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COAST GUARD BOATS

Southern Airboat Gallery Archives

This guy had a little trouble unloading dry at the river
550HP Fuel Injected Swinging a bunch of Maximus!
Gangreen
FL GATORS
THE DASH SONNY DID FOR THE CAR
Bread pudding
C

cntry141iq

Silent Prop
R. I. P.
I was talkin to a coastie last night at the shop who was lookin my boat over and he commented on the two boats they had bought recently. It seems they have crashed them already and he said he thought they were both out of commission now. He was explaining the crashes and it seems to me it was operator error that caused them.

Learning to drive takes a lot of time in the seat, it doesn't happen overnite. So to the newbies on here.. crankin a boat and makin it go is not all that is involved in driving one .. when you get in a tight spot things happen very fast and you usually only get one chance to get it right. Some of you have commented about docking and trailer loading just remember usually (except for moodfood & basketcase) these manuvers are planned for and typically are executed at low power and speed. Just imagine what can happen at full power and speed when all kinds of other influences are presenting themselves and rapid decisions are required and perfect execution of those decisions must be made.

We all know the government is big on safety and I am sure those drivers recieved some type of training before they went out into the real world. SNIPERS rescue of those people was probably much harder than most realize. It was a very dangerous manuver to accomplish. I have not met him yet and don't know how long he has been operating airboats(I believe I remember it is quite awhile) but either he is good or very lucky or maybe both. I would always rather be lucky if I had to choose between lucky and good.

SO YA'LL BE CAREFUL OUT THERE THESE THINGS WILL BITE YOU.
 
Thanks for caring, 141. We will surely heed your warning, and I hope that other greenhorns take it as seriously as we do. Airboating is a blast, that's true, but I agree we need to be careful, and safe. Thanks again.
 
cntry

I have owned my Airboat for just over a year and it is my first one but I have been around them most of my life and I have all ways had good hand eye coordnation and when I was growing up in west palm I motercycle raced and won two state championships and one thing I learned is to try to think about what you are doing before you exacute it and if a lot more folks would just think before they would act they would avoid a lot of problems.Airboats are not toys and they are powerfull machines and need to be used with respect.
 
Cntry

I believe you, CC, Bigdad & also Red touched on some of these things in our thread, Difference in hulls of July 10-11. :)

I just don't see why someone hasn't established a good training course for these machines. The Airboat builders could even get a legup by offering just a good simple training exercise togo with a new Airboat.

But for now could some of you experienced folks express what you've seen over the years that gets people in danger with their Airboat?
I thimk it was Bigdad that said something abt us getting into trouble since we wouldn't know how to get the boat stopped :( I believe after thimking abt it he was very close to a critical & very useful example.

Torque control, Tight turns under power, Tailwind at the ramp, Dip angles in & out of the water, Towing, Power down of the step, Quick stops from speed & on & on that I know may sound like just another ride to some.
But we Greenhorns just don't know any better :)

Thanx, Gben
 
Gben - that is an AWESOME idea!

I learn by trial & error. Hopefully, it's someone else's error!

Sniper - you hit the nail on the head... My very first trial driving an airboat - the storm whipped waves on Big Lake George - taught me two things...

FIRST was respect. To respect the water, weather, and the controls of the boat... And the LAW. The Laws of physics!

Second, was trust. I was worried that my welds on the motor stand may break, I was worried that this or that may break from the pounding. So I was trying to drive cautiously. That was nearly my downfall in the waves (thanks Stan for the GREAT advice). What I needed to do was to TRUST my welding skills and TRUST my boat and GO! I had to believe. Halleluiah!!! :) And I got back to the ramp in one (shakey) piece!

I was told by my next door neighbor before I even bought an airboat... "When in doubt, Gas it out".

matt.
 
Okay I have some input for my penny.

1)We are Gov contractors who use our airboat weekly for testing and water quality.They have only to say in ther health and saftey plan A PERSON who has expericance in operation of a specific type vessel.NO time line no nothing.

We operate under the rule that a person qualified is one that uses good judgment and is respectfull of his/her suroundings (weather,boat and it's ability and there ability, Pasnagers)We ask that no hill runnig or out of the ordinay operation be conducted.AS stated in our health aand saftey plan NO OPERATIONS IN THE GRASS.

Well now for my speal.

