Contributed by: CBrining
UPPER TOWNSHIP - For generations, people have tried to merge boats and cars, sometimes to comic effect.
Think the quacking of the Philadelphia Duck tours along the Delaware River.
Now, an Upper Township boat dealer is pitching a new rescue craft that doubles as an all-terrain vehicle.
Seaville Motorsports on Route 9 is offering a New Zealand-made rescue boat to the Northeast boating market. The boat, made by Sealegs, can travel over land at a modest 6 mph and on the water at more than 40 knots...Continue Reading
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Seaville Motor Sports is hoping to stir interest among local beach patrols and fire departments that have federal stimulus money to spend, salesman Dan Robinson said. He is general manager for Seaville Motorsports' floating dock division, called EZ Dock Mid-Atlantic.
"The selling point is there is no need for a boat ramp," he said. "When time is critical, you can just drive it over the beach."
Seaville Motorsports saw the boat at the Miami International Boat Show in February and brought a display model to its shop. The company will offer demonstrations on Ocean City's northern end by the Ocean City-Longport Bridge from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday.
The boat's fuel tank and lights had to be modified to meet U.S. Coast Guard regulations for use in American waters, Robinson said.
He hopped aboard the orange rigid inflatable boat and started up its gas-powered 24-horsepower engine. The boat looks awkward propped on its three wheels, but its hydraulic system can raise or lower the wheels independently for maneuverability, making it surprisingly stable, Robinson said.
He tooled around the dealership parking lot, hopping curbs and rolling over mulch piles.
The price tag ranges from $50,000 to $100,000 depending on the onboard equipment. It can be outfitted with onboard stretchers and a canopy.
Car boats - or boat cars - have appeared in some form for generations.
Gibbs Technologies in England offers a coupe called the Aquada that doubles as a speedboat and resembles something straight out of a James Bond movie. The company also sells a personal watercraft called a Quadski and a Hummer-inspired boat called the Humdinga.
Gibbs partnered with Lockheed Martin to develop a military version of a high-speed amphibious vehicle complete with armor plating and weapons systems. These vehicles reach 100 mph on land and 60 knots on the water, according to the trade publication Defense Update.
With so much water surrounding southern New Jersey, police and fire agencies have had to be imaginative when it comes to search and rescue. New Jersey's tidal waterways are a mix of deep channels, semi-dry marshes and a muddy middle ground with the consistency of chocolate ice cream.
The New Jersey State Marine Police does not have any boats with wheels, but the agency has an armada of other vessels at its disposal, including personal watercraft, patrol boats and fanboats such as those used in the Florida Everglades, spokesman Sgt. Stephen Jones said.
"Looking at budget considerations, we want to do the most we can with the equipment we have," Jones said.
The agency uses its fanboats to great effect in the marshes. In the winter, the machines work well on ice-covered lakes, he said.
The Scullville Volunteer Fire Company in Egg Harbor Township has its own $30,000 hovercraft, which comes in handy when making rescues in muddy places where even a fanboat might get stuck.
"It's worth its weight in gold," Assistant Chief John Webb said. "We have a lot jet skiers who get stuck out there in the mud. We rescued one girl who got stuck and was going into diabetic shock. She was getting eaten alive by greenheads."
The hovercraft can reach marshy or ice-covered places where most other boats would be utterly useless, he said. The fire company is looking to buy a flat-bottomed boat with firefighting pumps this year to respond to marina fires, he said.
Webb said he was unfamiliar with Sealegs but would be interested in next week's demonstration. His fire company is always looking at innovations, he said.
"We'll take a look at it," he said.
E-mail Michael Miller: MMiller@pressofac.com
This story was taken from the news source stated above. It's content and comments are not the opinion of The Elwood Vol. Fire Company or it's members.
Elwood Fire Rescue
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