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Stranded...

S

stillsunk

Member
Me and the family went for a ride Monday afternoon, we left out of port Hatchineha around 3:30 and was taking in some great sights. I decided to stop by the yacht club before we went home...Thats when the nightmare began, I let my wife take our daughter for a spin around gator cove which ended in disaster you guessed it everyone was safe but the boat layed on her side in four foot of water. I am sure alot of ya'll know this but Monday evening at the yaht club is a very lonely place. Long story short both phones went in the drink and we were there for 18 long cold hours. In the morning I blew my whistle and yelled at the spec fisherman for four hours, NOT ONE of them came over. Finally an airboater running a tour out of camp Lester stopped and took us back to Mack. I owe him...

I hope there are no spec fisherman broke down in my path in the near future...
 
Yea 10-4 the boat is out. We flushed everything out and fired her up this morning. Looks like I lost one of the mags though...
 
I keep my phone in a tupperware container. In fact I have a few tupperware containers stored in my drybox filled with things I don't want to get wet.
 
You can put your cell phone in a ziplock sandwich bag, and still use it without taking it out ....... :wink: .

BF
 
Glad to hear all worked out.... Glad it was not mosquito season!

About the waterproof case for the phone - Tupperwear is a great idea! Ziplock too... But if soggy sandwiches in the cooler are any indication - it does not take much for a plastic bag to let some water in.... and then HOLD it in.

For the last 10 years, I've used a little plastic case for (at first) my little camera, and now for my phones. These boxes cost around $20 - which works out to about $2 a year if it lasts 10 years - like mine has. Quite the bargain. And it protects from impacts, and hold up to being totally submerged - in case you have to go diving for your phone.

http://www.swps.net/pelicancases.html

If you use one of these cases YOU NEED TO TEST IT from time to time!!!! The way I test ALL of my pelican cases & turtle boxes once a year is to empty it out, and bang it around while holding it underwater in a bucket (or tub for the larger cases), dry it off and then check for wetness inside. Pretty simple, but your case can be worthless if you don't do it.

matt.
 
Okay being the new guy here Im probably gonna catch hell for asking this --but how in the world did she manage to sink your boat in such a short time????what did she do to cause it--im new to all this and just curious--im in the middle of building my first airboat and now im begining to wonder,because all i ever read about are boats being sunk---that has got to suck really bad i will have alot of money invested in mine and that thought of going down really worries me now--that and all the stuff i have seen on props exploding etc etc----

on a good note----I live in Texas and on a tv commercial there is an advertisement about come to florida,travel,vacation,etc--and on the commercial is a big bad arse airboat comes flying through the picture---so that being said they cant be hating yall airboaters down there to bad--thought all you florida airboaters would appreciate knowing that..
 
Sorry bout that ,however thats what it takes to make an airboater sinkin,wreckin,breakin and the unplaned camp outs. Good she didn't sink her in deep water.
 
Hello Rodngun!

Thank you for letting us know about the Florida airboat commercials being run in Texas. We have worked long and hard to establish favorable public relations in this state and for that matter -this country. It is an ongoing process.

As far as airboats sinking, I have only personally witnessed one- and the sight definately has left an impression. A storm blew up and a boat made a turn in a narrow channel, some water went over the transom and in a moment the boat was sunk. Maybe using more throttle would have prevented it- I'm not sure. It happened so quickly. My motto is--when in doubt about your abilities it is a good idea to stay in skinny water or get some good instruction from a seasoned airboater prior to striking out on your own.
 
stillsunk,

Sorry to hear of the boat/mag. Really glad everyone is ok. I too venture out on my own from time to time and will look for some of the wife's tupperware right now.

Basketcase/Jeff
 
air boats only take 3 to 10 seconds to be on the bottom it just takes 1 mastake and its all over.
 
RodNGun, the learning curve is extremely steep with these boats. If you don't have a lot of stick time and something strange and potentially dangerous comes up, if you don't make the right decision instantly and react properly, bad things happen quick. I know I made some big mistakes when I was in the beginning stages but my luck was strong and nothing major occured. Often that's what saves you in the end, LUCK. But you are always learning!!! Remember that and you'll be ok. I know guys who have 30+ years around airboats, some these guys made some of the trails out around Kissimmee and they have sunk boats in the recent past. It happens....

Adam
 
Stillsunk - Glad everyone and the boat are ok and hope the daughter jumps back in the saddle again. Just keep her in the shallow water for another 10 hours.

That really sucks that no fishermen responded. I can only hope they didn't hear or see you. If they did, then that really is an issue. :angryfire: If they did ignore you then someone needs a real good talking to. :cussing: Nothing is worst that someone that would ignore a boater in distress. If they did, they need the fleas from about 1000 coyotes to infest their rectum. :shock:

Orion sells a flare kit for about $20.00 and it would be handy in a situation like that.

Moodfood - Those pelican cases are really nice. I have one for my camera. Top notch stuff. But never checked it. Hmmm. Usually do the ziplock trick for my cell phone.

RodnGun - Well I know a copy of guys that spent time at college station and even there are these jokes about aggies, they are some top notch airboaters.

In truth, there are some really good posts that have some great tips about beginning airboaters and lots of things to watch for. The biggest thing is take it slow and beware the first 5 or so hours as you probably are still thinking about what you have to do before you do it. Easy to go to fast and run out of reaction time. After the first 10 hours or so, that IT EASY> you typically think you have it all figured out and can get really cocky. Lots of boats are sunk with people having less than 50 hours.

Then there is the old airboater saying, "It is not a matter of if you are going to, but when you are going to sink one."
 
Marshmaster, pilots go through the same thing. Usually at around 200 hours you get to thinking that you've got it all figured out, that it's a piece of cake, and then something happens that really gets your attention. Hopefully, it's not too serious. In my case it was a simple, stupid mistake, but an eye opener.

Then at around a thousand hours you go through another threshold ..... you get too confident and start to belive that you're an OLD PRO. And then you usually get another eye opener.

There's a saying in aviation that "there are Old pilots, and Bold pilots, but there are no Old, Bold pilots". Truely senior aviators are the most cautious of all, because they realize that they got where they are because of a lot of good fortune.

Airboats are no different.

BF
 
FIRST OFF Glad no one was hurt, I too am fairly new to this wonderful sport and have had several conversations about this. NO ONE GETS LEFT IN THE SWAMP! Told the wife right off the bat that I might get that call in the middle of the night and no matter who it is I'll be loading up and going to help.When riding around I always look for the everythings O.K. wave . If I don't get that then I'll be turning around to help out. First 3 trip out with my boat, helped 2 people unsink thiers and the 3rd had it under control.There but for the grace of God go I.
 
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