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Akky Mansikka c.2003 (photos Ron Marshall)
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Andre obtained his private license in Quebec City in the late 70's. He is married to Muguette. The arrival of their two children in 1979 and 1981 put his aviation on ice for twenty years. However, the flame was still burning, and he finally got back into it in February 2000. A few months later, he bought into a 50% partnership of a Cessna 185 amphibian known as C-GKJB. A year later, he was the sole owner of KJB, along with the "bank". After many improvements and upgrades (including STOL components, a new green and white paint job, and new leather upholstery) KJB looked brand new. He has flown over 550 hours since February 2000, of which 500 have been on the 185. Andre holds a private pilot license, with a night rating and float plane endorsement. His dream is to take the plane on long trips, north or south. His next long haul will be in Northern Quebec to participate for the second time in the International Air Rally being held from July 19th to the 26th this year.
Ron has always loved to fly but initially got involved in skydiving. He met his wife, Val, jumping. For over ten years, they took part in demonstration jumps, friendly competitions and fun jumping (some non-jumpers would say that's an oxymoron), in Canada and other countries. Between them they spent over 1,000 hours in Cessnas, Beech 18's, DC-3's, Twin Otters, Hercules and other aircraft but only landed in them a couple of times! The largest jump was in the Hercules which took up 90 jumpers at one time. Over forty people participated in his the largest free fall formation. Then the kids came along…...Ron never got around to getting his pilot's license until about 3 years ago. He has a night rating and is working on his instrument rating. Ron hopes to move on to his commercial rating and eventually work flying into at least a part time job. Ron was the "rookie" on this trip, with only about 160 hours in his logbook, and was very excited about the opportunity to travel with a couple of more experienced pilots.
Akky developed an interest in flying when she was growing up in Holland. She lived behind an air force base in Eindhoven and watched a variety of planes taking off and landing every day. Her father worked in the aviation industry after the family moved to Canada and sometimes he would take her to work with him. She watched the Arrow's test flights as well as Avro's experimental hover craft. Against her parent's wishes, she took her first flying lesson in 1960 at Maple Airport but was unable to pursue her interest at that time. Financially and time wise, there never seemed to be a good time to take flying lessons. With the birth of her children she developed a terrible fear of flying. When two of her three children were in university, the fear left, and then, being possibly the worst time of all, with the support of her husband Henry, she finally went back to flying. She obtained her private License in 1997, followed by a night rating. She got her IFR rating in 2001 and Commercial License in 2003. She hopes to get her instructor rating. She rents at Buttonville and will be going on the 99s Air Rally to Prince Edward Island.
The three of us had spent the previous weeks and the night before our departure planning our flight from Toronto, Buttonville to Great Harbour Cay, our first stop in the Bahamas. Our departure date would be Friday March 28, 2003. Ron had made up some routes using the web. Our preferred route, headed straight south with Buffalo as our U.S. port of entry. The alternate was a more westerly route with Sandusky, Ohio as the port of entry. The routes avoided MOAs, nuclear power plants and busy terminal airspace. We also planned stops at decent sized airports with runway alternatives. Andre had made sure C-GKJB was in top shape and Akky had made arrangements for accommodations. We were a team!
A low pressure system with accompanying low ceilings and precipitation was moving in from the west. We decided to leave a day early (Thursday) to beat weather. However Henry, Akky's husband who works with Andre, asked Andre to finish something at the office that morning. Ron was also at his office all morning tying up loose ends. Andre was finished before Ron, and while waiting for Ron, Andre and Akky flight planned to Buffalo (BUF). Andre filed the flight plan and Akky called customs. After Ron arrived the plane was packed including the float compartments.
Departure was at 1:00 PM local time on
Thursday, March 27, 2003, with Andre PIC. This was the first time any of us had
crossed Lake Ontario.What a sight it
was leaving the Toronto skyline behind us at the Leslie St. Spit and nothing but
Lake Ontario in front of us. Perhaps it was a little taste of what was to come
in the Bahamas. We couldn't understand why the Pearson controller sent us
twenty degrees off course over the lake, telling us he was sending us direct to
Buffalo. At one point he said we would not reach Buffalo if we kept on that
heading and to go another twenty degrees left. Andre started doubting his GPS,
but we did as the controller said and ended up well to the left of Buffalo. Go
figure?
With a somewhat circuitous track we arrived in Buffalo. Buffalo Ground got quite confused (or was it us) as we proceeded on the first taxiway. We thought he was telling us to come back. He was really telling us to use taxiway "Quebec"! Customs was no problem. We didn't wait for more than five minutes before a customs officer approached our plane, asked for our documents, asked a few questions and quickly cleared us. He was the man Akky had spoken to earlier. We got out to stretch our legs and go for lunch. We used a courtesy car to go to Charlie the Butcher for great roast beef and a burger for Akky. Charlie had two burnt cookies on a shelf with a sign "I'm Charlie the Butcher, not the Baker".
We left Buffalo at 3:15 PM, CAVU, and Ron PIC. Our altitude was 6500 ft to clear the mountains. Beneath us the famous Shenandoah Valley, the Blue Ridge Parkway and ski hills close to Lynchburg, Virginia, floated by. We had flight following with many frequency changes keeping three pilots busy. A nervous Washington controller kept checking on us. Perhaps he was forewarned of the crazy Canadian bush pilots about to enter his airspace. We watched the sun set over the ridges of mountains as we approached Lynchburg.
Our arrival in Lynchburg (LYH) was 6:30 PM just as the sun set. Our refueling confirmed 12 gallons left on landing, exactly what our fuel management gauge said. What accuracy! LYH was a pretty airport with rows of flowering dogwood trees lining the road into the terminal. The FBO lined up a hotel and there too, were beautiful flowering dogwoods, a treat after leaving freezing, grey, hazy Toronto where nothing was blooming yet.
We woke up to low ceilings. The weather from the low-pressure system was following us. Akky was PIC this morning and got her first lessons in bush pilot training…staying VFR in low visibility and navigating at low altitudes. Ron did tower height control and navigation from the back seat. He would warn Andre and Akky of any tower farms coming up. Once again, allof us were kept very busy in the cabin. The ceilings steadily decreased on our way to Statesboro Bulloch (TRB) in Georgia.
