Home Again

Northampton to New Bedford is only 84 NM to the Southeast. Monday was a windy day from the West/Northwest. So Monday's flight home was quick and bumpy. It only took about 45 minutes. There was no need to go any higher than 3,500 feet.

On Saturday's flight from Salisbury to Northampton, we had headwinds and ground speeds of 85-95 knots. With the tail wind on Monday we were doing 135-139 knots. It was a nice quick flight to finish the trip.

Now for the numbers.

We were gone for 7 weeks.
Put 41 hours on the plane.
Landed at 18 airports.
In 7 states.
And 2 countries.

Pete did some recon for next winter and now has some ideas about where he wants to go when it gets cold. Speaking of cold. We spent 7 weeks being warm, wearing shorts and t-shirts. This morning in Swansea it was 35 degrees!

That's all for now, thanks.

Spruce Creek, Knoxville, Easter and a Birthday

Once again you haven't heard from us for awhile. We've had a busy week and have covered a lot of ground.

After we left Tampa we flew Northeast across Florida to Daytona Beach. We went to visit John and Kathy. They own and run the business in New Bedford that maintains Pete's plane. They live in a development called 'Spruce Creek Fly-in'.

It's a large gated community with many homes, condos, swimming pools, a golf course and a RUNWAY. Yes a runway. A lot of the homes have their own hangers so they can taxi right from their homes to the runway. There are also other hangers on the property that are for rent. John & Kathy showed us all around the place. It's a very cool place for pilots and golfers. Their condo looks out across one fairway and on to the end of the runway. Their plane is in one of the rented hangers.

Pete found Spruce Creek very interesting and may be spending some time there next winter.

The next stop was 400 miles to the Northwest, Knoxville, TN. Pete's sister in law, Garnet lives there as well as his niece, Alicia, and Alicia's husband, Rod.

Alicia took us out to see Oak Ridge, TN. It's a town about a half hour outside Knoxville. It was built in secret by the government back in World War II as part of the Philadelphia Project, to develop the atomic bomb. The location is back in the hills so it was easy to 'hide' it. They built not only the facilities for the nuclear material needed for the bomb but also a whole city for the workers. At it's largest point there were 70,000 people living there. The city was walled and had armed guards at the gates. The residents were not allowed to talk about the place and they didn't even know what any of the other resident's jobs were.

When the war was over they finally knew what they had been working on and the city was opened up.

Rod showed us the rowing shell he built last year. He bought a kit and used the 'stich and glue' method to assemble it. It came out great. Pete had hoped to row it but time didn't allow so maybe on his next visit to Knoxville he'll get to row it. We had a wonderful time in Knoxville. Thanks to Garnet, Alicia and Rod.

We then took advantage of some clear weather on Friday afternoon and Saturday to fly all the way up to Northampton, where Pete's daughter and her family live. The sky was very clear and calm up at 7,500 feet but bumpy down low. Friday we made a fuel stop in Mecklenburg, VA and then continued on to Salisbury, MD (our 3rd time there) for the night.

Saturday was also clear and calm up at 7,500 feet. So we had a nice flight up the NJ shore, over the edge of NYC and Long Island then up thru CT to Northampton.

The goal was to get there before Sunday. Not only was it Easter Sunday but it was also Pete's 81st birthday!

Ann & Kevin had a bunch of family members over to celebrate Easter and Pete's b-day. There were about 20 people and 3 dogs. The kids had an Easter Egg hunt. Everyone enjoyed a great meal of baked ham and all the trimmings. Unfortunately, we also watched the Red Sox lose in extra innings.

Everyone had a great time. Thanks to Ann & Kevin!

Here's a photo of Pete breaking out of an old jail in TN.

Alicia and Rod stopped by the airport to see us off.

Pete's grandkids, Nat and Sarah met us at the Northampton airport. They got in the pilot's seats.

Catching up

It's been a long time since you've heard from us, sorry about that. We didn't have an Internet connection for awhile. So here's a quick update about the past couple weeks.

Cat Island was a disappointment. It was very windy while we were there so no option to go fishing. We visited with a fishing guide but didn't fish. Cat Island is covered in abandoned homes. Seems when someone in the Bahamas dies in their house, the family abandons the house.

From Cat Island we went a short distance North to Eleuthera. We stayed a the resort and marina at Cape Eleuthera. It was originally developed in the early '70's but they ran out of money before building the hotels and homes. So there was a marina, runway and roads but nowhere for people to stay. The marina area was updated 5 years ago and it's very nice.

We did get to finally go fishing. Our guide was Leon. Just a couple miles off the marina the bottom drops off to over 600' feet. At this drop, the bigger fish push the smaller fish up so that's where we fished.

