When I was young and in my prime,
The Boats were flying all the time.
But now that I am old and gray,
Those Boats, like me, have had their Day.

The first time I saw flying-boats close-up was in 1928. The first was an old Curtiss HS2L being used in Tima-gami for forest fire patrol in northern Canada. Designed in about 1916, this antique was at the end of its tether, but was doing a job that no other aircraft could do until a replacement became available. The second flying-boat I saw was this replacement, the Canadian Vickers Vedette, another single-engined pusher biplane, but a much better one.