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 Post subject: DUKW duckboat tragedy
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 10:30 pm 
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Terrible loss of life in Missouri..feel so sorry for those souls and their families.

I don't know more than I've read today about the water pigs they call duckboats. The sea worthy aspect is sacrificed for land capability. The military assessment was not favorable for rough water or performance in 3 foot seas.

It's said the captain...not the boat pilot...told passengers no need for life jackets just before sinking. IF true that's shocking but hard to know with the media these days. Will wait for coast guard report.

Other concerns are why not abandon the plan and pull to shore when crap hit... also reported weather alert was made 40 minutes before they launched. I hope that's not true given the seconds it takes to check with smart phones. With 31 on board in a barely functional boat I would hope weather alerts would be checked.

A 5 ton boat with wheels that's 30 feet long and has a 8.5 foot beam with 6 wheels hanging...powered by a whopping 90hp power plant for whopping 6mph can't escape or maneuver well in best conditions I wouldn't think...

Regardless of the issues and what coulda been done in hindsight...my thoughts go out to all those folks.

What's been your most challenging storm situation? What did you do to manage it and what do you do differently now because of it?

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 10:52 pm 
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Goldfish

Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2017 11:32 am
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Wife and I went on one last year here in Pittsburgh but the Ohio River here doesn't get that bad. It did sit pretty low in the water so I would imagine even 1-2' waves would pose a threat. They aren't very agile. They seem to turn pretty quick but speed was pretty slow.

Feel bad for those onboard.


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 7:18 am 
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Livin' the Dream
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Location: Pontoon Beach IL
There is some issues with how the situation was handled, for sure. One of my friends had a house down on Table Rock for 15 years. His neighbor was a duck boat driver. He called him and got details from him about the accident.

One is that they almost always do the mountain first, but the office called them and told them to do the water part first, the boat driver wasn’t sure why.... in general the banks are steep at tabletock, some areas are cliffs. I do Not know what this area is like, I am Sure we will get more info in the coming days. The driver was headed back to the launch area. The neighbor, who I know, said the driver was one of the longer tenured and was really good

So sad, I know If I was On that boat, when the shit got rough, I would Of been handing out life jackets and probably telling people to abandon ship.

I have Been caught on table rock in this exact type of storm, maybe 5 years ago. A couple boats Sank that day. Thank god. No fatalities. When the shit hits the fan, some people freak, and some remain calm. My wife will tell you, I was The calm one, my buddy lost it. He has been boating that lake for 55 years. You just never know how someone will react.

Prayers for all involved

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 6:43 pm 
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Location: NY
I've had my H200 in three foot seas that came up seemingly out of nowhere. Great Sacandaga Lake in Upstate NY.

It was calm from the river and started getting choppy around the dam. Winds picked up to 30 MPH. The area around the point (where the dam flows into the reservoir) is usually always a bit choppy due to convergence, but the wind really made things rough.

I had four people including myself aboard. I kept it bow up and around 10mph. I didn't want to stop because I feared water would come over the bow. If I was in anything smaller I probably would have taken on water for sure.

A boat like in the news story would have easily taken on water. Something like that doesn't have the luxury of powering over waves, so it would be pretty easy to get swamped in that situation.

Stupid captain for telling people not to put life vests on. First time water came over the bow I would have had everyone preparing to take a swim. But it's more difficult in reality I suppose.

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 9:59 pm 
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It's a pucker situation for sure. Over 20 years ago I was striper fishing with 2 buds on my 20' Sea Ray closed bow. Storm hit and waves coming over bow until I got her trimmed up high and moving...cliffs prevented beaching and drive bellows gave up the ghost. Water over deck and amazed the io kept trucking. We ripped lid off ice chest for bailing and finally made the cove.

Needless to say life jackets were on.... since that day I carry 3 jackets per person and they stowed everywhere.

We planned to jump as group if it swamped. Of everything the lightening was big worry too. My 210 would not have faired as well with open bow. No idea of wave size other than large and close together. These boats are tiny was big lesson and seeing waves come over bow and hitting windshield is memorable.

Much beer drank in cabin that night

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 4:37 pm 
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Location: Long Island NY
I would never ever ride in one of those. Fine for the military 75 years ago but not now.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 6:28 pm 
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230 Mike
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Location: Kansas City, Table Rock Lake
I've ridden them at Table Rock and will again, if they survive this (which I doubt).

What people - even many who live around there - don't understand is how fast the weather can change in the area. You can find video people in other areas of the lake posted with their shock in how fast the winds whipped up. Yes, there was a storm warning. The storm front was still nearly an hour away, and typically the wind gusts coincide with it's arrival. This time, the winds came out of nowhere.

One sad aspect to this that has gotten no attention is that this company is one of the only organizations in the country that works to preserve the history of these historically important vehicles. They own MANY more of them than they could ever use for rides, simply because they consider it a responsibility to preserve them.

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 4:29 pm 
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Location: San Diego, CA
We've taken the duckboat tour in Santa Barbara, and would like to take it here in San Diego - even though we live here and have our own boat...
Of course, we don't really have inclement weather here very often...

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