We arrived at 12:30 for refueling and lunch. A courtesy car with a shaky transmission got us to Franklin's restaurant where
they served great soup.
Wheels were up at 2:15 with 1600 ft ceilings. On the way to Savannah, the ceilings starting to lift but we were too low to go through Savannah airspace as planned. Ron navigated us through (but still above) a huge antenna farm just west of Savannah. The ceilings lifted by the time we hit the coast allowing us to go up to 6500 to avoid low scattered cloud. Jacksonville approach called us Golf Zero Juliet Bravo. Nothing we said would change his mind. Perhaps it was unheard of that our call sign consisted of all letters. Oh well! The Georgia islands and coast floated by us. There was St. Mary's restricted airspace, the naval base with carriers and destroyers, Patrick AFB and Cape Canaveral. We were told to follow the interstate highway I-95 to avoid Orlando airspace and Cape Canaveral restricted airspace. The I-95 went right between the two. The light scattered layer started building into heavier cumulous. The flight along the coast had been spectacular and flying between some cumulous even more so.
We started our descent into Fort Pierce. We arrived at 4:45 to a beautiful 75 degrees. KJB with its floats and its immaculate condition got lots of attention on the ground, something we'd get used to. KJB's new cover was used for the first time and fit like a glove. The FBO suggested the Radisson Resort Hotel on the beach for the night. Apparently, occupancy was low and they had worked out a great deal with the hotel. We freshened up. Akky was in a hurry to see the beach before the light faded, to take some pictures. Akky and Ron walked on the beach, took pictures and met a Canadian couple who lived in one of the high-rise condos that lined the beach. Akky had to try the water, so she walked in knee deep and spent the rest of the evening in wet pant legs. Dinner was at Ioan's Tropical Grille on their outdoor patio. The roasted oysters that Andre and Ron had were great.
On returning to the hotel after dinner, there were yellow, sticky notes on our doors. Carolyn Whittaker had left notes saying she and other Club members on the St. Lucia trip had arrived in Ft. Pierce and were having dinner in the hotel restaurant.
When we got to the restaurant, there they were, Warren Cresswell, Dave Cox, Carolyn, Mike Koff, Bob Jewett and others, tanned and tired looking (or perhaps they were just not keen on going back to Toronto and below zero temperatures and snow). We joined them for dessert and heard about their adventures. We had hoped to join up with them at some point and so we did by chance like this. They had flown into Ft. Pierce on their way back, and spotted KJB on the ramp. They asked the FBO where we were staying and the FBO sent them to the same hotel. At the hotel, the clerk would not give them our room numbers. As the clerk was talking to the others, Carolyn looked at the registration book and saw what our room numbers were. Clever girl! James Bond look out!
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We had breakfast with Warren, Dave, Bob, Eva, Mike and Carolyn. The returning group looked rather sad and tired, their adventures over. We, on the other hand, had our Bahamas trip still in front of us and were excited about making the ocean crossing to our first stop, Walkers Cay. There was some confusion with the accounting at checkout time, however that was cleared up and off we went to the airport. |
| At the airport, Andre discovered that he had left his flying vest with many pockets and a shirt at the hotel. There was no way he could fly without the vest. He took a courtesy car and drove the 20 minutes back to the hotel, getting lost on his way back (no navigator or GPS in the car!). Ron and Akky had quite a wait. Ron cancelled the flight plan. Ron and Akky watched the others take off for Toronto. While waiting, they met Allan Spector (another Buttonville Flying Club member) and a friend in the airport restaurant. He was coming back from his place in Stella Maris on Long Island in the Bahamas and was on his way to Toronto. They chatted for a while and heard about Allan's sailing holiday. |
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Finally, Andre showed up, however this wait was only preparing us for the wait we were about to have. There were strong winds at Fort Pierce that day and Andre asked a very busy Ground Control for Runway 09 which was directly in the wind. Ground gave us progressive taxi instructions and we ended up on taxiway C8 near the threshold of runway 14. As we were sitting there with a windsock right in front of us pointing by now to 070 degrees, Andre once again asked for 09. Ground asked him to switch to an even busier Tower frequency and was told very firmly that 14 was the active. Andre stuck to his guns and insisted on 09. We could see both runways were in use and we wanted 09. There was a lot of switching between ground and tower and when they saw that Andre was not budging they waited for runway 14 to clear so he could turn around on it to go to 09. We waited a long time. Fort Pierce was very busy. Other planes were taking off at another intersection on 14 since we were occupying the narrow taxi way. Andre said he could do a 180 on the taxi way but ground waited until the runway was clear for him to turn on. They could not believe that the large amphibian could do a turn on such a narrow taxi way but Andre showed them when he was finally told he could turn around and taxi to 09. He did not go on the runway but did the tightest 180 on that taxiway that was about as wide as the plane itself. We taxied to 09 and were told to hold short. This was where the real wait began. We watched plane after plane land on 09. All kinds of planes including Citations and Lears just kept dropping out of the clouds, one after another. Finally after what seemed like an hour, with a long line-up behind us, it was our turn to take off. Fortunately for us, the windsock was still fairly straight down the runway. Can you imagine if the winds had shifted during the wait and we had to ask for another runway?
Once we cleared Fort Pierce airspace, with the Florida coast behind us, we could relax.
There was nothing but ocean in front of us. If we missed Walker's Cay, Africa was next. Andre played his CDs which helped us to relax even more. The music drowned out the engine noise but would cut out whenever someone spoke. We tried taking pictures of ourselves in the plane between the clouds but the clouds became more sparse as we flew eastward over the ocean. The dark blue waters started turning a lighter green about half an hour into our flight. We started to see the bottom of the ocean through the clear water. A sailboat seemed to float above spectacular sand dunes. There were underwater cliffs, seaweed gardens, and spectacular undulating sands. Finally, in the distance a white runway appeared surrounded by blue/green ocean.
