Breezing through the Bayou with Powerful Airboats

The states of Florida and Louisiana are home to magnificent marshes, slow-running shallow bodies of water. These marshes teem with wildlife unique to the area such as alligators and catfish, in particular. Since these areas are too shallow for commercial boats with large hulls to navigate, a specialized watercraft is needed.

Enter the airboat, a flat-bottomed vessel with an aircraft-grade propeller installed on its back. Airboats are powered by giant fans on the rear side (versus the typical submerged props or jets of traditional boats), while their flat bottoms make them perfect for zipping across the fordable depths of marshes and wetlands that can scrape the lower assemblies of regular boats. Airboats may not be the fastest watercraft around, but they sure beat having to wade in murky and dangerous waters.

Airboats are often used for recreational purposes, such as for touring Florida's Everglades or for exploring Louisiana's various bayous. Some adventure seekers also use airboats as excellent hunting platforms for catching gators. When New Orleans was flooded after the onset of Hurricane Katrina, airboats played an important role in facilitating citywide rescues as their flat underbellies made them suitable for use on flooded avenues. Thanks to their unique construction, airboats are quite versatile indeed.