Just flew my first float plane. A .40 size trainer with a .61fx on geebee floats.

The first dead stick, plane is floating toward opposite shore aided by the wind. I see the plane rotate forward and the motor goes under. After I went swimming, found out the floats had a leak!

Has anyone seen an electric motor/prop used as a backup/retrieval device. I was thinking a small 280 with a speed control plugged into the gear channel, flip the gear switch and motor back to shore.

I figure the weight would be around 3-4 ozs.

Any comments or suggestions?