Saturday, December 31, 2011

...a Day on the (frozen) Lake...

...we spent a day on the lake with the Boy Scouts and Search and Rescue...

...we had the opportunity to ride in the air boat that the local Search and Rescue Team uses to rescue people stranded on the ice...or who have fallen through...see the previous post on what to do if you car goes into the water...

...it took a while to get the boat unloaded and turned around...

...it was a bright and sunny day...and with no snow on the ice it was like a sheet of glass...

...so the boys were busy horsing around on the ice while the men got the boat ready...

...the first group dons their life vests...

...and heads out onto the frozen lake...

...one of the Search and Rescue guys dons a special wetsuit and walks out onto the ice to see if he can break through...then the guys in the boat were going to do a little practice rescue...but he couldn't break through as the ice was already too thick...I was surprised as it's been so mild here this winter...but he said it was probably 8 inches thick...

...the view out the back through the propellers - you have to give 500 feet of clearance behind the boat...it really kicks up some dust and rocks...and it's really loud...we all wore hearing protection...and the S & R guys wore the same type of speaker headsets that pilots wear...

...the fancy gps system that shows our track on the lake...

...the view out the front...

...and the boys were thrilled that we finally broke through the ice out in the middle of the lake...it was exciting...and we were so glad we were in a boat when we broke through and not a car...whew!

5 comments:

  1. how cool (well, cold)! there's something you won't be doing in w.va!!! love, k

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  2. Wow, such thick ice and during a mild spell!

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  3. What a cool and fun opportunity.

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  4. That looks like SO much fun!

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  5. That is a unique opportunity. Cold fun. MOM

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