That middle picture of the fly-by looks cool. Shame it had to sink!

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned that you said you "swam to it".

First rule of float-flying, have a boat! At least on RCU. If you are a confident
swimmer and the lake isn't polluted, then whatever works is good.

If I had to swim after mine, I'd just go ahead and call in a scuba rescue team,
'cause I ain't swimming for it! Or, treat it like a fly-away, and say bye-bye![X(]