Important service announcement about swimming after your boat....

[gsbuickman]

Morning everybody ,

This was posted by Rob Johnson on the r/c boat page on Facebook. I thought I would pass the message along as fall is upon us. Thanks

Just thought that I would put this out there as a public service announcement and a reminder to you all to practice safe boat retrieval methods if you break down in the water.
On Saturday, my dear cousin Isaac passed away after swimming out to retrieve his stalled boat in a pond. The water was cold, something went wrong and he never made it back. He was a good swimmer, a former surfer, had swam in the same pond to pull boats out but something happened on Saturday and he left us unexpectedly. He leaves behind a wife and 2 kids and it's been extremely tough on all of us.
Please, if you are taking your boat out, have a back up plan for getting it if it gets stuck. Now that this has happened, I have read of many other instances just like this one. Have a blow up raft, a life preserver or some type of floating device with you so that you know for sure that you'll make it back to shore. Sorry for the glum story, may you all be safe out there!

[Fluid]

Very sad, thanks for the reminder. There have been many threads on this topic posted on OSE (and elsewhere) yet some still think it is just fine to swim for their toy boat. To them I say 'it's your life', but with so many deaths resulting from swimming after toy boats it is simply stuipid behavior. Like waterskiing without a PFD or not wearing seatbelts in a car - stupid. But then you can't fix stupid......


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[Doug Smock]

Sadly, Jay is right.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-boats-general-discussion-77/9569185-rc-boat-fatalities-news-stories-please-safe-updated-2-8-2011-a.html

I am going to leave this thread as is for now but eventually move it to the "safe boating discussion thread".

[HangTheMan]

Sorry to hear of the tragedy. My condolences to you and your family. It is too often that we cherish our boats too much and forget that they are merely just toys. I hope this sad tragedy can at least make others aware and save lives in the future

[Doby]

My condolences.

Sad, but it still happens unfortunately.

Anyone here who thinks their life is worth a few hundred dollars....how about a few thousand dollars...please raise your hand.

[kevinpratt823]

Tragic, very sorry for his/your loss.

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[Luck as a Constant]

Reason I bought a kayak.

Sad news


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[kevinpratt823]

Reason I bought a kayak.

Sad news


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And reason a life jacket will be coming with the kayak as the water gets cooler.....

[Luck as a Constant]

And reason a life jacket will be coming with the kayak as the water gets cooler.....

Yesway
Def a good idea


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[gsbuickman]

QUOTE=Fluid;592699tery sad, thanks for the reminder. There have been many threads on this topic posted on OSE (and elsewhere) yet some still think it is just fine to swim for their toy boat. To them I say 'it's your life', but with so many deaths resulting from swimming after toy boats it is simply stuipid behavior. Like waterskiing without a PFD or not wearing seatbelts in a car - stupid. But then you can't fix stupid......


.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, as the band Suicidal Tendencies put it, Gotta Kill Capn' Stupid .

I know its bad and all but damn. It seems like a 50/50 shot each time you flip that coin and go out swimming after your boat as wwhether you make it back or not. that's one coin toss I'm not willing to gamble on....

[tlandauer]

Very sad and disturbing to read something like this.
It is very hard to resist the temptation though, been there myself, my only salvation was that I knew I am not a good swimmer and therefore I did not venture to go after the boat, but watching it stranded in the middle of the lake is excruciating, none the less.
We def need to remind each other that these tragedies do indeed happen.

[Brewbud]

Very sad news. Going after a boat is just not worth it.


I will swim only if well prepared for the conditions. That means wetsuit and free diving gear at a minimum. I was looking at a very long hike a few weeks ago when a boat flipped and I didn't have my gear with me. Fortunately a couple fisherman came by in a boat and saved me from a long hot walk.

[flraptor07]

Sad for sure, I've read more of these stories than I wish to... Even a john boat can be a little too tippy espacially for us bigger guys. I built our club a purpose built recovery boat, this was the first time out with it, I've since put steering on it and a higher thrust motor. now anybody can drive it and it's pretty much untipable, also I've figured out it's much easier to run over the boat in between the pontoons to pick it up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg15...4Q-xrOOtP2C-8w

[fwlbp]

I ran my boat yesterday and was maybe ankle deep in the water to launch it. It was definitley frigid, I couldn't imagine trying to swim in any water this late in the year up here in the midwest, people can be crazy.

[kacordy]

A very tragic story. Everyone needs to upgrade their retrieval equipment. For the price of an RC boat, $450, I bought the 8 foot aluminum boat below. It included a new Minn Kota trolling motor, battery, oars, 2 seats and life jackets. It fits in the back of any truck. It also fits inside an enclosed trailer.
Be safe, Allen