I unwillingly ditched at night from the hover in a heavy Sea King in 1975 and three years later experienced water operations in controlled training conditions in an S61N with Bristows at Meickle (?) Loch. I wish the order had been the other way around because to be in a helicopter on the water is initially a most peculiar and unsettling feeling, and the Bristow water training gave one terrific confidence. The Sea King and S61N may be relatively large helicopters but they are very small boats when bobbing about on the ocean. As regards taking on water, after three hours the sea was lapping over the top of the sponsons, and yes, most of our electrics had gone. I believe it would also be a very brave, or stupid, pilot to attempt the demanding "running" single engined take-off to overpitch and then accelerate just above the surface unless both visual and sea conditions were very good indeed .... but there was always the idiot sitting safely behind a desk who asked why I didn't attempt it.