Miss Steel Reserve R.I.P.

[aod8850]

At approximaly 2:00 today Miss Steel reserve was pronounced dead on the scene. I apperently hit a half submerged log while I was testing my wire drive setup with my right turn fin and rudder. The right sponson was blown to shreds and all the pink foam was floating in the water. The transom was ripped completely off and the hardware was in the water. I then proceeded to take on water quickly and the speed control went insane and started running the motor submerging the boat even further. After only a few seconds the the left tip of the sponson was the only thing out of the water. The water is very cold here in Iowa right now so if I decided to go for a swim I would have ended up in the hospital more than likely. So I had to stand and watch my pride and joy sink to the bottom. I can only assume that the one side with flotation simply was not enough tho keep it afloat.

I am at a crossroads here. I am about ready to take all my boats and just throw them in the trash can and forget about boating forever. All my boats need parts right now and I don't have the money to fix em. So what I am asking is how many of you guys have had this happen to you? Any other words of advise? I'm pretty pissed right now and mostly dissappointed.

[lferguson79]

I feel your pain. Don't know if you ave read the post I made in the swap shop about the SV 27 I had that had a mind of it's own but I feel the pain. Personally I would not throw them away. you will wish you haddned done that after the snow clears. It is winter, building season for most. All your boats need parts, well other folks need parts. You could try to sell off some of your stuff and start fresh or oyu could simple be patient (easier said than done I know) and it will all come together. But man I dohate to here abou tthe loss. It make me hurt just hearing about it

[aod8850]

Thanks man. I guess I will just have to wait and try and save up over the winter to get SOMTHING back together.

[Old Sloppy]

Gee,
I am sorry to hear about the loss.
I would just hang in there untill spring comes around.
maybe you could slowly collect the parts your other boats need during the winter.
Then you can resume racing in the spring.
By the way, is it starting to snow there yet?
Harry :)

[Raydee]

I have seen $2000 twin nitro Riggers blown to pieces and end up at the bottom of the pond. I guess its just a part of the hobby and a risk you take every time you run your hull. Take the bad with the good. By next season you will have a new boat and setup and be happy again.

Speaking of logs in the water, last time I ran I noticed there was a log floating in the water so I made sure I kept an eye on it they whole time I ran. By the second battery pack I couldn't seem to find the log in the water anymore but because I knew it was there I packed everything up and went home.

Sorry for your loss but don't throw in the towel :)

[raptor347]

Don't give up. It happens to us all sooner or later. I've got boats on the bottom of lakes in three states. I lost one two weeks ago.

Hang in there!

[aod8850]

Thanks guys. I'm starting to feel better about the whole thing. I just couldn't get over how I did EVERYTHING I was supposed to do to prevent total loss and how quickly it all failed. I just kinda stood there in shock. 'bout 450 bucks and months of work at the bottom of the pond.... ain't that a b!tch.

[aod8850]

BTW There was no way of seeing the log. It was on the bottom in shallow water. It did not come out of the water. I had to walk over to see what was under the water so I don't see how this could have been my fault. It's real easy to say what I should have done now that we know what happened.

[m4a1usr]

I feel your pain Bro. There must be something contagious in the water (no pun intended). I just hit a log a couple weeks ago myself. I was lucky. Didnt lose the boat. But it did set me back some parts. Dont throw in the towel on RC boating yet. If you got some boats needing attention then proceed with the next canditate. In short order this will be a learning experience.

I saw Brians boat go down just a short while ago. A nice rigger with some expensive goodies on board. I take it Davy Jones has kept it Brian?

[raptor347]

That one isn't coming back. It becomes an excuse to build from new parts;)

[Garry Finlay]

Brian has a great attitude. “It becomes an excuse to build from new parts”.

I have not had the loss you or Brian, or many others have had. But many times I have screwed up a project so bad that it was “donated to the spare parts bin”. I always try to see if there is a lesson in the loss and see what can be done better from the experience.

Hang in there, it only gets better from hear.

Brian, was that the rigger you tore up MurrayHill pond with? – Oh geeze.

