A MOMENT CAPTURED

Tiffany Brown, Las Vegas Sun

Monday, Nov. 6, 2006 | 7:34 a.m.

Captain Mike Seitman appears lost in his thoughts as he pilots Forever Earth on Lake Mead. Seitman was on the upper deck of the 70-foot customized houseboat, a floating environmental laboratory and learning center, on Tuesday. Then the guests found their way to the roof.

"I've been on the water since I was 3 years old. My father bought me a surfboard and a sailboat, and I've been doing both ever since. I need water. It's the best," he said. "I've been a captain for 20 years in February. It's a nice change here originally coming from Hawaii and running across the Pacific. It's quite beautiful. It's a little cool today, but it's definitely a nice view from up above."

Seitman has been at the helm on Lake Mead for almost a year.

"I love driving boats, the people are nice, very easygoing. I also drive a dive charter out here, and I'm learning the water level never stays the same. Which is a challenge for captains because new islands pop up every day and then disappear every other day."

The changing lake isn't the only hazard to navigation.

"Not everybody is a captain out here. Not everybody needs to be smart to own a boat, and there are definitely some boaters out here who are dangerous. So I (try) to take care of my guests, make sure they are safe and try to share that with other boaters. It's a big challenge.

"When I moved here, I didn't know there was water here; so it is nice to have a navigable body of water to drive a boat on."

TIFFANY.BROWN@LASVEGASSUN.COM