Hello,

I've recently moved house and ive been exploring today and found a big lake/pond and thought it would be good for an r/c boat so,

Can any1 reccommend a cheap boat for me ?

Nothing too technical as i have NEVER used one or dont know ANYTHING about them !

Also, if u pick electric what happens if the battery goes !?

Sorry bout the questions, just trying to learn,

Thank you

Woodsie,
The first thing you need to do is decide what 'kind' of boat you want, scale, fast, electric, gas, etc, etc. How do you do that? Look around at the different internet sites, hobby stores, where ever, and see what's available in a 'RTR' (ready to run) form, and ARR (almost ready to run). You might also look at a few of the 'kits'.
Then, take a good look at the lake/pond you think you'd like to use. How big is it, or maybe, how big'a boat would 'fit', you know? Then decide how much you ~think~ you'd be willing to spend on what you'd need to get into the kind of boat you'd like to run. (Hint: Double your first estimate! LOL).
What happens when the batteries go dead? You have a choice, recharge them or replace them. Most people recharge them (add battery charger to the list). If they happen to go dead in the middle of the lake, you have two choices. Go swimming, or wait till it drifts to shore (only have to get wet to your knees then). Or the third choice, pay close attention to the boat's responses, when it gets 'sluggish', bring it to shore, NOW! (Having two or more battery packs means you can 'play' while the others are recharging. Ah, remember to run the car's motor so it doesn't go dead too! Real bummer.)
Most of the 'problems' with the model boating hobby are a 'problem' because people don't think far enough ahead. So, think first (and do what I say, not what I do, you know?). It's fun, even the 'probelms'...
- 'Doc

Thank you for that reply, its very useful, ill have a look around at some, i dont really wanna go swimming lol ! so i mite have to use the smaller pond

Hi Woodsie,

Try to find a club in your heighborhood that runs boats, or go to a venue, racing day, whatever, to see some boats in action, to help you make up your mind.

As far as swimming after a boat goes, I'm no great fan of swimming after mine too, at least not this time of year...
I run my boats with a speedcontroller that has a low batterie detection built in; when the batteries drop below a certain level (you've already noticed the drop in speed), the ESC cuts the power to the motor, only allowing half throttle to get back to shore, works like a dream.

Large bodies of water are fun to run fast electrics in, just make sure your boat is taped shut waterproof, as the seemingly small waves reach "oceanic" proportions for an electric speedboat running full speed.

Regards, Jan.