Pete's turn was first. The first fish on was a nice Mahi Mahi. He pulled it in and Leon estimated it to be 34 pounds. It was a beautiful fish, they are very colorful.

Here's a photo of Pete and his fish!

Dan's turn was next and the next 'fish on' was a Barracuda. We weren't fishing for them because they aren't very good eating. Pete also pulled in a smaller Mahi Mahi and we also caught a couple other Barracudas and a Jack.

We flew back to Florida from Eleuthera on Tuesday. First stop was customs in Fort Pierce. It was a quick stop as we filled out some forms and they x-rayed our bags. It was then 20 miles South back to Stuart to visit with Millie and Bill again. We had a nice dinner with them.

On Wednesday we flew across the state to Tampa so we can go to the Sun & Fun event. It's a smaller version of the airshow event we went to in Oskosh last summer. The Air Force Thunderbirds will be performing today.

A friend of ours, Frank, produces some TV shows about maintaining and updating your car or truck. The shows are filmed here in Tampa, just a few miles from our hotel. So we stopped by there yesterday. Frank wasn't there but Elaine showed us around. It was cool to see how they film the 4 shows in one small facility.

When Pete was in the Air Force (a few years ago) he was stationed at McDill AFB here in Tampa. So we drove over to see the spot where he and Peggy lived in a trailer for 2 years. There is still a mobile home park there but it's much different than back in the mid-50's.

Pete's job at McDill was part of a team that built a radar site. He hoped to see it again but the folks at the gate couldn't let us in without some military ID. So we didn't get to go on the base.

We're off to Sun & Fun today and then on the move again tomorrow.

Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park

Another friend of Gail's & Jack flew in on Thursday. Paul has been to visit them a number of times and loves Staniel Cay. Paul happened to have a memory card reader with him so we were able to offload some of the underwater photos.

On Thursday night, Jack made his famous grilled lobster tails. He spent the day preparing a bread crumb dressing to go on top of the tails. He also baked a chocolate cake. It was wonderful, we had a great feast.

Friday was the day to take the boat North to the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park. It's a Bahamas' National Park. As the name suggests, there are some trails around the islands and reefs to dive on. So the five of us loaded into the boat for ride North. Along the way we passed some islands that are uninhabited and some that are owned by celebrities. Those ones are very developed.

We beached the boat on a nice sandy beach for lunch. Then went around the other side of the island to the park headquarters. Gail got some T-shirts and post cards, Paul took pictures.

The first snorkeling spot was a nice little reef on a point. Lots of fish but the best part of that stop had nothing to do with the fish. We were anchored in 5 feet of water. Dan was pulling in the anchor from the side of the boat. He thought the anchor was free of the bottom so he leaned over the side to keep the chain and anchor off the side of the boat. Well the anchor was NOT free of the bottom yet. In fact it was still very firm.  So as he pulled, thinking there would be no resistance, he got pulled forward. Since he was already leaning over the side, it didn't take much for him to lose his balance. He then made a slow motion roll right out of the boat! No harm done but it provided plenty of laughs for all!

The second snorkeling spot was near the park headquarters. There were moorings to use there so no anchoring mishaps. The water there was about 15 feet deep and there were a number of reefs to see. The park is a 'no take' zone. No fishing, no taking conch or lobster. So there were a few lobsters near this reef that were huge. They live a nice sheltered life. That was a nice swim.

Here are some photos.

Pete, Jack and Gail

Gail and Pete

Dan

Yesterday we left Staniel Cay. We went 50 miles Southeast to Georgetown for some gas then another 50 miles to the Northeast to Cat Island. We landed at New Bight airport and are staying at the Greenwood Beach Resort.

We are still trying to get a fishing charter but it has been windy most of the 3 weeks we've been in the Bahamas. Today is once again too windy. The fishing charter guy is here talking to us about where we can fish when the wind eases up.

Big thanks to Gail & Jack for putting us up and showing us all around Staniel Cay. We had a great week with you!

Staniel Cay so far

We've been here at Staniel Cay for 5 full days. It doesn't seem like it, seems like we just got here. We have met some interesting people and seen some cool things.

Here are a couple photos of the flight from Marsh Harbor to Staniel Cay.

One of the first people we met was one of Gail & Jack's neighbors, Joan. (I suppose on a little island, everyone is a neighbor). Joan is in her 80's and told us some stories about her wild adventures. When she was 15 years old, she and a friend ran away from boarding school. They got on a train to Boston to stay with her friend's sister who was in college. But when they got to Boston, both Joan's mother and her friend's mother were waiting for them. They got busted!

