Maybe life vests aren’t so helpful if your boat capsizes.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Does anyone know if those require a USCG captain's license top operate?

Yes.

https://www.ridetheducksofseattle.com/about/careers/

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Does anyone know if those require a USCG captain's license top operate?

Any vessel with passengers for hire traveling in navigable waterways requires one.

http://wow.uscgaux.info/conten...aptains-license-info

^^^

Thanks guys.

Driver/captain should have known better.

I would have donned my vest and bailed out of that thing ASAP once it started taking on water. In the video you can see it listing, getting ready to capsize. No way I'm getting trapped in an upside-down duck boat. No way. I'm wondering if any of the survivors bailed out before it capsized?

I bet it was the life jackets that killed many of them.

Once that thing is underwater, and you have a life jacket on, everyone just floats to the roof and unless your trained in getting out of submerged vehicle, you’re screwed.

Horrific all the way around.

quote:

Originally posted by RAMIUS:

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Does anyone know if those require a USCG captain's license top operate?

Yes.

https://www.ridetheducksofseattle.com/about/careers/

"you’ll complete a rigorous training program through which you’ll obtain ... a United States Coast Guard Master’s license,,,"


~snort~ Yeah, ok. "Rigorous" isn't exactly the word I'd use. Just about any Joe Schmo can get a 100 ton "Master's" license.

Man that video is hard to watch. I was lucky enough to drive one about 10 years ago for a tour group that has since gone out of business.

They are able to hold their own in pretty severe seas in stock form. Most tour companies “upgrade” them with foam and heavier engines etc which changes how they handle. I seem to remember that the last bad DUKW sinking was in MO also and a contributing factor was the roof covering. I know that the one I drove wouldn’t have had a trouble with those waves as it didn’t have a top on it, with a top it all bets are off. Also it was riding really low in that video, they have a high capacity bilge pump that moves a lot of water so maybe it wasn’t working. I wouldn’t put my kids on a commercial one, or any one with a top on it.

I've always wanted to own one of these and have been on several. Some of them commercial units like these, and some privately owned.

Coast Guard licensing aside, these things are more truck than boat. They don't handle in the water like a typical boat. They don't have the power or steering ability of a typical boat.

The originals have the same capacity as the deuce and a halfs. 5,000 pounds. I don't know if the modifications increase this capacity or not, but I do know that the modifications add weight. They were originally designed for one operator and 24 troops with gear. My math says that 31 people on board would require an average weight of 161 pounds per passenger. I suspect they were heavier than this.

With their original engine and drive line they could make 6 knots at best. Originals also had very beefy pumps to keep the water out. They were designed to handle fairly severe conditions, but I suspect being fully loaded reduced its ability.

I watched the CNN video. I am no expert, but it looked to be overloaded to me.

quote:

Originally posted by RAMIUS:
I bet it was the life jackets that killed many of them.

Once that thing is underwater, and you have a life jacket on, everyone just floats to the roof and unless your trained in getting out of submerged vehicle, you’re screwed.

Horrific all the way around.

Add inebriation to that and it's a recipe for disaster. These are "party boats", right? The ones I've seen in the Nashville area are RIFE with drunk customers.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:

quote:

Originally posted by RAMIUS:
I bet it was the life jackets that killed many of them.

Once that thing is underwater, and you have a life jacket on, everyone just floats to the roof and unless your trained in getting out of submerged vehicle, you’re screwed.

Horrific all the way around.

Add inebriation to that and it's a recipe for disaster. These are "party boats", right? The ones I've seen in the Nashville area are RIFE with drunk customers.

I doubt that. These were simply tourists. The youngest dead I believe was one year old.

60 mph winds. Nothing should have been on that lake at that time.

Seriously doubt it was full of drunks. More likely old people and families with children - what Branson is famous for drawing.

I have never (and would never) take my family on one, but I've seen them on Table Rock many times. The lake is fairly wide where they and the Branson Belle go out. No shelter from any wind, any direction. A North or South wind especially.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Man...then that is REALLY sad. Not that it wasn't already...

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:

quote:

Originally posted by RAMIUS:
I bet it was the life jackets that killed many of them.

Once that thing is underwater, and you have a life jacket on, everyone just floats to the roof and unless your trained in getting out of submerged vehicle, you’re screwed.

Horrific all the way around.

Add inebriation to that and it's a recipe for disaster. These are "party boats", right? The ones I've seen in the Nashville area are RIFE with drunk customers.

I doubt that. These were simply tourists. The youngest dead I believe was one year old.

Nah, these aren’t party/drinking boats. We have them around here and it’s mostly tourists, families, and school children.

quote:

I seem to remember that the last bad DUKW sinking was in MO also and a contributing factor was the roof covering. I know that the one I drove wouldn’t have had a trouble with those waves as it didn’t have a top on it, with a top it all bets are off.

quote:

I bet it was the life jackets that killed many of them.

Once that thing is underwater, and you have a life jacket on, everyone just floats to the roof and unless your trained in getting out of submerged vehicle, you’re screwed.

Horrific all the way around.

That boat should not have had a roof.
You're right about the life jackets. Without the roof, those people would have floated in the water. With the roof, they become trapped.

I'm a swimmer, boater, and waterskier so I would have jumped as soon as the boat started taking on water... but most of those people wouldn't have known to do that.

And this isn't the first of these sinkings. Over the years there have been more than a few deaths associated with multiple sinkings of DUKW tour vehicles.

Just awful.

The lake gets wide in some spots down by the dam... and depending on which direction the storm came from could.have made some big waves.

Tragic.

This is heartbreaking


Out of an 11-person family aboard the ill-fated vessel at the time, nine perished, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson's office confirmed to USA Today.


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018...ng-several-dead.html