Having run r/c boats since 1965, I know of three cases where people have drowned while swimming after model boats.
Probably the worst case occurred at Belle Island, Detroit, some years ago when a model boater told a kid he'd pay him $10 to swim after his stalled boat. The kid started out after the boat and began struggling to stay afloat. The guy who owned the boat just stayed on the beach and watched the kid drown. He didn't even attempt to call for help. Before the fire fighters and police arrived, the guy's boat blew into the shore line so he loaded up and went home. He was later arrested - but I don't know what the charges were. Maybe leaving the scene of an accident. This made the national news.
We had a person drown here in the Washington a few years back when he swam after a boat that was stuck in some lilly pads. He also got tangled in the lilly pads and drown.
Besides three drownings, I have seen probably at least 6 to 8 instances where guys have fallen out of the row boat. The most recent being last December at our local pond. In this incident, the guy was struggling about 70' from the shore and one of our guys yelled at him - "Stand up." The water was about three feet deep. It was somewhat amusing, but really not funny when you think of what could have happened had he been in deeper water. And yes, we do have life jackets - but he chose not to wear it when he went to get his boat. It's a club rule to wear a life jacket, but as the old saying goes - "Rules are made to be broken."
After all these years of running model boats, there's three things I've managed to really master: rowing, throwing a tennis ball with line attached, and repairing mashed boats. Cannot say those are great accomplishments, just the truth.
Jerry D.
