halfway across the lake.

But thats just my opinion, feel free to do whatever you would like to get your boat...but on a 90 degree day I'm going to get some cooling and exercise for my fat butt...

[Doby]

We will be keepng our eyes open for a upcoming story about you on the news................

[mschaffer66]

We will be keepng our eyes open for a upcoming story about you on the news................

I'd expect worries from you Canadians...you guys are only comfortable on water when its frozen and freshly Zambonied :)

04DarkShadowGT will be really happy to hear a news story about me cause I'd be first in line for all of my rc stuff....haha

[blackcat26]

I bet Fluid didn't think this was gonna be a Ford or Chevy debate......man

[kevakov]

Guys, this is the lake I run at and right now the weeds are really bad, I just ran my Jager Mean Machine here at Watson Lake about 10 days ago and I had to go after it. I do have a inflated raft that I use for a rescue boat.

This time of the year is off-season for me because of the weeds that grow over about half the lake. Not sure if he died from the weeds, but being from another state and not being familiar this this lake could have created a serious problem.
The weeds are right next to the dock I use.

This lake is at 5,000 ft elevation and either the water is to cold to swim in from snow run off or you have the weeds. Its a small lake and it dosent look dangerous , but we must respect all lakes.

My thoughts go out to this family, as this is the lake I use.

[Flying Scotsman]

REPEAT ONE MORE TIME DO NOT SWIM AFTER YOUR BOAT EVEN WITH A PFD.

There are multiple reasons why not to do this, e.g. cut an artery as the boat fires up again for no reason as you are swimming back to shore with it clasped in your hand

Douggie

[Fluid]

I bet Fluid didn't think this was gonna be a Ford or Chevy debate......man

Of course I knew where this was going - this isn't my first rodeo. But there are enough newbies here who need to hear both sides of the story and make up their own minds as to what they will do. Hopefully they will decide to never swim for a toy boat, but instead to plan ahead and have a retrieval system ready to go. I always have a fishing rod and casting device when I go boating - that or a retrieval boat. To do otherwise is foolish. But sadly there are always the immortals - most of them appear too young to make an informed decision. I'll pray for them.....




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[blackcat26]

Jay you are a stand-up dude! It's good to have someone on here looking out for the welfare of it's members.