I got my first airboat when I was 18 and proceeded to throw myself out of it first day.I learned a lesson.I was looking at a thread a few months ago that said there are those that have sunk an airboat and there are those that are waiting too.I HOPE my time for this is very long and far away. I use caution when I run, I respect others and myself .This is the meaning of a good boater and this is the meaning and course that Southern Airboat has taken on this site.We ( the Site and its members have chosen to be reponsable stewards for the airboat world.

In all of our abilities we should develop (like the Code) an operators course and work to get it approved by USCG.We have captains and many other capable people in this group.

Just my thoughts
 
I do not speak for all the manufacturers but as for American Airboats we do offer (for free) a drivers safety training for everyone of our customers at our waterfront facility. We not only teach new airboaters but experianced ones as well if they will let us.
As for the coast Guard we have sold several boats this year to them and we offer drivers training and they also have purchased a private class in their terrain. In my opinion, the biggest problem with new operators in the Government boats is random operators in random airboats that is one of the biggest causes of problems.
Slow and easy is so important. The more time that one particular driver can spend driving that boat and learning how it operates in different conditions the better.
Nothing can replace actual stick time.
Slow and easy, slow and easy, slow and easy it is a must!!!
 
Wally - several of the federal agencies have airboat training courses. But like many things with the gov., as the staff changes and a new supervisor come, old things disappear. The Corps of Engineers had (has?) one several years ago that was supposedly excellent. The Department of Interior (Natn. Parks, Fish & Wildlife, B. Land Management, Geological Service, etc) are all required to have a boating course for any powered boat and then an additional airboat course.

I know the Fish & Wildlife guys are really staying hard nosed about this rule across most of the states. There is a 40 HOUR operator training rule that requires any new drivers to have a minimum of 40 hours operation time with a certified driver before they can operator an airboat by themselves. That is a decent amount of seat time.

As for docking, approaching a trailer, or another boat, idle is the only way to go. Unless there is wind. I never use more throttle than what is required to keep the boat moving in those situations. The old man that taught me, believe in beating in the rules and those were sins that were never broken.

Here are a few.

RULE 1) PRIDE HAS NO PLACE IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT.
I have seen airboats knocked about and trailers damaged by people to full of pride to realize that the windy conditions were to strong for their level of skill to hit the trailer. Instead of jumping out and lining the boat up by hand, they finally got frustrated and tried to power it around the trailer corner bumper rails. Thank goodness the cat driving the truck grabbed the bow rope, tied it to the trailer and yanked the boat on to the boat ramp before the motor went under. Have seen another that was pushed off the front of the trailer due to frustration in the same situation. He finally got lined up, bouncing in, and hit full throttle. Great throttle response. I have done that manual hand loading in 35 mph winds, it can be done if you don't mind getting wet, but we are all country boys and alittle water won't hurt us. Right??

RULE 2) DON'T DRIVE FASTER THAN YOU CAN REACT.
For most of us, this is typically alot slower than what we really want to admit. If you are running fast enough that when you spot a stump, you cannot easily avoid it, you are a fool, or stupid. After having an egret and a cormorant in my lap, I learned the hard way. This is especially true when we run marsh grass (and at night). Old fence posts and washed in logs from storms are all over, go to fast and you kiss a few of those. (Did ya'll realize that egrets and crane stab for your eyes by habitat. Trust me on that. It is their natural instinct and a great way to defend themselves.) As I get older, I realize that this speed might be alittle slower.

RULE 3) ALWAYS ENTER THE WATER FROM THE LAND PERPENDICULAR TO THE SHORELINE & VISE VERSUS.
Lots of airboaters swamp boats and take on water when climbing in and out. This is really true if the water level and the shoreline is a big difference. If the front or back corner start taking big water, the chances are that you will not stop it.

RULE 4) NEWBEES THINK THEY CAN HANDLE AN AIRBOAT ALOT BETTER THAN THEY REALLY CAN.
Nothing being aimed at anyone with this. But when I learned, there was a series of small islands on a big mud flat. I was made to drive through these at low tide and have better not bump into any of them. Each goose of gas to correct the last mistake and gave more speed making the next mistake larger. Very humbling. But those flats are still a blast to this day.

RULE 5) TRY NEW TYPES OF WATER WHEN THEY ARE THE LEAST DANGEROUS.
If you are going to have to probably run waves one day, pick a day with 1 foot chop and learn how the boat handles. Then slowly increase in size of waves. Same for fast water, try in out on low flow days or in areas with slower water. Fast water makes a boat react much differently, practice it before you try it. There were some posts on the Alaska airboat forum discussing this.