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Coming closer we saw Walkers Cay. It is little more than a runway with the resort on an outcropping on one end. We flew over for a runway inspection and hoped the people and other wild life would get off the runway once we were on final. We couldn't find the windsock. |
After landing, we saw the windsock attached to a building roof top. The customs officer asked us to take out all our bags but only searched Akky's. She was suspicious of all the clothing packed in garbage bags inside a club bag. It was a leftover from Akky's canoeing days when everything was double bagged in garbage bags in case of dumping or rain. The customs officer said she had never seen anyone doing that and seemed disappointed or surprised there were only clothes inside the plastic bags. What was she expecting? She didn't match people to bags, so Andre was relieved he didn't have to open his floats where he kept his stuff, which included some beer. We filled out the immigration and custom forms, and Ron being the efficient lawyer proceeded to fill out too many forms and was quickly told so. Oh those crazy Canadians and all this just for lunch.
Our documents, passports, and logbooks were stamped. A golf cart took us to a restaurant overlooking the marina for lunch. Andre had chowder and a club sandwich, Ron a conch burger, and Akky a tuna salad. From the restaurant, we saw a fishing boat come in with two huge bull dolphin fish and tuna. We walked around the resort and got a ride down the runway in the golf cart to where they fed sharks.
| Two snorkellers were in the water taking pictures of ten-foot sharks. The sharks seemed to swim unmennacingly to within a few feet of the snorkellers. Sometimes two and three at a time would approach the snorkellers and swim past. Reminds you of back home, watching bears circling the garbage dump where they scrounge for human food. Then people sitting in the dump watching the bears approach and taking their pictures. Hmmm….. |
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It was time to go. Andre did a very nice, smooth, short field take-off into the wind.We followed a line of small islands to Marsh Harbour for refueling. On take-off from Marsh Harbour Runway 27, climbing through 500 feet, we saw another plane turning final for Runway 09 straight at us. Runway 27 had been the active one for some time and yet someone was coming in on 09 having made no calls. A collision avoidance maneuver by Andre resulted in the quickest loss of 100 feet in history. Turning south to the Berry Islands, we flew over lots of marshes. Now we knew why it was called Marsh Harbour.
At times, it was hard to tell if it was marshes were surrounded by water or if it was water with marshes scattered throughout it.
We arrived in Great Harbour Cay with music coming through the headsets. It was interrupted by the Unicom on 122.8 which was used everywhere in the Bahamas. Customs heard that we were on the way and were on the frequency to ask what our ETA was. The customs officer said he would only wait another fifteen minutes. It took us a little longer than that, but he was still there. What would he have done if we arrived after he had gone home? The plane would still have been there in the morning. This time we did not have to clear customs again. We just got our cruising permit stamped. There on the ramp was a familiar plane with a Canadian flag on it. It belonged to Bill Harding, also a Buttonville Flying Club member.
A van from the resort appeared ( perhaps they too were listening on the frequency 122.8) and we were driven to our accommodations on a spectacular white sand beach. The resort consisted of a cluster of deteriorating white plaster buildings with grey wood shake roofs needing repairs, and grey well-worn wooden decking around the units. Unfortunately, our unit did not face the beach. The unit had a third story loft that did have a window overlooking the beach. Akky thought at first she would take that, but remembered from the previous year how hot those lofts were to sleep in. We checked in with Leanna who Akky had spoken to before and was kind enough to hold the unit without an actual booking and deposit because of the uncertainty of flying. We learned from her that Bill Harding and his family were staying elsewhere because all these units were occupied. She wanted payment when we arrived because she was not working on the weekend. We did not see her again. She forgot to give is a key and we forgot to ask for one. However, no key, became the norm in the Bahamas. None of the places we stayed at ever gave us a key. We were reassured the Bahamian people took pride in their honesty. That may be so, but what about the other guests, especially those from Canada? Akky still wasn't sure if Ron was an axe murderer or not.
Dinner that evening was another adventure. Our accommodations were in the middle of nowhere. That is when we discovered that Leanna had gone home and no one seemed to be around, not even the other guests. There was no restaurant and no van at the resort. It was really not a resort, only the accommodations. We found a business card of a cab company in one of the drawers and called. We were told the cab was broken. The other cabs could be called on VHF channel 16. Andre claimed he had enough of radios and all those frequencies and now we need a *#%! citizen band too? We called Bill Harding on his cell. He was staying at the marina and suggested the Pool Bar Restaurant. Janet Rich, the manager from the restaurant picked us up. The island is only six or seven miles long and about four miles wide but the trip down dark narrow unlit roads to who knows where seemed to last forever.
Janet spoke in an impeccable English accent and talked about herself and some of the local stories. Because Janet was staff we came into the restaurant in the back way which was not too impressive. We wondered where we had been taken. There were other patrons there, including Canadians, sitting around the bar. We sat at a table just above a lit swimming pool. Perhaps that is why it was called the Pool Bar Restaurant. The meal was great. We could have used some insect repellent. Andre said he was going to call Muguette and ask her to bring some with her in two days when she would be coming to join us. She was flying to Nassau by Air Canada. One of the staff drove us home. Even with the misadventures……. a great day
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On the way back to their accommodations Akky and Ron walked right past Bill Harding on the beach without recognizing him. Akky was busy looking at Bill's shirt with a Beaver Aircraft on it, thinking he must be a Canadian and not realizing it could be someone she knew. Andre (who was walking well behind Akky and Ron) recognized him and returned with him. The rest of the morning was spent sitting on the beach and swimming.
It was a burger lunch for Akky and Ron at the Beach Club. Andre did flight plans to Bimini and Freeport for some essentials (coke and water). As Andre and Ron were getting ready to leave for their short flight to Bimini they met Barbara Santamaria, another Club member, on the tarmac. She had arrived a couple of hours earlier and mentioned to Andre and Ron to fly with caution as the weather was closing in. They managed a forty minute flight in haze and strong upper winds, and decided to return and leave Bimini for another time. There was a 15+ knot crosswind on landing.
