RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

:Dlucky guy!

http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/2...ready-run.html

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

just the other day a 13 year old girl drowned where i run my boats i know she wasn t swimming for a boat but it was a real eye opener as to how easy it is to have somthing go all to hell in the blink of an eye

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

Not that there is ever a good way or reason to die but to me drowning is just such a needless and preventable way to go.

A mile from my house a father was wading with 3 of his children in a pond. He slipped into deep water and struggled (was said he had a child on his shoulders who he pushed to safety). He went under. His 17 year old son tried to rescue him and also paid the ultimate price. Just horrible for the two remaining kids who had to be part of the whole experience. Certainly seems to hit home when it is so close to home.

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

i always take a canoue or row boat with me to go drive my boats. also I wear a life jacket whyle in in the boat so im pretty safe.

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

all i can say is you dont know till you are in that sittuation , why do do we r/c ? because we love it . do let a love one drown ? my love died 40 feet from shore , i threw out my tennis ball to retrive it but was just short of getting it . so i had a friend help me , he was going to rell the boat in after i attached it , but  murphys law came into play , when i got to the boat the tennis ball was gone it sank , let me tell you trhe water is much colder in the middle , well i  got me and the boat to shore  , that was an experince i dont recommend to anyone except your enmy , the only thing i can say IS IF YOUR GOING TO GO AFTER IT COLD OR HOT WATER WEAR A LIFE JACKET  

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

Some Great information, will have a life jacket with me for now on even when a boats available. Thanks and happy Thanksgiving

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

So sad to hear the stories.Why don't prepare a rescue boat ?
It can easy to save your boats.</p>

Here people use this way to get back remote-controller boat. I agree this words:
These only toyscan replaceable but our lives aren't.</p>

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

Tony - Welcome to the forum!!

I think the biggest problem is that people just dont turn up prepared to recover their boat in any way. Indeed a rescue boat is a great option. I know a lot of lakes where I run there are reeds and weeds that would prevent the use of such a recovery boat. I use a large inflatable and a life preserver. I am sure if people were better prepared the losses would be a fraction of what they are.

http://photos.imageevent.com/justadd...s/DSCF8264.JPG

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

Thanks!http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...ular_smile.gif

It's good to know you use large inflatable and life preserver.
That's perfect to make enough preparation.I think the importance factor is the area limited,your lake
is so big and have more reeds and weeds.But ours not...So never heard these sad stories from here.

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

I landed a rc airplane in a river years ago one summer.I used it as excuse to go skinny dipping.

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">A BIG danger is if you attempt to swim out for your boat in cold water like 3C or below.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Even if with a buoyancy aid or life jacket, after about less than 3 to five minutes you will be in deep trouble as the cold quickly gets you. At that point your legs pack up and you cannot swim further and only the life jacket if decent keeps your head above water to prevent drowning. And after that you still need a rescue facility to get you back to dry land without having others to jump in putting their own lives at risk.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">NEVER attempt to swim out to rescue your boat in these circumstances.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">I personally witnessed that only once in cold water. Never again will I want to see a repetition of that.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">I now will only run boats or visit venues that have proper rescue facilities available.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Not only should that include a stable rescue boat, it should include rules of wearing life jackets and a contingency plan should the rescue boat get into trouble. </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">I suggest that this is less of an issue in warm waters. However if you are running boats in very cold conditions, it is the cold water that potentially can be fatal.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Cheers</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Craig</font></p>

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

Im a little confused by the extreme stance on "NEVER" swim for your boat. I regularly swim a mile across my lake and back... Much farther than I would ever drive my boat anyway. Im never more than 100feet from my dock with my boat... if the water is warm, the lake is calm and the boat isnt a mile away... and of course, you can ACTUALLY swim, why not go for it. Everyone responds to this like "fine, take your life in your hands for an RC boat" but seriously... I swim every day for FUN... not even for a boat... I havent died yet. If I was a bad swimmer, or the lake was cold, or it was a river, lots of other boats on the lake or ANY other dangerous situation id agree that its very dangerous. But if the boat is 50 feet away in a warm, calm lake and your a good swimmer I can't see any reason it would be any more dangerous than putting on your shorts and going for a SWIM...

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

My stance on NEVER is because if you dont turn up with a recovery plan for when your boat dies - chances are you might also (Been my signature for a year or more now). People boat in a variety of conditions - I am sure the weather in Canada is great for boating right now (it is 75 degrees here today). I am also willing to bet you would not make it 100ft in the water (my pond had ice covering part of it yesterday morning so cannot imagine it being more than 35 degrees).

I have no doubt there are people and conditions under which swimming is fine (yeah - I have been swimming since I was 4 years old). But when I started this thread 5 people had died in this hobby in one year and the primary reason was swimming for their boats. I have some of the nicest boats in the world - but none worth dying for. Every time you chance swimming for your boat you also chance not going home at the end of the day.

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

I agree with the previous contribution, NEVER swim for your boat.

<span style="color: #0000ff">You "havent died yet</span>." <span style="color: #ff0000">But remember you only die once. You do not get a second chance.
</span><span style="color: #ff0000">
</span>Water that might seem warm near the shallow bank on a sunny day can drop massively in temperature once in deeper water a few metres out into the lake.

If you get cramp unexpectedly even strong swimmers can find themselves in deep trouble. I am a strong swimmer and I only ever got cramp once in my local heated swimming pool. I thought I was going to drown within a few seconds.

