Local Olympic rower Gavin Hassett is taking the sea-to-sky theme literally -- this week, he started flying with Saltspring Air.

Hassett -- who won a silver medal in the 1996 Olympics and a bronze at the 2002 World Championships for rowing -- is piloting Saltspring Air's new Monday-to-Friday flights between Patricia Bay on the Saanich Peninsula and downtown Vancouver.

The public best knows Hassett, 35, for his rowing accomplishments, but he started dreaming of flying when just eight or nine, the St. Andrew's High School grad said yesterday.

"The first plane I flew was a glider in the summer of 1989," said Hassett, who was an air cadet at the time. A commercial pilot for about five years -- most recently with West Coast Air -- he loves flying float planes and say the "iconic" de Havilland Canada Beaver is his favourite.

These days, Hassett is retired from rowing, only getting on the water sporadically, but he brings an athlete's hand-eye co-ordination and ability to use all his senses to the job.

Saltspring Air owns three planes and leases one from Viking Air, said Phillip Reece, part-owner of the company.

Bookings on the new service can be arranged until October, when the airline reviews its schedules. "We are flying about 60 per cent capacity, which is good for a new start-up service," he said.

Clients are business people, including representatives of the nearby high-tech sector, and Islanders going to Vancouver to visit family and go shopping, Reece said.

Flights leave the Pat Bay seaplane base at 7:30 a.m. and from Vancouver at 4:45 p.m.

The standard one-way fare is $125. An introductory special gives a second seat to someone travelling on a round-trip.

The Beaver planes have seven seats -- one for the pilot and six for passengers.

The company was established in 1995 and has been flying under its own banner since 2003.

Regular flights are also offered between Saltspring Island and downtown Vancouver and Vancouver International Airport, plus charter services.

cjwilson@tc.canwest.com