RULE 6) SAVE THAT THROTTLE FOR WHEN YOU NEED IT.
Nine out of ten times, increased throttle will be part of the cure of whatever situation you have pop up. If you are cruising at 3600 with a max of 5000, you have much better response capabilities from the boat than if you are cruisin at 4600 and the same max rpms.

And always think ahead.
 
all sounds like good advice to me never too old to learn more. The state of florida airboat course was a joke I read the test and procedures on the internet. Always save some throttle for emegencys.
 
Marshmaster

That was all very good advice and that is the very way I have operated my boat slow is all ways better than fast and when I was motercycle racing we had a saying about not riding over your head and I have found that to be advice and you are right there is nothing that can replace stick time and even if you do make a mistake going slow the results is not going to be as bad as it would have been if you were going fast.
 
Thanx Guys

Cntry, Son was saying last night some of this good information had really got his attention. :)
Being a CC Capt himself he referred to what Bravo & Basketcase said in thread NewBee to air boats.

Bravo, is a CC Capt too with all kinds of boating experience in 30 odd years & said nothing therein had prepared him for the challange of an Airboat. Also operating a 16 Airboat was nothing like a 16 anything else.

Buddy(Son) is heavy on safety too & talked abt what Basketcase has to say abt these things. He says if we can just be Safe & Easy we should be ok. :)

How are they sinking these Airboats? Well I couldn't answer that one for him. Playing too rough? Overloading? How is this happening?

And we now know that Airboaters Have More Fun Than People :D

Gben
 
I got this story second hand so all the facts may not be accurate but they were unsolicited by me and the guy tellin me is high enough up there to be somewhat correct.

It started by him askin me what was so hard about drivin one of these things? I told him nothin till somethin goes wrong. When I was in the airforce we used to get to fly the planes because they wanted to keep us happy about workin on them. I had the same question for the pilots who let me fly the first time he gave me the same answer. When somethin goes wrong there is no time to read the instruction manual. Now granted speed is the biggest factor involved most of the time. The biggest reason for wrecks in airboats that I am aware of is due to changing terrain or operating surfaces. The right amount of power in deep water will send you flying if you suddenly hit shallow water with hard bottom. The other side of that is your skimmin along on good slick stuff and all of a sudden you hit the gluey black mud..and it all looks the same. You can't call a time out to figure out what it is you need to do and usually you only get one shot at it or you have a problem which is magnifying very quickly and each wrong thing you do means more correction is required than before and the distance left to get it done in is all the time decreasing. Some times it is better to do nothing and just hangon if your not going that fast it wont hurt that bad and at that point aluminum hulls are better than fiberglass because you can beat the dents out. LOL

The coasties supposedly hit a few telephone poles while sliding on an icy roadbed. why they were there I don't know but stuff happens. I would like to think they were attempting a rescue of some sort. I have driven airboats on frozen lakes and if the ice is smooth it is a blast. I picked smooth ice because my boat wasn't built for rough ice. Wet smooth ice is so much fun you can't believe it but you really go fast on it without even trying.

I wasn't picking on the coast guard or the boat manufacturer I was simply trying to point out that stuff happens and the only preparation for it is to practice stuff happening ahead of time. I know all the experienced operators on here know that the only way to stop an airboat is to spin it. Newbie operators .. do you know how much room it takes to spin your boat? do you know how fast you can spin it and not sink it? how deep is the water your in? how close is the other boats to you? which direction do you spin to offset the torque roll? These are questions you should know the answer to before you find yourself in that situation. Besides practicing is fun and no matter how many times you do it be it practice or for real your still not gonna save it everytime but your chances are better.