Meanwhile Akky lingered over lunch and waited for Andre and Ron to fly by to take pictures. As she was relaxing and enjoying the white beach and green ocean, a man walked up to some of the women in the restaurant and asked if they were Canadian. When they said no, he looked at Akky and asked if she knew a Barbara. Akky said yes she knew many Barbaras but that was enough for Willy. He was Barbara Santamaria's flying partner to the Bahamas. What a surprise for Akky. Along with being members of the Buttonville Flying Club, Akky and Barbara are members of the 99s as well. Akky had not heard from Barbara since receiving e-mails before the trip about her flying with her husband Xavier and then comments about Willy. Akky wondered how Xavier got a nickname of Willy. Through Billy Lowe, another club member, we knew Barbara had left for the Bahamas but no one knew where she was. Now here was Willy and he certainly was not Xavier. Now we knew where Barbara was and it was not long before she joined us for lunch. Bill Harding and his daughter, Lauren, and his wife Irene showed up at the Beach Club as well. It was a Buttonville Flying Club reunion.
Akky decided to have a glass of white wine and received it from Angie in a bent wine glass. Akky must have had one too many as she did not seem to notice. Ron and Andre joined the gang after their short flight. By now a Heineken- filled Angie had become quieter and grumpier. She told one of the patrons, a local, blond, curly haired man, that she couldn't stand his silly laugh and it was time for him to go home. He just giggled and laughed some more.
Barb and Willy had no place to stay, so Barb settled in our loft and Willy at Bill and Irene's. We walked to Bill and Irene's for drinks. They had moved from the marina to the second floor of Cindy's house which was almost beside the Beach Club. We had met Cindy on the previous trip. Cindy remembered Billy Lowe well. No wonder, he is quite the character and on last year's Buttonville Bahamas trip, he had taken her van which was parked with the key in it and driven us to the Pool Bar Restaurant. We kept wondering whether we would be arrested for car theft. She drove us to the Pool Bar for dinner this time. The Pool Bar people arranged a ride back for us in a truck of a staff member. Akky and Barbara sat in the front. Andre and Ron rode in the rear and watched the dirt road disappear in the darkness behind them. No worries this time.
Once again we woke up to a brilliant bright blue sky. As we were starting our walk to the Beach Club for breakfast, the cold temperature and wind sent us scrambling back for sweaters and long pants. Ron, Andre, Akky, and Barbara arrived at the Beach Club for breakfast but the waitress and cook had not arrived yet. The cook was late, however one of the employees, probably the gardener, had made coffee and we had some of that. Other workers were sitting around the bar having Heinekens. We were the butt-end of their comments about the Iraqi War, Bush, and Saddam Hussein. Little did they know that we were not Americans and were enjoying their sharp wit and humour. When nine o'clock rolled around , they got up and started their jobs, raking the grounds, trimming etc. Perhaps the Heineken was their pay. Ron, Andre and Barbara checked the planes. They had been concerned about the high winds overnight. Customs yelled at them for spending too much time on ramp. This was not allowed. Since it was too cold to swim or sit on the beach we decided to pack up and go.
Bill his and family were staying for another few days on Great Harbour Cay before heading back to Toronto. Barbara and Willy were flying to Cape Santa Maria on Long Island and would check the runway condition of the resort there. If they didn't like it they would fly to Stella Maris Airport about 10 miles south and take a cab to Cape Santa Maria. Akky, Andre and Ron left first and headed for Nassau to pick up Muguette and then join Barbara and Willy in Cape Santa Maria. The winds were twenty knots up runway 31. We got a nice wave off by Barb, Willy, Bill and Irene. Ron felt this was what flying with club members was all about.
What a thrill it was to be in the circuit with the heavies at Nassau. We were told to keep our speed up. Landing gear was let down late. We were so low we did not notice the long 3000 feet displaced threshold. The markings for it were almost half way down the 7000 foot runway and not noticeable on the approach. The tower warned us about the displacement when it probably became obvious to him that we were set up to land on the numbers. We were able to fly the first 3,000 feet of runway at twenty feet in ground effect, and land long, clearing the runway at a convenient taxi way for the FBO, Executive Air. Andre did his weight and balance and a careful fuel top-up to adjust for the fourth passenger, Muguette. The flight plan was filed at this time for our flight out to meet the time requirement.
An Exec Air shuttle took us to the main terminal to meet Muguette's Air Canada flight. There was enough time for lunch which consisted of Bahamian meatloaf, wings, rice and beans, in the main terminal before Muguette's arrival. We did some shopping including rum, coke, and water, the essentials that Andre and Ron did not get the previous day. Ron took this time to look for a long sleeve shirt for himself, but alas there was none to be found. He then spent half an hour at the bank getting cash and joined Akky and Andre in the waiting area just as Muguette arrived. We took a taxi with Muguette back to Exec Air and loaded up the plane.
Frequencies were set up for clearance delivery for our departure clearance and transponder code; ground, for taxi clearance to Runway 32 between heavies; and tower, for take-off clearance. When we got to the threshold of Runway 32, the Tower told us to stand by and that was the last transmission we heard. We stood by for 50 minutes. Other aircraft behind us were diverted to Runway 27 including the Air Canada plane Muguette had been on. Since we were hearing nothing on the frequency we were concerned that it was a radio problem. Andre fiddled with things on the radios as a truck came down Runway 32. It stopped and seemed to remove something from the runway, then drove up to our plane. The driver told us that the tower was trying to contact us. By this time whatever the radio problem was, cleared up and we heard the tower once again. You would think we would get used to these long waits. Finally we were off. Nassau departure opened our flight plan, 1500 ft to Staniel Cay then south and over to Cape Santa Maria, Long Island. Once again we flew over the aqua, green ocean and a chain of beautiful idyllic islands. We spotted a school of sharks in the clear water. With the soothing hum of the engine, the cozy seat, a headset that was not working and being tired, Muguette fell asleep.
