About 30 years ago I rode one of these Ride the Ducks DUKW at Table Rock Lake, I have a cute pic of me in the cockpit wearing a captain's hat.

Evidently the area experienced heavy winds that caused very large waves. Does anybody know what waves these things were rated for? While the plastic they put down on the sides may have kept it from taking on water as quickly, I have to think it may have prevented some from being able to get off. Eleven lost right now. Tragic.

News-Leader article with video

One was used to cross the English Channel once. They are able to handle open water.

According to Wikipedia, it sounds like these might not be real DUKWs, but some custom made imitation for what that's worth.

While the waves are nasty, it looks like the bigger problem may have been the boat design. Top heavy, overloaded and underpowered.

Man, that must have been terrifying for the folks on the DUKW. What a horrible way to die.

A severe thunderstorm was moving in when that boat went out. 60mph winds. The boat should not have gone out on the water in that. Terrible.

I would not let my loved ones go out on a "Duck" boat. I can't believe the USCG still issues COI's for these things, fatalities are practically an annual event.

Wow. I ride them in The Dells when I go there. I believe they were intended for short distances, sort of like long range landing craft. The LST's were limited as they could not go on land. The ducks could. The tourist ducks are heavily modified, sometimes with roofs of heavier material that the original, which I think were topless or had rag tops. The operators I have seen have "junkyards" of the boats nearby which they cannibalize. These boats are all, I believe WWII production.

The windage from the plastic top is not part of the original design, and is the main problem. Judging from the waves and blown wave top, I estimate the wing to be 40 mph. This is way too much for all the plastic on the top of the DUKW.

Horrible tragedy. It sounds like weather was the culprit. I went out on one in Chattanooga and loved it.

quote:

The tourist ducks are heavily modified

If they are original WWII versions. There are also versions of these that are built new. I had read an article a few years ago where they were stretching the originals like limousines, making them longer than they originally were.

The tourist versions of the originals generally get upgraded brakes, drive lines, and engines. I was also under the impression that they fill them with foam.

I don't think they are inherently dangerous. Generally when one of these dumps people in the water there is an outside factor that should and could have been avoided.

My dad had one of the first Ducks on Table Rock Lake. He was the king of world when he hit the water.

That plastic top could have acted like a sail catching the wind and helping to tip it over.Tragic.

By the time this video starts, folks should have been scrambling for life jackets if they didn't have them already. That thing appears to already have taken on a lot of water and is riding low enough it's just filling up then.

Awful.

video at CNN

I wonder what the best course of action would have been for the Captain of the boat to take in that situation?

With a more powerful engine, going into those waves would have been the way to go, but would gently putting it into reverse and letting it ride the waves backwards have worked?

Then again, going in reverse may also raise the chance of being swept sideways, which would definitely suck too.

^^^^

Hard to say what the handling characteristic of that boat might be, but generally, putting it in reverse will turn you sideways in a hurry. If you are going to ride "with" the waves you still want the bow to lead. Going down a wave stern first will swamp it.

We have a Duck that ventures into Flathead Lake occasionally with tourists; it has no top and every time I've seen it on the lake all had life preservers on.

Mostly it sits on land in front of the owners retail shop.

quote:

Originally posted by CaptainMike:
I would not let my loved ones go out on a "Duck" boat. I can't believe the USCG still issues COI's for these things, fatalities are practically an annual event.

Ditto that. I feel the same way about cruise ships, but really, "duck boats" are a no brainer. Not a chance my two year old would be found on one.

A few years ago there was a fatal accident involving a duck boat on the delaware near Philadelphia. I was working the river at the time and wasn't surprised then. I'm not surprised now.

They offer those tours here in the Memphis area, with the duck boats going out onto the Mississippi. I've wondered aloud before how someone hasn't died on one of those things; the Mississippi is a nasty treacherous beast if you're caught unprepared.

Does anyone know if those require a USCG captain's license top operate?