AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 24

FLYING LIFE
Salty enough?
Exercising aquatic decision making
BY NATALIE BINGHAM HOOVER
ON A RECENT VACATION to Apalachicola, Florida, we decided to
rent a boat to fish and explore the barrier islands, specifically St.
Vincent, a National Wildlife Refuge that is home to several endangered
species and Native American artifacts. Because you readers
are typically far more intelligent than me, you might ask, " Who is
going to captain this big adventure? Are any of you experienced
boaters? " And I would answer with great hubris, " No, but there are
going to be four pilots on board, so we'll be fine. " My brother and
his lovely girlfriend are both flight instructors, my mother is taking
flying lessons, and I have plenty of piloting experience. Surely
a little boat could not be too much of a challenge for us. Aren't they
kind of the same? Boat captain/airplane captain?
On the morning of our boat day, I checked, not the marine
forecast, mind you, but the terminal aerodrome forecast, which
When I expressed my concerns to Captain Dave,
who was renting us the boat, he replied, " I've been
boating these waters for 40 years and never once
been struck by lightning. You'll be fine. "
showed showers in the area and moderate wind. The radar also
indicated storms, but it looked like they were staying several miles
offshore. In an airplane, you stay 20 miles from any severe storm,
but in a boat, what are the rules? If the water or the boat gets
struck by lightning, what happens? These were the questions we
discussed over coffee that morning.
When I expressed my concerns to Captain Dave, who was renting
us the boat, he replied, " I've been boating these waters for 40
years and never once been struck by lightning. You'll be fine. " I
accepted those keys without another question. In airplanes, I shy
away from giving weather advice because my comfort level with
gusty winds or low ceilings is going to be different than a 100-hour
pilot's. So, then why would I accept this explanation from the hardened
sea captain? Because he was telling me the words I wanted
to hear, of course, and I didn't want our day of fun to be canceled.
So, we loaded up the kids and coolers and struck out 10 miles
across the bay for St. Vincent. We couldn't travel at top speed
because the water was choppy, so we bounced along slowly as my
husband, who struggles with motion sickness, white-knuckled
24
AOPA PILOT / January 2022
the side railing and the rest of us tried to ignore the ominous gray
clouds in the distance. After a long, and I mean long, bumpy ride
out to the island, we finally made it. My son immediately jumped
out and caught a 17-inch redfish. We found shells as big as our
hands and marveled at the beauty of the unspoiled beach for about
15 minutes before those dark clouds moved too close to ignore.
We decided to walk inland for a few minutes to get off the
beach and let the storm pass. But a marshy Florida island in the
middle of summer meant attack of the killer mosquitoes as soon as
we stepped into those trees. So, we got back in the boat to make a
straight line across the bay for the marina. As those pesky showers
followed us across the barrier island, we kept shifting our course
closer and closer to the inner coastline. Around the point that we
were soaking wet from both light rain and the spray of the chop
around us, a cell moved in front of our path, narrowing our options
further. Couldn't go back or forward, so we made a 90-degree left
turn toward the shoreline and looked for a place to beach the boat.
Not ideal, but neither was sitting out in the water as the storm
rolled over us. By some small miracle, an actual boat dock appeared
in front of us. We had no idea who it belonged to, but we parked
there anyway and dragged our soaking wet bodies up the steps to
sit under the refuge of their porch.
When I look back on that day, I wonder why it is that someone
who is such a cautious decision maker in the airplane could
end up doing something so silly in a boat with her family on board.
I exhibited every single one of the hazardous attitudes that day,
except for maybe resignation. Maybe I'm just so well-versed in the
aviation world that I know specifically what to avoid. That day, I
gained a new respect for the boating world as well. Just because
I'm an airplane pilot does not make me an expert on anything else.
Later, when Captain Dave asked how our day went, I told him
about the disaster, how none of us had fun, but that my husband
and children were actually
scared for their lives when
they saw my hair standing up
from the static electricity. He
answered with a lazy smile,
" Naw, they're just not quite
salty enough yet. "
myaviation101.com
NATALIE BINGHAM
HOOVER holds a pilot in
command type rating in
a Beechjet and is chief
instructor of a Mississippi
flight school.
http://www.myaviation101.com

AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022

Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 9
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 11
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 14
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 18
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 19
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - 24
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2022 - Cover4
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