by Bob Walsh
Amphibious vehicles are interesting. During the 60s a German company manufactured a nice, small car that also had propellers and was pretty well sealed and could manage smooth water fairly nicely. They are collectors items now.
The U. S. Military built at least two purpose-built vehicles of a similar nature during WW II. One was called an AmphTrack. They were often used as landing craft in the Pacific Theater. They could go up over coral reefs and modest obstacles as they were track driven on land. There was also a vehicle commonly called a Duck. They were wheel driven on land. There are several places hither and yon that use surplus Ducks as tourist boats.
One such boat was out on a lake near Branson, MO. There was a 63 MPH wind blowing across the lake at the time. A duck went down Thursday in the lake. There was another large, more conventional boat nearby when it happened so help was available promptly. Never the less 17 people drowned.
That is the trouble with such vehicles. They are acceptable at two jobs but often not really very good at either. Especially in bad weather over water.
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