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After lunch, Akky organized kayaks for a kayaking trip, while Ron and Andre borrowed tools from the Aztec owner, Dale Blanchard from Ohio who lives at the Cape most of the year. The intercom plugs in rear were fixed and the tools returned to Dale, who wanted Andre to do water circuits with him in high seas! Andre politely declined due to the winds but also did not want to land in salt water. Andre bestowed an honourary AME designation on Ron for his help on the intercom. Muguette would now be able to listen and join in on the conversations. The kayaking trip started on the beach in front of the resort and around a point of land into a sheltered bay but even in the bay it was too rough and windy to continue. We left the kayaks in the bay somewhere behind the resort, and went back for rum and coke (rum $1.50 a bottle, coke $2.50 a can, in Nassau). At dinner, after several days of travel with Willy, Barb finally admitted that he likely is not an axe murderer either.
The weather was still cool and windy. We checked out early and survived mass accounting confusion between Ron and Akky. Solid patches of ground were found on the runway for run-up. Barb was the first one off to Stella Maris for fuel. It was a nice little airport with a bank, post office, and a burger stand. People were waiting around for a commercial flight including the woman who was driving the car we met on our bicycle trip and an older Canadian who had been there thirty three years!
We headed north to Governors Harbour, Eleuthra about noon. This was to be our great rendezvous with the other Buttonville Flying Club members. Somehow we missed lunch. South of Cat Island the skies cleared as we caught up to Barbara and began formation flying. Willy took stills of Andre's plane and Ron videotaped Barb's plane. Even with the difficulty of getting zoom footage to focus clearly, both got some spectacular shots.
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Breakfast was at 8:30 on the outside patio facing the ocean. Willy had a one-hour pre-breakfast walk and
hitchhiked a ride back. Ron also had a pre-breakfast walk on the beach. After
breakfast, Akky, Beth, Ron, Willy, Tina, Ray, Barbara and Etienne (a Quebecker
who was working at the resort for meals) decided to go snorkeling. Akky found a
dead black hairy tarantula about the size of her hand on the road while walking
to the end of the beach where there was a wall of coral outcropping. She
wondered about the live ones in the area. We saw grouper, barracuda, starfish,
angelfish, giant snails, and sea cucumbers. While the snorkelers were
snorkeling, Andre and Capt Dav1d went flying. You can't keep those boys on the
ground! Captain Dav1d got Young Eagles Certificates for two German tourists
staying at the resort.
After lunch Tina and Ray, Willy and Andre, John and Beth, Andre and Muguette, and Willy and Akky did some hobie-catting. Willy and Akky spotted a large dark shadow in the water ahead of them and saw huge ray. When they approached, it took off skimming the surface of the water as if in flight with its six foot wings. They managed to follow it for a while, showing off Willy's skill in sailing.
At dinner, talk continued of butt squeezing. There was a pre-dinner picture show by Ray on his laptop which included pictures of Ray and David's butts naked. There were many flying stories. Ray's showed us his StarPro program when it got dark. We were able to identify the brightest “stars” as Saturn and Jupiter and were able to check out other heavenly bodies as well. We had so much fun, Ron, Akky, Andre, and Muguette, decided to stay one more day.
Ron did a bit of IFR study on the beach before breakfast. Again by mutual decision breakfast was at 8:30. Ron, Willy and Andre went on a one-hour sightseeing flight in KJB. They made some low passes over the beach so Akky could take some videos of KJB before they headed south. They spotted dolphin from the air and an abandoned Club Med. On their return, they once again made several low passes by the resort for photos of the plane. They landed in time to say good-bye at the airport to John and Beth and returned for lunch and a swim. Andre and Muguette went sailing in the hobbie-cat after Ray and Tina had their turn. Akky did some reading and again went sailing with Willy. Everyone went into the shallow warm water whenever they felt like it, to read, swim or just wallow around. Ron and Willy went snorkeling with Etienne who speared a grouper. They saw trumpet fish, sea cucumber, grouper, and barracuda. A huge stingray buried itself in the sand but fluttered away when they got within about three feet. They saw one other large stingray, two smaller stingrays and one eagle ray.
Just before the sunset we met for cocktails on the patio. As on previous
evenings, we watched the spectacular sun slowly set and the moon appear. Just as the bugs were starting to bite we
went inside for a BBQ dinner. Muguette never did bring the insect repellent.
Pictures of Ray and David's butts were shown once again. Frederica, the
manager's wife got very excited and asked for e-mail copies. Ray photographed her belly (four months
pregnant) and promised a copy. Capt David went off to a Friday night party in
town. Ray declared Tina the butt queen.
Barbara and Akky launched an appeal but no rematch was held. Ray declared
himself butt king. Willy protested that decision since no one actually squeezed
anyone's butt and who were the judges anyway? Did he want to be a judge? We
certainly were putting the BUTT back into the BUTTonville Flying Club.
After an early breakfast, everybody organized themselves to leave. Room accounts and bills were sorted out. Captain David decided to leave also since a flying business opportunity did not work out for him but hoped he would get called back from Florida. Two DC 3s came in. We watched them unload and after a little while passengers (mostly teenagers) boarded the plane. They had been on a missionary retreat on Long Island. The DC3s took off while we were waiting on the taxiway. We were airborn by 10:30 but not before a woman from customs came running down the ramp because they thought we had not cleared customs. But we had. We headed back south and followed the west side of the Exumas, saw Little San Salvador and passed by some rain showers. We followed Cat Island on the west side, announced ourselves at Arthur's Town and called New Bight where a Dash 8 answered our call. We watched it take off and head east in the opposite direction from us before it disappeared from our sight. We crossed over to the east coast and spotted a half submerged ship. We followed the east coast of Cat Island to Hawk's Nest.