Joan also sailed to Tahiti on a 100 foot sailboat in her twenties. She then rode a bike from California to Chicago. We didn't get much detail about those trips.

Another very interesting woman we met is Judy. She lives on her island just North of here. The only way to the island is by boat so she comes and goes on her boat. She has family and friends come to visit. She said when she first moved there, she didn't really know how to run the boat very well but has learned. Her boat's name is 'Gutsy Lady'. It got that name from the local men who were impressed with her.

We've taken a couple boat rides so far. The first one was a little to the North up to Over Yonder Cay. It's an island owned by one guy. It's got a huge house on it and a number of smaller houses. There is a yacht basin, a ramp for a big seaplane, solar panels and windmills. It's hard to believe it's for one guy and his family. It looks like a resort Disney would make. Here a few photos of it.

Yesterday's boat ride went South. We went to Gaulin Cay where there are lots of iguanas. They are not supposed to be fed but they are so they come running over when a boat comes ashore.

We also did a little snorkeling. Pete has an underwater camera but the card reader is not recognizing the card. So at the moment we can't offload any of those photos.
On the way back, we went out Dotham Cut to the ocean side so Pete could fish. There were no fish to be found but we trolled for awhile. The ocean was calm so it was a nice trip. The color of the deep water is much different than the shallow water on the West side of the Cays.

Gail is the local yoga instructor. She leads a yoga class at their house 3 times a week. It's been a few years since Dan has done yoga. He's been to two classes so far here on Staniel Cay. There will be NO photos of that!

Made it to Staniel Cay

Well today the wind eased up and we were able to get out of the Marsh Harbour airport. The managers of the Abaco Inn, Judy and John, were taking their boat across to Marsh Harbour for some shopping this morning. They were very nice to offer us a ride and then they drove us to the airport.

Thanks Judy & John.

We took off to the East then turned South. Staniel Cay is about 150 miles from Marsh Harbour. We had a nice tailwind and were doing 130 knots. So the trip only took about an hour and a half. There was a cross wind here but not too bad. It had been blowing very hard here this past week also. Today it eased up to about 10-15 knots.

After landing we called Pete's friends Jack & Gail on the VHF radio. They came over in the golf cart to pick us up. Jack used to fly and they have been coming to Staniel Cay 22 years. We'll be here for a few days or who knows how long. This afternoon we did some final prep work so their boat can go in the water tomorrow morning. Maybe we'll have fresh fish for dinner tomorrow.

Hanging out in Hope Town

We have been hanging out here on Elbow Cay all week. It has been a mellow week. The first day, last Friday, we just got our bearings. Saturday there was a small local festival at the historical museum. The plan for the following days was to do a fishing charter to find out where the fish are and then rent a boat for few days.

Well none of that happened. The wind picked up on Sunday and has been blowing all week. A front passed by and then stalled. It's been blowing 30 knots all week. A guy in a house just down the road has a weather station and webcam. Check it out.

www.rockybay.com

We did spend a little time checking out rental property. Pete really likes it here and may spend some time here next winter.

The wind is supposed to ease up tomorrow, so we hope to head 150 miles South to Staniel Cay.

Hope Town photos

Here are some photos of our first full day in Hope Town. We didn't do anything special yesterday, just took the shuttle ride from the Inn into Hope Town. The Abaco Inn is a few miles down the island from Hope Town.

Here are a couple photos of the flight over to Marsh Harbor.

The Inn is on the narrowest section of Elbow Cay. It's only a few hundred yards wide. The East side has the Atlantic Ocean with it's trade winds blowing on shore. And the West side has the somewhat calmer Sea of Abaco.

Here's the view from the Inn looking East.

And here's the view looking West.

We took the ferry over from Marsh Harbor to Hope Town. It's about a 20 minute ride. When the ferry comes into Hope Town, it backs into each dock to let people off. No dock lines are used, it's very quick.

Here's a photo of the ferry at one of the docks in Hope Town.

Here's a shot across the harbor looking at the lighthouse.

And here's a shot of some sort of device that is hanging outside our room.

Orlando, Stuart and Elbow Cay

You haven't heard from us this week. On Saturday we flew down from Charleston to Orlando. The forecast for the day had low clouds in central Florida. So we weren't sure if we would get to Orlando or not. Turns out the clouds didn't show up and we ended up with a nice tail wind. So we were doing over 140 knots for a lot of that trip. It was a nice quick trip.

We spent a few days staying with Dan's brother Mike and his wife Cara. We didn't do much, just kinda hung out. Their house is on a nice lake (Lake Marsha). It was nice to just relax by the lake. Mike has a ski boat. One afternoon, two of Dan's nephews went skiing. Nick and Steven took a few laps around the lake before they had to go to work.

