Shown here is Riverboat Discovery Captain, Madi Binkley, a fifth-generation riverboat captain, who is now an old friend of Don's and mine. She is 19 years old, the youngest female ever to hold a license to captain ships in the US up to 100 tons.
We met her as a result of my friend, Early Piety's friendship with her father, Skip Binkley, owner of the company that owns and operates the Riverboat Discovery on the Chena and Tanana rivers in Fairbanks Alaska. When Early learned that we were visiting Fairbanks, he told us that the 3-hour cruise aboard the Discovery was a "must see" in the area and he was absolutely right. Early called Skip and asked him to watch out for us when we arrived and he did so in style. When we checked in, we were not allowed to pay our fare, we were given "Family/Comp" boarding passes and greeted at the gangplank by Madi. As the cruise was returning upstream after several stops, Madi fetched us from our seats and led to the wheelhouse (thus, we were the envy of the entire complement of 250 passengers) where we spent the upriver portion chatting with her and Captain Ted and the announcer for the day, her Uncle J.R. Check them out at www.riverboatdiscovery.comSee More