Andre landed four hundred feet past the threshold to avoid some puddles
and landed on a better part of the runway. The puddles must have been from the
rain showers we saw on the way. On the tarmac there were about five planes and
a Lake from Canada. We were the only two Canadian planes. While Andre, Muguette
and Akky were exploring the resort Ron went for a checkout dive. For the dive
he went to a sunken sailboat and submerged DC3 pieces including a prop. He
enjoyed the check out dive as much as if it had been a real dive. The
accommodations consisted of two buildings each containing five motel-like
units. They were in the process of renovating the units. Ron got a newly
renovated unit which was in excellent condition and even included a fridge. The
others were all right but deteriorating and moldy in the bathrooms. The beach
at Hawks Nest was not in good shape either. It looked like an oil slick had
floated in. On closer examination, it turned out to be very tiny pieces of
seaweed floating in large patches along the beach. Not very appealing. The pool
was cool but refreshing. We spent a relaxing afternoon on the beach and around
the pool. Akky walked along the smooth white sandstone along the beach trying
to get around the point of land to where the runway started. It was like
walking on a concrete wall but it took too long and she returned just in time
for dinner. It was good exercise. Dinner was excellent, especially the lobster
tails. They were half tails but the largest any of us had ever seen. Ron had to
take pictures of them. Another excellent day!
This was the day the clocks changed. But we all forgot. Andre and Muguette went for an early morning walk. They thought it was 6:30 but it was really 7:30. So it was not as early as they thought. Ron arrived for a leisurely breakfast at 8 o'clock for a 9:30 dive.
When he realized it was already 9 o'clock, he scrambled to get ready. There had been no need for this because everyone else in his diving group arrived between 10 and 10:30. Akky arrived at 8:00, the agreed upon time for breakfast, but was really an hour late.
Ron's diving group consisted of Mark, Domenic, and Laurie. Randy was the guide and Captain Lynn drove the boat. They did the dive on an 85-foot wall in beautifully clear water. They saw a 5 foot barracuda, other large four foot unidentified fish, trigger fish, small dark angel fish, larger bright yellow ones and a variety of other colourful fish. Usually a hammerhead shark visits the area but it was not spotted this time. Everyone returned with their limbs intact.
Andre talked to the pilot of the Lake CF-IUE. He was from Barrie's Bay, Ontario, and was friends with the Bonanza from San Diego parked beside him. They were about to take off and seemed interested in where else we had stayed in the Bahamas. The Lake pilot asked about directions to Cocodimama but after he took off much to our surprise, he flew in the opposite direction straight out into the Atlantic. Andre figured he would lose radar and radio contact going in that direction and wondered if cell phones worked over the Atlantic.
Muguette and Akky had a refreshing swim in the pool and were joined in the pool by two crabs and other wildlife. They sat around, chatted and swam until lunch. Muguette had to get ready for her flight back to Toronto after lunch.
It was an uneventful flight to Nassau at 1000 feet, with long runs over the water with no land in sight. Muguette was let off at the departures counter of Air Canada and off we went. Akky was PIC on the way back and the controller who, obviously was not used to women pilots, kept calling her ‘Sir” and then correcting himself. His accent and drawl were a pleasure to listen to on the radio. He certainly seemed to enjoy his job and was helpful too! We flew over Norman's Cay with its colourful drug running history. Andre took a video of the half submerged plane in the bay there. Akky tried the local way of making radio calls on 122.8," Hey is anyone there?" Sure enough her radio call was answered for the first time
We arrived back just in time for dinner. Ron had spent the afternoon napping, swimming and studying his IFR stuff. Andre had forgotten to order dinner earlier, as was the custom at Hawk's Nest, and was worried that there would be nothing for him to eat. While he was tying the plane down Akky went to order something for him, hoping it would not be too late. That's when she found out that boats had gone out to fish and there was now fresh catch of the day on the menu. The cook had started cooking the meals already so it was too late to cancel the meal she had ordered for herself earlier. Akky had ordered duck and Ron thought he would give the local chicken a try. Akky thought about giving the duck dinner to Andre, and have the fresh Mahi Mahi herself. However Andre did not want duck or fish and ordered a hamburger from the lunch menu. Akky and Ron had the dinners they ordered but on the side was a piece of the freshly caught Mahi Mahi. Dinner again was excellent, even Andre's hamburger. Hawk's Nest definitely had the best kitchen on our trip.
We returned to Ron and Andre's room and phoned around for accommodations for the next evening when we would be starting our return flight back to Canada. Not many of the places were answering the phone on a Sunday night, so we decided to watch a movie instead. There was no TV reception at Hawk's Nest but each room had a VCR and there was a library of videotapes to choose from in the main building. Ron and Andre watched "Dangerous Encounters" and "Das Boot" till midnight. Akky stayed and watched a little of “Dangerous Encounters” and left. She needed her sleep and didn't want any nightmares. The sharks in Walker's Cay were enough.
Breakfast was at 8:30 (Daylight saving time). Akky had a swim in the pool with two dead bleached white crabs, and by 10:15 we were all packed and ready to go. As we were sitting in the plane ready for the run-up, Andre realized he did not have his cell phone with him. He had lost it. Andre pulled his bags out to search them. Ron got out of the plane to search the room. Both Andre and Ron searched the room again. We had used it the night before to make all the calls for accommodations. They searched the bathroom, the bar, and the office where we checked out and arranged for them to call Ron's cell and leave a message if they found it. Again all the luggage was checked and there it was, in Andre's toiletteries pouch in a suitcase in one of the floats. FINALLY we leave.
We followed the island chain of the Exumas north and at Norman's Cay we decided to have lunch. We flew past the island and returned for a landing. Andre had to overshoot due to heavy crosswinds. He didn't want to try again and we flew on to Nassau. At Nassau we were cleared for runway 09. We set ourselves up for a long final with heavies behind us. They could not spot us after the tower directed them to follow the amphib. The tower told them we were on a long right base. We did not pay too much attention to that comment but it sure looked like we were lined up straight for final. The runway we lined up for had no numbers on it and in the last couple of hundred feet Ron in the right seat noticed big 09 numbers on an intersecting runway to our right. We had been lining up for 05. Andre managed to transition to 09 smoothly. That should keep the tower and the other heavies on their toes!
After refueling, we went to Compass Point for lunch on the suggestion of driver of the courtesy van. On the way there Ron left his thousand dollar camera in the van and remembered after the driver left. Was he worried! He thought he would never see it again. He called the FBO and a little while later, there was the driver with the camera. It was Bahamian courtesy and honesty at work. Compass point was an excellent stop for lunch. It was a very pretty place with its colourful buildings on a scenic point of land…much nicer than the Nassau Airport Terminal where we had eaten before planned on going for lunch this time.
