By David Brown

A Beaver takes off noisily from Lake Union, the pilot having to contend with sailboats and assorted water craft. The paddle steamer beyond the Beaver just adds to the atmosphere. (David Brown)Many years ago, I gained my seaplane ticket at the Salton Sea in California, flying a Piper Cub on floats. In two days, I learned the art of operating from water, coming ashore on beaches and ramps, reading the water, assessing the wind, sailing without the engine, and the ins and outs of operating from rivers and lakes.

Fast forward through a number of years of landplane flying, interspersed with a couple of delightful flights in a Twin Otter on floats out of Ketchikan, landing on Lake Wilson, and a scenic tour of the Great Lakes with Chuck Greenhill in his twin-engine Mallard flying boat from his base at Kenosha.

Recently, I was offered the chance of a right-seat ride in a floatplane Turbo-Otter from Lake Union to Victoria Inner Harbor in British Columbia, Canada.