The first thing I taught my daughter to do was a 180 she expanded it to 360's and after 5 or 10 minutes of spinnin donuts I pointed out that we would see a lot more stuff if she cut down on the donuts a little. Now I am talkin slow and easy donuts and 180's you shouldn't be comin out of the water airborne that creates a whole new set of problems.

life is short .... live it
 
Thanx Guys

One can see here that if a left or right turn is needed then airflow thru the rudders must be adequate enough to make the turn. If speed is slow & no wind condition a slight punch of power may doit. But if tailwind or crosswind, what then? No reverse gears here like we're used to in outboards. :(

Of course I guess coming up with the wild cattle I could practice up a little with my old rope & get within 40ft or so of a piling post or a pine stump. In my limited Float Plane times I remember at Lake Blackshear in Ga that the wind got up behind us trying to ramp it. We made a wide circle & came up crosswind to put left float on the bank first & made a sharp left power turn to jack it into the ramp. Nope didn't tear it up :)

If all else fails grab the paddle & dig? Best have our seats a little lower?
We'll be in deep water & don't want to throw out the concrete bucket :(

Just thimk, & heaven forbid but we may be following you down there one day :( = Bash into the side of the fish house!

Gben
 
As a young adult I drove an average of 200 miles a day 6 day’s a week and once a month drove to a national event that was often a round trip around of 2K or more. I have never been driving while in a car accident. I have also been riding on the St Johns and Indian rivers since I was 11. I have avoided many accidents from driving by one rule, while I’m driving my truck, car, off shore boat, and especially my airboat I drive like everybody else is a complete idiot with no skills. Airboats are by far the most dangerous because in most boats you are not limited in area available to take evasive action. In an airboat 90% of the time you have one chance to avoid an accident and better make the most of it. Once I had an idiot on the wrong side of a sharp turn almost take me out I knew him and he has been running an airboat for over ten years. He just let off the gas and looked terrified I stabbed my throttle and drove up into the wax metals. It was a very close call and should have not been an issue. All he had to do was give it gas and we would have never even came close but I expected him to be an idiot and he didn’t disappoint me. I had to compensate for his lack of action and skills.
 
I'm sure I'm not the only one reading this thread with MUCH interest. Great stuff - THANKS. All of this will be on my mind every time I go out.

Question:

Are there any widely accepted hand signals that two passing boats will exchange to let each other know their intentions?

matt.
 
You will find most airboaters while navigating a winding river will hold up some fingers and point back. Unless it’s the middle finger they are telling you how many more boats are coming behind them. When I ride I’m usually in the front but if I have my daughter with me I will ride mid pack it’s nice to know the lead man has informed others to be on the look out for more boats.
 
And Matt,

If they hold up the middle finger? :(

Positive identification that they're indeed one of those Idiots Thunder talks abt. Anytime we see a Jetski coming it's just automatic to keep as much distance as we can sense they'll do the very thing you thimk they won't do. One wasted himself away against a concrete piling just last summer under the A1A bridge here at St Augustine. It was a very sad thing.

Anyone else with a close call or near miss?
Need all the help we can get & know of no better place it can come from :)

Thanx, Gben
 
Marshmaster and Waterthunder have just about published the Newbie Airboat Operating Code 101. Except that many experienced airboat operators should read it too and often.

I am a USCG Master and have been for 34 years. The only boat that ever went out from under me was my son's airboat. Happened at the mouth of Lake Cypress Canal late one night of frogging. Cause? A submerged illegal fence post caught the boat and wracked her hard - then the starboard stern corner dipped and in an instant we were all swimming. Ruined the engine and my pride. My son made out like a bandit with new power and a wider hull.

Point of all this is operating an airboat is really a progression of unexpected obstacles and challenges. No brakes, no rudder & everything is a skid or slide. Every yard you run is a yard closer to the next surprise.

My best advice is to NEVER run faster than conditions require - keep as much power in reserve as is possible and to expect another airboat to pop out of the marsh immediately in front of you all the time. The slower you are running the more time you have to react.

AirboatSafety is a SAO member and his job is training airboat operators. Wish he would comment here.
 
Sounds like there is no accepted system of hand signals... Good one about the number of boats behind ya... as long as it's less than 5. :)

The only one I can think of after my own brief outings is maybe to tap your chest where a lawman's badge would be then point to there the lawman is hiding. Not really a safety thing except maybe wallet safety. ;)

New question...
When I was rebuilding my boat at my workplace shop, all my co workers came at one point or another and asked "where's the seatbelts?" I told them I did not want to strap myself to something that is prone to sinking. Is that right? Why don't airboats have seatbelts?

Idea: Rick - thake the info in this thread and make a page of it. "Beginner's guide" or something like that. Of course you'll need some sort of legal disclaimer. Let me know if you need any diagrams or other graphical thingys to get a point across. I'll help if ya ask.

matt.
 
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