I agree with the question of why someone who is new enough to not have a grasp of how to manage this is looking to get into a lake that requires it.

If it has to be done, I think everyone has nailed it here. Make sure it’s not disallowed or warned against in in the AFM, and then get out with an instructor and work a conservative progression towards the desired result.

But also as said before, if you need to do this to get in, it’s probably too short to get out unless there’s some wind/terrain combo that makes it the only way.

Good luck, and remember that the consequences of touching down uncoordinated on floats are much more troublesome than on wheels (usually....please don’t roast me for making a blanket statement. I understand there’s nuance lol)

I know it’s a different scenario, but this cake to mind when picturing someone getting in over their head on fancy float work. I believe the pilot was killed filming this scene.

https://youtu.be/1FajUNuriZw

There’s nothing “fancy” about landing a seaplane out of a slip, and it’s something that should be taught during training for the rating. The only thing that’s likely to go wripong is landing with the floats not pointing in the direction of flight. Last I checked, that’s considered a bad thing no matter the surface.

Just make sure you correct and get the thing straight before the touch.

I agree on the notion that most seaplanes land much shorter than they’ll take off. So, very short lakes can be problematic. On the other hand, you can have a prevailing wind that forces you to land over trees, while the departure into the same wind has no obstacles.

There are lots of different scenarios out there, particularly on floats.

MTV

I've shown that Mother Lode clip a lot! The story I heard a few years ago when I was in BC (from someone who appeared to have firsthand knowledge) was that the movie director insisted on getting that shot with the steep, forested mountain in the background.

The local operator of the Beaver refused, stating that for decades, everyone landed and departed the long way on that long, narrow lake. So the director brought up a "certified movie stunt pilot" from Hollywood. Of course that just meant the dude had a SAG (Screen Actors Guild) union card.

The hotshot pilot said "no sweat, I'll put that Beaver wherever you want it, Mr. Director". They finally signed enough waivers and handed enough cash to the Beaver owner to induce him to rent them the plane without his pilot. And the rest of the story is preserved on film! I use it to show the perils of not touching down on the aft portion of the floats.

I was told the pilot walked (swam) away from it.

Most of that story coincides with what I've heard from "reputable" sources. Except it was my understanding that the pilot was killed in the accident. Don't know if it's true or not.

One thing I'd point out, however, is that it wasn't the slip that precipitated that accident, it was landing waaaaaay too flat, as in touching too far forward on the float bottoms. That caused the upset. Landing crooked just made the outcome look a bit more exciting.

But, any way you cut it, that pilot had his head inserted far up his rectum.....

MTV

Two situations instructors might evaluate, when deciding what to teach students: height and speed at point of engine failure when just too far to land on remaining runway and how high and fast they are just before putting the power back in following a student's practice forced landing from altitude. In both cases survivable landing zones are available. That is where we could reasonably expect to glide to from here. Now, to make that survivable landing zone are we not high and fast?

I have only one iteration of actual engine failure from up high and had a long secondary road in the desert to go to. I have had many iterations of engine failure from a very low altitude and was always high and fast to what I could reasonably expect to glide to from there. Accident statistics have most forced landings touching down halfway or more through the available landing zone. We don't know what percentage were using full flaps with full forward slip to make the first half of the landing zone, but I expect few.

I know my 180 slips just fine on floats with full flaps. The only time I've used that is to descend into the wind and down the very steep end of a high lake. The alternative would be landing with a tail wind and no go around option. I don't fly a bunch on wheels to compare but I feel like on floats it doesn't snap out of the slip quite as sharply as on wheels, so be aware of that.