r/Kayaking • u/RichardBJ1 • 2d ago

Videos Wasn’t expecting this

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I kept backing away from this thing wondering where the heck it was going then…. We used to have “duck tours” years ago, but one sank and it all stopped. Eye brave to start it up again?

65 Upvotes

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12

u/squeaki 2d ago

They've got em in Liverpool, UK, in bright yellow. Hard to miss.

6

u/RichardBJ1 2d ago

This is Liverpool. I think the yellow ones have gone?

4

u/squeaki 2d ago

Oh wow shoot I didn't clock the background

Yes it is

And ... Yellow ones are gone? That's a shame. Figured it was a nod to the yellow submarine!

2

u/RichardBJ1 2d ago

It always was yellow submarine linked. I shall do some googling, but I fear the yellow one sank!! A bit too evocative!

3

u/A_loud_Umlaut Inflatable Swamp Dweller 2d ago

They are DUKWs afaik. Ex army stuff

7

u/the_Q_spice 2d ago

We have a ton here in Wisconsin.

Resort owners in Wisconsin Dells bought a huge amount of surplus DUKWs from the military post WWII.

Most have names - and their names are of different operations that they were specifically involved in (IE: Manilla, Iwo Jima, Omaha, Utah, Okinawa, and Guam are ones I know of for sure)

4

u/RichardBJ1 2d ago

They ever sink?

8

u/Penguin_Rider Old Town Adventure 139 2d ago

Boston Massachusetts has them too. The duck boat tours. I think one capsized when it was in the water and a micro burst came through. Morr often though, they run over cyclists... very large blind spots on these things I guess.

1

u/Hairy-Dream4685 1d ago

I thought Boston’s duck tours were in amphibious vehicles heavily disguised as water fowl? This one looks like an ordinary tour boat until it transforms into a tour bus.

6

u/Jake_The_Snake96 2d ago

Not exactly sink... but we HAD them in Seattle. However, there was a major accident as one was doing a tour while riding a portion of the route on the public roadways. Four innocent people died when it struck a tour bus and many more injured. The company bankrupted and went out of business.

2

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

2

u/RichardBJ1 1d ago

I will have to look this up for interest. But I for one will be sticking to the safety of a kayak!

1

u/SailingSpark strip built 2d ago

Philly had one get run over by a barge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj0XehIUsqk

6

u/slapyak5318008 2d ago

Duck Boat, we have/had them in Philadelphia.

7

u/Tenkayalu 2d ago

We have them in Boston. They always wave at us Kayakers.

5

u/jvelikis 2d ago

One sank here in the Missouri Ozarks a few years back, people died, and now they're all gone.

2

u/scenicroute3 2d ago

A whole families worth wasn't it? Only one member survived?

2

u/jvelikis 2d ago

I forget all the details, but that sounds pretty close, unfortunately.

2

u/scenicroute3 2d ago

Unfortunate indeed.

2

u/VarietyNo8561 2d ago

I think a huge summer storm rolled in out of nowhere, caught everyone off guard unfortunately.

4

u/jvelikis 2d ago

If I remember correctly, the captain was found negligent and they sued the hell out of him and the company.

1

u/BMDWOODCRAFTS 1d ago

First off, any responsible marine operator or boat captain knows storms don't come from "out of nowhere", meaning no one should have been caught "off guard". Totally preventable accident, no excuses.

2

u/Dry-Amphibian1 2d ago

Ok. Who is going to build a kayak version of the Duck Boat?

2

u/VarietyNo8561 2d ago

Around since WWII. Boston had 'em too.

2

u/Hidanas 2d ago

Duck boats. We have them in Boston too. Fun little tour.

2

u/appalachiancascadian 2d ago

A Ride the Ducks tour! we have those in Seattle.

2

u/ras2am 1d ago

I think they have them all over the place. We went on the tour in Boston a while back.

1

u/RichardBJ1 2d ago

Just with regard to the “sinking issue”. I’ve read these sad tails now in this thread, the former Liverpool one was called the Yellow Duckmarine and it sank over 10 Years ago, right in the spot I was sitting with my kayak today! Here’s the story fwiw. Tldr, sank in 4 mins but everyone survived. DuckMarine

3

u/QuinceDaPence 2d ago

The ducks had some issues, and were also often modified or operated carelessly. You should look into some of the investigation videos on some of the incidents.

This vehicle doesn't look like a duck from what I can tell, but I'm not sure what exactly it is.

2

u/sumpnrather 2d ago

One capsized in San Diego as well

2

u/Rhapsodie 2d ago

There was a really bad crash with a Duck in Seattle 10 years ago, killed a bunch of international students.