We hoped to get to the Bahamas on Wednesday but there was a lot of clouds and heavy rain in South Florida. We didn't get to the Bahamas but did get to Stuart, FL. Pete has an old sailing buddy who lives there. So Bill & Millie picked us up at the Stuart airport and took us over to their condo. We had a nice dinner with them. We'll probably see them when we get back to the US. The Stuart airport doesn't have US Customs there but Fort Pierce does. It's only 20 miles from Stuart so we'll probably see them on our return.

So today also had a lot of clouds in South Florida but we were able to get out of there and over to Marsh Harbor. We went over, around and under clouds on the two hour flight. We went down the coast to Palm Beach and then East over Grand Bahama and then to Marsh Harbor.

We are staying at the Abaco Inn, in Hopetown, Elbow Cay. We got here late this afternoon. Dinner is in 15 minutes so I gotta wrap it up. Tomorrow we hope to get a boat rented to explore this place. We'll be here for a week or so.

We should have some pictures in a day or two. Stay tuned.

Charleston, SC

Wednesday we flew from Salisbury, MD to Charleston, SC. It was a long flight, almost too long. We had headwinds so it was a bit slow.

The weather the past two days hasn't been that great for flying so we are still here. The winds at 3,000-6,000 feet the past two days have been forecasted at 35-50 knots. That's pretty windy that low. That would be a great tailwind but it wouldn't have been for us.

Some friends of Dan's live in Charleston. He met them a few years ago when he helped them sail their boat up from Antigua to Newport. So on Wednesday night we had dinner with Norie & Jim. We went to nice seafood restaurant in downtown Charleston that the woman at the airport suggested. It pretty was good.

Norie & Jim are building a new house here. They bought an old house on the Intracoastal Waterway a couple years ago. It had been empty for 7 years. They hoped to renovate it but ended up knocking it down and building a new house. They hope to be finished in a couple months.

Here a couple photos of it. (Yes we got the cameras back in action).

And here's a photo of their schooner, Metani.

We've also had tours of a couple aircraft here at the Charleston Executive airport. On Thursday, an 8 passenger charter jet came in. We were talking with the two pilots about their lives as charter pilots and about the plane. One of them took us on board for a look. He didn't offer to take us up for a flight, not sure why. Maybe because it's $3,000 per hour!

The US Coast Guard has a rescue helicopter stationed at Charleston Exec. So we went over to see if they would give us a tour and they did. There is only one full time person there. He showed us around the front of the building. The helicopter is from the Savannah CG station. The flight crews from Savannah rotate up to Charleston every 24 hours. Lucky for us the chopper was there and they weren't going anywhere right away. So the pilot gave us a tour of his ship.

We didn't get in the chopper and hope to NEVER have to get in one. We thanked the flight crew for their service and told them we hope to NEVER see them up close in action!

In their hanger, they have life vests from the boats they have rescued people from. The vests have the boat name and the number of people saved.

We hope to start heading South again tomorrow, we'll see.

Turns out there is an O'Charlies just down the road. If you remember, we found one in Ohio last July and liked it. So we're headed there for dinner tonight.

Southbound

Hello, is this thing on? Is anyone still out there listening?

Remember back in August when we were in Gulf Shores, AL and supposed to head to Florida? Pete said that August was not the right time to be in Florida, the winter is. Well now it's winter so he wants to head South. So that's what we are doing.

The plan is for Florida and the Bahamas. Today we left the New Bedford airport and headed back to our last stop in August, Salisbury, MD. The sky was pretty clear this morning so we went down the CT coast at 8,500 feet to about Bridgeport, then took a left towards Sandy Hook, NJ. We followed the NJ coast down past Cape May, over the entrance to the Delaware Bay and into Salsibury.

NYC wasn't right under us this time but just off the right side. We went right over JFK airport. Sorry no pictures this time. The one camera we had handy seems to have a bad memory card.

We planned on going another 200 miles or so into NC but there was rain on the radar down in Norfolk. So we are staying the night. Same hotel as in August and we are going to the same restaurant too. Pete really liked it. The Market Street Inn (in Salisbury).

Tomorrow we hope to get to Charleston, SC. A family that Dan sailed with a few years ago lives there and are building a new house. We hope to see it.

After that it will be on to Florida. Not sure what stops we'll make in FL this week. We fly to Abaco in the Bahamas a week from today (Tuesday the 28th). We've got a reservation at the Abaco Inn for 6 nights. Should be nice and warm.