Sitting on the dock of the bay

Guests can enjoy flutes of champagne at the sea base before taking in the views as they buzz the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge, orbit historic Alcatraz Island, check out unique downtown San Francisco architecture, and see Oracle Park, home to the San Francisco Giants.

Passionate pilot

For more than 25 years, Aero Adventures has been owned, operated, and given life by Aaron Singer, a passionate pilot, air tour guide, musician, and Commodore Seaplane Base historian.

“Commodore Seaplane Base was founded in 1946 by a returning World War II pilot. A gentleman named Robert Law, Bob Law. Bob was a PBY Catalina pilot during the war,” Singer said. “He flew for a venerable group known as the Black Cats, and when he got back after the war, this is what he knew how to do. He was a native San Franciscan, and he decided they needed a new seaplane base, and so, he started it then. And I am the fourth owner in its history.”

Singer got his start in aviation at the age of 15 after receiving a scholarship from his high school in Enid, Oklahoma, and earned his pilot’s certificate on his seventeenth birthday.

His passion for seaplanes came later in his career.

“I went to a gathering of seaplane pilots right before Oshkosh with a friend of mine and it was a weekend when everybody was flying seaplanes,” Singer said. “I’d never flown a seaplane before, so I thought that sounded like a ton of fun. And I fell head over heels in love.”

Singer’s love for seaplanes is apparent in the way he flies his de Havilland DHC–2 Beaver, which fits him like a well-tailored suit. As we took to the skies it seemed the aircraft was almost an extension of his body, carving its way over the water and through the air as if it already knew what inputs came next. And although he makes it look easy, flying out of Richardson Bay on any given day has its challenges, like rapidly changing weather and no-room go-arounds.

“We have seven feet of tidal change twice a day,” Singer said. “Sometimes this entire inlet empties completely of water, and we’re actually going over the mud. It’s the only place in the world I know of where you have to develop mud-taxiing skills. We have a lot of terrain everywhere, so the orographic is interesting. We get mountain waves, fog, and low visibility conditions constantly. And, of course, with seaplanes, you’re your own weather person, and you’re your own air traffic control, so you have to be able to figure out what’s happening on the water, what the winds are doing, all that from the air.”

More challenges

Not only is flying in the area a challenge, but the operation is constantly battling for its right to remain a part of the North Bay community.

“The challenges are the changing neighborhoods,” Singer said.“You know, the hillside back behind us didn’t have any houses on it when Bob started this place, and now it’s covered with multimillion-dollar homes. And some of those folks are opposed to an airport still being here. Emphasis on still being here. It was here before they were here.”

With that said, the base has had to make some compromises, namely, abiding by a strict curfew that requires all air operations to end at 6 p.m., meaning the company can only offer their golden-hour tours outside the summer months.

“The other challenges are, of course, it costs so much money to maintain these aircraft and the expertise and knowledge to maintain these old airplanes is slowly, you know, going away,” Singer said.

Happy business

The base doesn’t just boast a long and storied aviation history, but a musical one as well. In the 1960s the second owner of the base rented the upstairs to several rock and roll bands to use as a rehearsal space and recording studio. And these weren’t just your run of the mill unknown bands, this was the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Carlos Santana, and Big Brother and the Holding Company. The base sits adjacent to a small collection of historic and unique houseboats, and one of them is said to be where Otis Redding wrote (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.

Singer’s passion for aviation and the seaplane base makes him the perfect caretaker for the aircraft, the base, and the business. He has plans to return the base to its former glory with a full renovation that includes office space, a restaurant and bar, and all new landscaping.

“I always say that one of the greatest things I love about this business is we’re in the happy business,” Singer mused. “I get to do what I love to do, work on airplanes, fly airplanes. That makes me happy. And I get to share this with people for whom often this is like the thrill of a lifetime to fly in a seaplane. I don’t care what condition we get them in, when they’re done with this flight, they’ve got a big, huge smile on their face. Fighting couples are back in love again. I mean, it’s just a wonderful thing to share. It makes people happy and that makes me happy. I love that.”

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