If you get entangled in any underwater debris it can cause panic and drowning in seconds.
If you catch your hand on sharp propellor of your boat and start bleeding that again can cause panic when you are out alone neck deep in water.

The scary thing is that when something does go wrong in deep water, the situation can escalate in seconds with fatal consequences.

Quite simply the risk is not worth taking in my opinion.

Regards
Craig

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

Should manufacturers hold your hand too, it just goes with some common sense which seems to be lacking in today's age like anything else. I always have a recovery boat on hand, although in the beginning I didn't. I've only lost one boat, a dynamic diving wwII german sub, it was about 40 or so feet out this was during summer, Being a long time swimmer I debated going after it and decided it just wasnt worth it. While it was a good size pond/lake and heard there were undercurrents. It actually looked where the sub was going down that it was being twirled in a circle of sort lol. The seal im guessing for the wtc must have got water in it or the wake of the water sucked it in. It's not worth the risk. Now when I do run my boats, i have a rescue tug ready to go, I like the idea of the magnet someone here mentioned. Years later I acquired the same sub that i lost to make it up for the lost one lol.

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

Well, I had to DIVE after my submarine:

[link]http://www.camne.com.ar/submarinos/ssn22ussconnecticutroberto/rescateseawolfimg_0049.jpg[/link]

Thank God it was summer.

I couldn't wait for the fail system to be installed, and I took the submarine to the lake (bad idea, we have a pond in Buenos Aires city)...and after a dive, it didn't return to the surface.

I had lost the signal and the sub dived up to 3 meters (9 ft) deep, until it got entangled with plants.

It took me 20+ minutes to find it using my feet, as it was too dark to dive (I had my snorkeling hardware but it was useless there). The good news was that not a single drop was found inside -the seals worked well.

Of course, the first thing I did to the sub when I returned home was to install the fail safe system: it blows the tanks in case of signal loss.

"DON'T DO THIS AT HOME!"

Regards,
Robert

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

What about if you wear a flotation vest? Like for fishing, a life jacket that wont let you go under if you get tired.  </p>

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

I have not heard of anyone dieing when using a flotation vest when retrieving a boat. Wouldnt be first choice but certainly better than not using one - cold water temps can still present a danger. My advice/recommendation is not to put yourself in harms way any more than necessary. It is the guys who turn up without a plan on how to recover their boat (or a plan that is inadequate for a situation that presents itself) that is likely to make a bad decision when the option of how to get the boat comes up.

Something to think about when swimming for your boat - being eye to eye with one of these ;)
(took this picture yesterday at a NAMBA Boat Race in CT)
http://photos.imageevent.com/justadd...19_%202012.jpg

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

The problem is that I needed to go under!

Regards,
Robert

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

Thread is more about those who go under and never take another breath ;)

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

Rva1945, it sounds to me like you're an experienced snorkeler or diver and know what you're doing. In this case, as stated by JAW, this thread doesn't really apply to you since you were retrieving a sub. What this thread is for is to remind experienced boaters and help new boaters understand the dangers of swimming after a disabled boat. Many drown each year from not taking the dangers of being in the water seriously. Others are seriously injured both by their own boats or the unsafe operation of boats by others

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

That was the last time I took the sub to the lake. We use a pond in Buenos Aires City for that purpose, the water is clear, just 4ft deep, and we have ways to retrieve the doomed models without getting our feet wet.

Yes, I understand the dangers of venturing into unknown waters.

Regards,
Robert

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

I've ran boats in bodies of water where the shoreline looked ok. Carefully stepped on the shoreline and I found out that one leg sank into the shoreline up to my kneecap.

Now, imagine you are trying to swim out or back to shore and you think you can plant your feet on solid ground underwater and it sucks up both your legs and you are stuck. There was no way I was going to swim after anything with a shoreline that would cause me to sink like that. You are above water level and then you arrive at the shore and realize it is like quicksand.

Warm water, hardly any current, no gators, very little wake.

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

I went to rescue my eighth hydro in January in the uk, jumped in got to the boat and the cold started to get to me
it was like a belt being tightened around my chest , I turned onto my back and used the boat as a floatation aid!

Worst decision ever!! Next time mybro can get it he is the one that stalled it !!<br type="_moz" />

RE: Why not to swim after your boat
 

I don't want to be the example. I take my risks, though I am not a daredevil. SO DON'T DO THIS AT HOME!

I had mounted the wireless camera on the motoryacht. After a few minutes, my wife told me that she was seeing smoke coming from the boat. Then everybody was shouting at me, but I had already noted that something was wrong as the boat was not responding. Once it stalled on the water, one of the guys rushed his boat to push mine to the shore, but unfortunately he didn't do it in a gentle way, my boat capsized and sank to the bottom. We were at the lake.

Luckily, bubbles were still coming from the wreckage and it was easy to mark the place of the sinking. But the water is no less than 6 ft deep there, and murky. After hesitation, I went for it. I could recover it at the first try.

The Robbe ESC was badly burnt, but it failed before the sinking (it was the cause of the incident). I disassembled the camera, receiver and the servo that moved the camera, putting it under a sunbath along with the li-po battery and a NiMH 8.4V that powered the cam. The steering servo was sealed in epoxy resin so I didn't worry about it.

To my surprise, once at home everything was working.

[link]https://www.yousendit.com/download/WUJaWWVncG9ENlNLRmNUQw[/link]

I must admit this is the 4th time I have to take a bath to retrieve a boat. I hope it will be the last.

Regards,
Robert