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Great news for a change!
Eighteen people have been rescued after becoming stranded on an ice floe in Lake Erie in Ohio, US.
The group were riding snow mobiles and all terrain vehicles (ATVs) on the frozen lake when the ice sheet broke away near Catawba Island.
Eleven members of the stranded group were rescued by a US Coast Guard helicopter and airboat on Sunday.
Authorities thanked a "good Samaritan" who assisted the remaining seven back to safety in a private airboat.
There's no such thing as safe ice, but people can mitigate their risks.
Those 18 people are soooooo lucky!!
I thought "air boats" were Everglades-type shallow boats. I never heard of them on ice or cold water. Am I missing something? Did the article mean hover-craft?
I thought "air boats" were Everglades-type shallow boats. I never heard of them on ice or cold water. Am I missing something? Did the article mean hover-craft?
It is definitely possible to run an airboat on ice. There are types specifically built for it. So much depends on the boat's design. Many airboats have little to no hull flotation, their transoms are open, and their rear-mounted, high powered engines are heavy. It can be risky to run an airboat over deep water as they create a serious wake that can swamp the boat if it slows down for a quick turn or stops. BTDT! (or rather the inexperienced operator of a boat I was riding in did. Avian botulism outbreak on a huge marsh system. We used the airboat to access shallower areas of the marsh to collect sick and dead waterfowl. He swamped the boat so we ended up slogging through two miles of flooded sagebrush and rocks in 90+ degree weather dragging the thing back to the boat ramp ). They rely on speed to skim the surface and also to stay ahead of the wake. If the wrong airboat happens to hit a thin spot in the ice and break through into deep water it can sink like a stone very quickly.
Last edited by Parnassia; 02-07-2022 at 02:19 PM..
I thought "air boats" were Everglades-type shallow boats. I never heard of them on ice or cold water. Am I missing something? Did the article mean hover-craft?
Yeah, looks like they underestimated the ice thickness. It also seems that the ice was covered by snow.
Inexperienced people are often not aware that even thick ice bends under the weight of the vehicles and the bending wave travels with it creating a streaming wave going in all directions.
Now when other snowmobiles come close together, their waves cross and cause turbulences that can shatter even thick ice.
Were they playing pond hockey and did not notice the cracks around them?
On Superior, it's usually those who are out ice fishing.
You have a cartoon idea of how these things happen. First, they were probably on an enormous flow. No, one wouldn't notice cracks happening hundreds of feet away. Second, ice normally cracks and creaks all the time. Third, it's usually at least semi-covered so there's nothing to see. Fourth, it happens fast - the wind shifts and suddenly an ice sheet breaks away. This is not a Bullwinkle cartoon where a crystal clear piece of ice suddenly develops a prominent single crack and the individual is two feet away and can just hop across and then walk ten feet to land. That's not reality.
It would never happen to me because I'd never be out there - not so much out of fear but because it's a cold place (completely open like that in winter, with no wind breaks? brrrr!) with nothing happening that interests me (fishing through a hole? uh... no thanks).
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). They rely on speed to skim the surface and also to stay ahead of the wake. If the wrong airboat happens to hit a thin spot in the ice and break through into deep water it can sink like a stone very quickly.