Flying north, past the northern shore of Andros, the biggest but least populated island of the Bahamas, we looked for the third largest barrier reef that is there, but we were unable to spot it. Again the water was so clear and shallow that at times it was hard to tell what was above and below water. The spectacular underwater dunes at some points rose out of the water to create white little islands. Some more permanent islands had green vegetation in their centers. We flew over the long narrow populated island of North Bimini looking for the lost city of Atlantis that is suppose to be there somewhere, but we did not spot it either. Winds were down the runway at the airport on South Bimini. A short taxi ride took us past the "Fountain of Youth" that Ponce de Leon had been looking for and which was here all the time, to a water taxi which took us across to Alice Town in North Bimini where our accommodations were. It was rush hour and many local men joined our water taxi for the crossing. We had to walk the rest of the way to our hotel. One of the men showed us the way and helped Akky with her bags.
Check-in was at the main desk at the marina of the Blue Water Resort. We were sent across the street, up a hill and to an old cottage that was part of the resort. The cottage was hot, stuffy, and very dark with its wood paneling. It was the Marlin Cottage mentioned in Hemmingway's book “Island in the Stream”. Bimini is where Hemmingway did his big game fishing. It was a beautiful historic cottage but it was too large and too hot for us with the air-conditioning not working. A surly clerk told Andre and Ron there were other hotels in town that were open, if we didn't like this one. We decided to stay at the Blue Water Resort but changed to a two bedroom, two-bathroom suite with a working air conditioner. It was above the resort restaurant which was almost beside the Marlin Cottage on the same hill. This building was a historic home which had belonged to friends of Hemmingway. The restaurant had been someone's dinning room with the original tiles still on the floor. Our suite above the restaurant had a view on both sides. On one side was the beach and on the other the marina. The narrow main road went between us and the marina and even a narrower road went between our building and the beach. Most people used golf carts to get around.
After settling in, we walked across the street and went for a swim in the pool beside the marina. A large ray jumped in the harbour. Andre started talking to some people from Montreal. There were two families with young pre-school kids who had been vacationing since January the eighth. Their two sailboats were fully packed on the deck and inside. Andre thought he would like to do that someday. With young children?
A Grumman Flying Boat probably a Mallard, with its high wing and twin turbo engines, landed just past the marina in the harbour. After our swim we went for a walk down the main street of Alice Town and took pictures of interesting buildings. We visited a small hotel called The Compleat Angler which was Hemmingway's home when visiting Bimini. Barbara and Willy mentioned something about staying in Hemmingway's Hotel and we wondered if this is where they had stayed. It again was paneled with dark wood on the inside and contained a little museum dedicated to Hemmingway. We walked up the hill to the restaurant below our suite. The meal and service was excellent and we had a wonderful view of the sunset from the restaurant. We did not have to walk far to get to our rooms. We had a TV in our room and as all pilots do we searched for the weather channel but were unable to find it.
Breakfast was at a restaurant called Captain Bob's (a local fishing legend). He passed away but his wife still ran the restaurant and Akky wondered if she was the woman who served us. After breakfast we walked down to the marina where Akky took pictures of Ron taking pictures of a pelican sitting on a post in the water as the Grumman Mallard landed once again. The main street was closed as the Mallard came out of the water. It was unloaded and then loaded with the waiting passengers. It was very exciting to watch it take off, with its huge plume of spray. Ron said it was cool. But then he doesn't get too excited about many things.
On our way back to the hotel we stopped by the local straw market. Andre bought a beach towel with a map of the Bahamas on it. We would surely not get lost with that towel aboard! We checked out with the “friendly” (NOT) , receptionist from yesterday. The water taxi picked us up right from the hotel this time to take us across to South Bimini. Again we passed the fountain of youth but did not take the time to rejuvenate ourselves. After all what would our spouses think if we came home much younger that they were? Andre reluctantly gave up the cruising permit with all the stamps on it at customs. He wanted to keep it as a souvenir. That was not allowed. He could not even get a copy of it. Other paperwork was filled out as we would now be leaving the Bahamas.
The flight to Fort Pierce was at 4,500 to stay clear of clouds. After crossing over open water it was good to see the Florida coast appear through the haze. We flew parallel to the coast until we reached Fort Pierce which was a port of entry for the US. We pulled up to the customs designated parking area right beside the Tiki Restaurant. A Cherokee arrived just after us and parked behind us. We were told to bring all our luggage in. Agent Ray was very polite and courteous and explained we won the grand prize and would get the full treatment. We soon found out what that meant! We had to line our luggage up and another young, heavy-set, long blond haired agent had a dog sniff all our luggage. The dog also sniffed the outside and inside of the plane. Agent Ray asked if any of us was afraid of dogs and when we said no he had the dog sniff every part of us. We passed with a clean bill of health. Andre was worried he would have to open each and every one of the compartments in his floats. What a relief when he didn't have to do that. Akky, who had decided Ron was not an axe murderer but now wondered whether he might be a drug smuggler, found out soon enough he wasn't.
The couple from the Cherokee that landed shortly after us, was not so lucky. When the dog sniffed the woman, the dog sat bolt upright in front of her, as if expecting a treat. Apparently that was the signal it had smelled something it was trained to find. We don't know if it was explosives or drugs, but presumed it was drugs. The agents lost interest in us now that they had more promising customers. One agent told the woman that the dog also had a positive response to her seat in the plane. We left for lunch at the Tiki and did some more flight planning. Their plane was still there after we finished our lunch and were ready for the next leg of our flight three hours later.
We flew north to St. Augustine, following the I-95, which took us direct. Once again we passed by Patrick Air Force base and the long runway of Cape Canaveral. We arrived in St Augustine just in time to avoid heavy rain showers. Flight following warned us about the echos they were receiving on radar from the heavy rain showers on our route but we could see them and fly around them. Thunder showers arrived later in the evening. The first thing Andre and Ron did when they arrived at the Days Inn was their laundry in the hotel's laundromat so they would arrive home with clean clothes. Akky didn't see the sense in that and would do it when she got home. They did look good in their clean clothes as we strolled down the charming narrow streets of the old town. Dinner was at Harry's. Harry's Restaurant is in one of the old houses with a patio set in a garden, but due to the rain we ate inside overlooking the river and arched bridge.
