winter access to island

[boathousegirl]

help, please! I live on an island on Winnisquam. Can anyone give me info on one of those air boats.

[GWC...]

This version is advertised as safer than the regular style airboat:

http://www.airboats.ca/video.cfm?id=1

Hope this helped...

[SAMIAM]

Which island do you live on Boathousegirl....if it's on the north end of the lake,the ice catches pretty early.

[RLW]

Check out this ad in the Winni classifieds under winter sports
AD Number: 18547 - Posted on: Nov 17, 2006 Expires on: Feb 16, 2007 * Winnipesaukee Classifieds *
By: Scott Crabtree
FOR SALE:
2003 Hovercraft /Hovertechnics Hoverjet GT :cool:

[secondcurve]

RLW:

What happens if that machine stalls or breakdowns on thin ice miles from shore? You don't get a lot for $8,000.00 these days. If it were me, I'd wait for the ice to firm up before venturing out to the islands, but I can understand peoples' desires to reach their decompresion chambers!

[boathousegirl]

GWC: Thanks so much for the web site.

[Steve Di.]

Second Curve makes a good point and it should be taken quite seriously. It would take a helicopter to perform a rescue during the ice-in/out time frame when the ice is thin.

[codeman671]

Second Curve makes a good point and it should be taken quite seriously. It would take a helicopter to perform a rescue during the ice-in/out time frame when the ice is thin.

There are airboats in use by some of the local fire departments which can be deployed rather quickly. If you are stuck sitting with a dead motor it is one thing, but honestly if you fall through in the middle when the ice is not safe to be traveled by anything other than a hovercraft or airboat you probably will be in tough shape...

[RLW]

RLW:

What happens if that machine stalls or breakdowns on thin ice miles from shore? You don't get a lot for $8,000.00 these days. If it were me, I'd wait for the ice to firm up before venturing out to the islands, but I can understand peoples' desires to reach their decompresion chambers!

I have know idea. I just past on a classified that may have helped the situation for island travel in the winter. :laugh:

[Kamper]

Last fall there was an accident involving the Cornish Vt VFD airboat operating on the Connecticut River. It took water over the bow and went down quickly. They were evacuating an injured person who was strapped to a 'board' and she drowned. A crane was required to lift it from the bottom. I have not yet seen a final report in the press yet and there may not be one until next year. It received coverage in the Union Leader for a few days.

This incident was discussed on another forum I visit. There was a link there to an article by "The Florida Airboat Trade Association," which implies these craft are deficient in floation. Here is the link to that thread...

http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=115800&posts=7&highlight=union%20leader&highlightmode=2#M1165079

The article I referenced is on what is now a dead link.

If you are planning to use this type of boat only over ice and shallow waters I'd expect you'd be fairly safe. Avoid the temptation to take it over large stretches of open water where the waves and wind can work against you unless you are sure the boat has sufficient flotation and stability for those conditions. I'm sure you can get more information on this type of boat on a Florida or Louisianna site.

Good luck!

[DBA]

For anyone interested, check out www.YANKEEAIRBOAT.com

They build them, and sell them. Last I knew, they also have training available. They are located in Sebago, Maine.

[codeman671]

Last fall there was an accident involving the Cornish Vt VFD airboat operating on the Connecticut River. It took water over the bow and went down quickly. They were evacuating an injured person who was strapped to a 'board' and she drowned. A crane was required to lift it from the bottom. I have not yet seen a final report in the press yet and there may not be one until next year. It received coverage in the Union Leader for a few days.

This incident was discussed on another forum I visit. There was a link there to an article by "The Florida Airboat Trade Association," which implies these craft are deficient in floation. Here is the link to that thread...

http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=115800&posts=7&highlight=union%20leader&highlightmode=2#M1165079

The article I referenced is on what is now a dead link.

If you are planning to use this type of boat only over ice and shallow waters I'd expect you'd be fairly safe. Avoid the temptation to take it over large stretches of open water where the waves and wind can work against you unless you are sure the boat has sufficient flotation and stability for those conditions. I'm sure you can get more information on this type of boat on a Florida or Louisianna site.

