The field notes
How it got out of hand.
The bayou festival was ready to start when the band got stranded on the wrong side of a muddy channel. Robert found the airboat. Sandy found the ACME booster. The alligator found a comfortable spot to watch.
Robert took the controls while Sandy stood at the bow with a map, a rescue pennant, and the calm confidence of somebody who considered a flying airboat a reasonable transportation choice.
The boat cleared the channel, the band made it to the stage, and the crowd got a front-row view of the most unnecessary rescue in Louisiana history. The official report calls it a moonshot because “short trip” would not have done it justice.