"Crikey, that's a bloody fan boat!" isn't something you'd expect your passenger to exclaim while driving around Texas roads. On Tuesday, though, that would have been entirely valid, when one Texan took his fan boat out for a ride on the frozen public roads caused by a recent ice storm.
The incident took place on Tuesday, Jan. 31 in Princeton, Texas. Lee Taggart captured video of the spectacle, later providing his footage to Fox 4 Dallas-Fort Worth. Thanks to the snow and ice on the ground, the fan boat is able to glide along at a decent clip, sharing the road with regular traffic. The driver appears to have good control over the boat and manages to stay neatly in his lane as he glides by on the snowy road.
North Texas is currently experiencing an ice storm that has created the perfect conditions for various snowy escapades. The Texan fan boater isn't the only one out there enjoying the conditions. Fox 4 has also reported on other locals playing in the snow, including kids sledding behind ride-on lawnmowers, with the blades smartly removed beforehand (hopefully). Another enterprising young Texan took to riding a picnic table down the street, towed by a friendly horse.
Fan boating on ice is actually a popular pastime in cold climates. The ice is slippery enough that the fan boat can readily scoot around on the surface without issue. However, as the old saying goes, fan boats ain't got brakes, son. In normal boating, water resistance is enough to slow you down. On ice, though, coming to a stop requires altogether more extreme maneuvers.
Overall, fan-boating on land looks like a fun way to enjoy the otherwise frigid Texas winter. If you're considering such an outing yourself, though, just ensure you've practiced how to stop before you get your fan boat revved up on public streets. You need to think of other people, and how crazy they'll sound trying to explain to their insurance company that they were rear-ended on Elm Street by a fan boat.
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