The Days Inn was a great place to stay….a great pilot rate at $50 per room, free breakfast in their restaurant, with a full menu, and a ride to the airport. We did a lot of weather watching on the radar and planned two routes around the worst of the precipitation. Then we waited, and waited …and waited some more. We took a break for lunch at the Fly-by Café where the service was the slowest yet, even slower than in the Bahamas. It took a long time for the food to arrive, however we were not going anywhere any way. After getting back to the flight planning room, there were more reviews of the radar, satellite images and verbal briefings trying to decide on whether to go or not. Frequently the sources differed as to the conditions. We learned to interpret all the conflicting information a little better.
By 4:00 we had a forecast update. Our planned route straight north, a reverse course of our trip down, would be out of the question. A complex low sat stationary over the east coast bringing rain and snow farther north. Our second route to go west around it did not look too good either. Gainesville was clear of thunderstorms, but ceilings were down to 1200 feet in Tallahassee. However it would clear before the east coast did. After much second-guessing ourselves, we decided to wait until the next day. Akky got her remaining luggage out of the floats and thanks to her canoeing days packing technique her clothes were dry. The floats leaked. The FBO called us the worst, decrepit, dirty taxi we had ever seen. The taxi driver, a woman, was accompanied by her oversized husband and even bigger friend. With their tattoos, sleeveless dirty, tank tops with holes in them, and long unkempt hair they looked like they had just escaped from prison. It did not look like a taxi we had ever seen and we were almost afraid to get in. They and their car would have put the Beverly Hillbillies to shame. Back to the Days Inn we went. Andre and Ron went to their assigned room only to find much to their surprise that it was still occupied.
After settling in, we took a cab to the old fort and walked around it. Dinner was once again in the old town, at the White Lion's Pub across the street from the fort. The key lime pie was great! Back we went to the Days Inn to watch the weather channel. Akky did her check-in with Billy and found out Barbara had left her plane in Lynchburg due to the bad weather on the Eastern Seaboard. The forecast did not show much of an improvement in the near future so she went home without it. We went to bed early for an early start in the morning.
A peaceful, relaxing, 6:00 AM breakfast was interrupted at 7:00 when a large group of kids, two busloads, from Miami joined us. They were on a school bus tour of the oldest city in America, St. Augustine. Andre would have liked to correct them on this point and tell them that Quebec City was the oldest. Andre had set Ron and Akky straight on this issue earlier! Also in the restaurant were several pilots from the airport in the same predicament as us. There was the man from New York who could not get out the day before because of the icing and snow in New York. He would probably be in St. Augustine a few more days even if he were going IFR. There was the Arizona couple who were going west as we were, and waiting for the weather to clear. At the airport the radar reports seemed ok to head west. Two guys from St. Catherines who had been stuck for three days were also heading west to get around weather. We thought we might meet up with them again, but never did.
Our flight plan was for 2600 feet to Cross City, Florida, where we got a new weather report and filed for Panama City. We stayed at 1800 feet and below to stay VFR to Panama City. There we got new charts for our unanticipated route. While walking from the FBO to the main terminal for lunch we had to walk through a fenced in area surrounding the control tower. A rather large, black rabbit inhabited the area and did not seem to be bothered by three people walking on its grass. Lunch was expensive in the new airport. There was an adjacent seaplane base. We filed 2500 feet for Jackson, Tennessee, but one hundred thirty miles north, rain and visibility suggested landing at Greenville, Alabama. Lucky we did- half an hour later we could not see the water tower across the field. Three other pilots from Missouri/Kentucky/ Alabama also turned back to Greenville. They were heading home from Sun'n'Fun in a Zenair and Rando experimentals. While waiting at the airport to see if the weather would clear they mentioned they seem to get stuck here every year on the way home. They knew where to stay and so we shared the courtesy van with them to our hotel. Greensville is a nice clean town, with a nice airport and great service.
We were up at 6:00, but the fog that was expected did not materialize. It was a great looking day. The azaleas blooming across the street in someone's front yard, looked spectacular. The other three pilots were up even earlier and had taken the van to the airport for a real early start. They were anxious to get home and start their weekend. After the complimentary Best Western breakfast we were picked up by Travis Capps, the airport manager, in his courtesy car. The weather was checked and we filed for Murfreesboro, Tennessee, near Nashville but farther east than we thought we'd be able to get, and then on to Springfield, Ohio. Ron flew the first leg and Akky second leg. It was slow going at first due to headwinds, but better as we angled east.
Lunch and dinner consisted of chips, peanuts and chocolate bars from the airport vending machines. There were no meal breaks. We only stopped for refueling and then, only then, did we take a washroom break and load up from the vending machines.
The beautiful country in north Alabama and Kentucky floated by. We encountered some turbulence before we reached the end of the blue ridge of mountains, but it subsided once we were across the peaks. We were vectored through Cincinnati airspace. Canada customs was called from Springfield Oh and were advised we'd arrive in Buttonville at 7:45 pm local. We were rushed for Customs closed at 8:00 in Buttonville and we didn't want to go to City Center or Pearson.
We approached Toronto City Centre as the sun was setting in the west. We flew up Bayview , thinking it was the Don Valley as the setting sun grew more spectacular over downtown Toronto.
What a wonderful way to end our trip. At 7:52 we touched down at Buttonville, even though we weren't able to get a
shortcut through Toronto airspace, but thanks to a great tailwind. We parked in
front of Customs and waited in the plane for Customs to come out. After ten
minutes, Andre phoned them and was advised that the procedure was to call them
once we had arrived. They asked us if there were any changes in our declaration
from Springfield and when we replied "no", Customs gave us a confirmation
number and said we could go.
What an amazing day, that started seventy five miles from the Gulf of Mexico and ended in Buttonville a thousand miles later! What an airplane! What a team!