Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

SabotUp007 OP t1_ix9awsj wrote

Reply to comment by McJumpington in Pittsburgh's Just Ducky Tours by SabotUp007

Based on the video, it seems like even a very safety minded captain could have fallen afoul of the inherent design flaws in the boats to cope with rough waters. The redesigned air intakes, the lack of redundant buoyancy, the rigid canopies preventing passengers from escaping should the boat become submerged, etc etc

I personally would love to see amphibious tours return to Pittsburgh, but with a purpose built vehicle as opposed to a modified surplus vehicle. Alas, that would lack that charm of the original ducks.

7

McJumpington t1_ix9deqz wrote

The design of the boats are for sure always going to pose a threat. I just know we had a great staff of mechanics that performs maintenance and checks daily, we paid attention to weather every single trip, we occasionally skipped the water portion if it was bad conditions (guests would be upset, but we always focused on favorable conditions). We also stayed way closer to shore than the tour in the video in case there was some emergency.

All of that said- again the buoyancy reserve not existing for sure sucks. They really should have created some canopy that can bust off quickly.

I think most captains were more afraid of land to be honest. Pedestrians would walk right under the bow at stops, car would swerve out of side streets in front of us, bikers would come out of the blue.

15