Garry

[aod8850]

I'm not giving up just yet. I have cooled down and I WILL return to the pond with a new boat for next year. Some jackass was litterally laughing as my boat was sinking. He lives next to the pond and I asked if I could use his fishing pole to grab it before it went down. He "just lost his last hook" before I lost her. I will have a sh!t eating grin on my face when I destroy that pond with my next rig. Micro SAW in the works now. Thanks, you guys for your kind words. :yeah:

[R.J.West]

Oh dude, Iam so sorry to hear of your loss. I read thru all your threads while building that boat in the building contest and losing it like that really suks. I lost an brand new Electric thunder 1/16 detailed perfectly as the '57 hawaii kai III. On its first run it stuffed a wave and was never seen again. Total cost...$400. I really felt discouraged and almost bailed out of the hobby. That was 12 years ago and Iam glad I'm still out here. Build another "steel Reserve" and use what you learned from the first one and make the second one better. Name the second one "Miss steel reseve too!" :rockon:

[Jeff Wohlt]

Cheap fishing pole or even a $19 inflatable Wal-Mart boat would have worked well. For the fishing pole--- string with some 20 # line and then put a #2 bass hook on it and string a water ball (kids thing) and bend the barb of the hook around so it does not catch on anything. I soak up water with it and give it a wing. If you don't have time to do that then a rubber raft is the way to go. $19 compared to $450 is well worth it....just inflate before you run!

No reason to not be prepared...which I am sure you will be next time.

Sorry to hear of your loss.

[Taylor Shaw]

man that sucks ! i have alot of storys of sinking boats
i had a large gas boat that sunk from a cruisers wake , and i had my neighbor go and get it ( he is a scuba diver) and he couldnt find it , then i sunk my hyped up traxxas blast with lipos in it and a BL set up , i got that back the esc and lipos wouldnt work .
and then i had a hydo that was bow heavy and i hit a wave it submerged down to the bottom of the lake hit a rock and then blew up becuse of the speed hit into the rock !!. i got them all back except for my gas boat , the hydro was a write off so was the motor it had a dented can !!

[Taylor Shaw]

hmm double post ?sorry

[aod8850]

Cheap fishing pole or even a $19 inflatable Wal-Mart boat would have worked well. For the fishing pole--- string with some 20 # line and then put a #2 bass hook on it and string a water ball (kids thing) and bend the barb of the hook around so it does not catch on anything. I soak up water with it and give it a wing. If you don't have time to do that then a rubber raft is the way to go. $19 compared to $450 is well worth it....just inflate before you run!

No reason to not be prepared...which I am sure you will be next time.

Sorry to hear of your loss.
That's funny that you bring that up. I ALWAYS bring my pole with a huge crankbait and giant hooks on it. I thought just as I was leaving that I had ran that boat a hundred times and I would be fine.:doh: I don't know anyway if I could have got to the boat in time. It went down really fast.

[Stephen Mason]

Yeah,
I get sick just thinking about the sound that my Classic Hydro made as it skimmed along the concrete wall and peeled the deck off. Not to mention the sickening thud that my very first "hand built" P-Sport hydro made as it sheared the sponsons and transom away from the pan when I ran over a fellow boaters H&M Drifter that was dead in the water. That was a day that I thought sure I was getting out of this hobby! That was 6 boats ago!

Take the negative experience and generate a learning!
Apply that learning every time you go out to run.
Won't be long before your the OLD PRO and all the Newbies will be asking you how to make the hobby more fun!

Pain is a part of Life!

[jantagg]

Sorry about your loss man. Here is what I use as retrieval system. First, I can't cast a fishing poll worth a damn, and second, at my age, I can't throw a tennis ball 20 yds. So what I have done is put a hook on the stern of my 1930's tail dragger hydro ( you could buy a cheap toy boat) and attach a fishing line with three 3/4 inch bobbers, set at one foot apart, to the tail of the boat. Then when a boat is stuck in the middle of the pond, I simply run the tail dragger out, circle the stalled boat until the line catches and reel her in. If nothing happens, and I don't need the tail dragger, then I have it around to play with also.

Tom Taggart

[Jay Turner]

What Tom didn't say is that his "little tail dragger hydro" retrieval boat is an exact scale model of another of his dad's "real" boats, a work of art of course.




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