Ever wanted to swim like a dolphin? The good folks at Innespace did, which led to the invention of The Seabreacher. These custom boats can dive down and leap out of the water like no watercraft you've seen before. Oh, and did I mention I got to ride in one?
This has gotta be my favorite story from my years as a news photographer. In addition to being a wild ride, the story went on to win a Northern California Regional Emmy, and was featured on the home pages of The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! and Fox News. Not bad!
That whole adventure started with an email from my mom back in 2011. She saw a random video online of a boat shaped like a dolphin, and noticed that the company was from nearby Redding. She sent me the link and said, "This would be a fun story to do!" Boy was she right!
After some phone calls and emails, I talked the owners into spending a day on the water with us. I then pitched my story to the newsroom bosses, and we were soon on our way to Whiskeytown Lake! This was one of those rare stories where everything fell into place perfectly.
In addition to producing this story, I shot and edited it while working with reporter Sabrina Rodriguez. The team at Innespace Productions was so pleased with our story (and the attention it got them) that they invited us back a year later to check out their latest invention: The Jetovator!
Yeah, that's me "riding the hose," as they say. Not as easy as it looks! I got a little banged up on this assignment, but I suppose it comes with the territory. While this story didn't have the success of its predecessor, it was still one of my better days at the office!
Ah, to be a young adventurer again. Those were the days!