Good luck!
That was this year, not last fall. The boat sat at MP for quite some time after, it may still even be there. There was a bit more to the story, unskilled operators, too many people, just a poor situation all around. The FD was at fault, not the boat. They put that poor woman at unnecessary risk, she had an injured anke and ended up dead!

Airboats can be taken in some pretty rough waters and are quite often used for rescue in rapids. many videos can be found online depicting the kinds of conditions they can run in.

The boat involved was a Yankee.

[boathousegirl]

Thanks so much for all your responses. You've been very helpful!

[Kamper]

That was this year, not last fall. The boat sat at MP for quite some time after, it may still even be there. There was a bit more to the story, unskilled operators, too many people, just a poor situation all around. The FD was at fault, not the boat. They put that poor woman at unnecessary risk, she had an injured anke and ended up dead! ...

Tense error, my bad.

As for the circumstances and responsibility, I'm not involved in the investigation and see no reason to throw my opinion into that ring. A small boat that sinks and needs a crane to get it off the bottom definitly lacks adequate flotation. That's the point of consideration I was raising.

[codeman671]

Tense error, my bad.

As for the circumstances and responsibility, I'm not involved in the investigation and see no reason to throw my opinion into that ring. A small boat that sinks and needs a crane to get it off the bottom definitly lacks adequate flotation. That's the point of consideration I was raising.

I never heard that they had to crane the boat off the bottom, I may have missed that part of the story. I heard that it flipped and the woman was trapped on the board under the boat. I certainly could be wrong though.

Some of the airboats do have flotation, I would think that one made solely for rescue should have been outfitted with extra flotation. A Yankee 18 has a payload of 3000lbs, even if that did include the engine/running gear which I believe it does not there should have been enough floatation for 4-5 guys plus a victim without maxing it.

I have done plenty of research into airboats while shopping for myself, I do think that there are other boats in the market that are better suited for this type of work. American Airboats makes a boat with much higher freeboard, they thought the freeboard of a Yankee to not be sufficient enough when I asked them in conversation. Theirs are 29" deep, 5-9" deeper depending on the spot. The 1000 islands airboat have tons of flotation and claim to be unsinkable.

[SIKSUKR]

I think the issue with that rescue boat was more of a problem with the river current getting on top of one side and pulling it down.I don't believe that would be an issue on the lake,even with rough water.

[secondcurve]

Codeman:

What does a decent, new airboat cost?

[codeman671]

Codeman:

What does a decent, new airboat cost?

A 1000 Islands 18' airboat is approximately $55k new. I spec'd out a custom 20' American with a full enclosure, heat, big block power, etc all set up for winter and it was approximately the same. You can get a standard 18' Yankee with a 350 on a trailer for about $30k, no enclosure or heat obviously- just your basic open style boat but still good quality.

I like the American as it has a bulletproof (literally!) hull, deep freeboard and plenty of cargo room. The 1000 Islands is pretty slick too although I am a bit concerned with the fiberglass hull over time. Running on ice and hitting chunks that miss the polymer could ding it up pretty badly. They do claim the 1000 Islands to be unsinkable, the heated seats are nice too! :D

[Hottrucks]

Has anyone check if they are legal???

Last I knew they where Not..I was going to pick one up down in Fla. ( you can buy them cheap there) just somethng fun that you can use all year....

I checked intop registering it and thats how I was informed???
if you get the go ahead on one I would check with some boating websites from down south I'm sure you could pick one up way less than $10k

[codeman671]

Has anyone check if they are legal???

Last I knew they where Not..I was going to pick one up down in Fla. ( you can buy them cheap there) just somethng fun that you can use all year....

I checked intop registering it and thats how I was informed???
if you get the go ahead on one I would check with some boating websites from down south I'm sure you could pick one up way less than $10k

They are legal and there are presently a few on the lake. Anything under $10k is probably not going to be safe around here, you need a full polymer bottom and preferably a boat at least 18' long, 7-8' wide. Anything smaller would be risky. A typical FL boat would end up not cutting it around here.