Bahamas Adventure 2014

[Flocker]

Will post a trip PIREP tonight, but here are a few pics to get the thread started...

Church Hill Beach - Grand Bahama



Sugar Loaf Cay - Great Abaco Island



Baker's Bay Golf Club - Great Guana Cay

[Nomore767]

Great pictures! Feels warmer just looking at them. Definitely…Better in the Bahamas!

Did you go in the Skycatcher?

[drseti]

Did you go in the Skycatcher?

First photo sure looks like a Skycatcher cowl and nosewheel, so I would guess he did.

[Merlinspop]

Did you go in the Skycatcher?

First photo sure looks like a Skycatcher cowl and nosewheel, so I would guess he did.

I didn't realize that the pictures were wider than my screen.

[drseti]

Caution: objects on screen are wider than they appear.

[Nomore767]

Did you go in the Skycatcher?

First photo sure looks like a Skycatcher cowl and nosewheel, so I would guess he did.

My pictures are all huge…so I don't see the nose wheel or the cowl. Can I reduce it?

[Flocker]

Did you go in the Skycatcher?

First photo sure looks like a Skycatcher cowl and nosewheel, so I would guess he did.

My pictures are all huge…so I don't see the nose wheel or the cowl. Can I reduce it?

I don't know why sometimes they appear normally and sometimes they are huge. At any rate, you should be able to "scroll" left and right at the bottom of your screen.

[MovingOn]

.......

[dstclair]

What was your over water route and what altitude did you fly?

[Flocker]

Bahamas PIREP – PART I

Our trip began with a commercial flight down to West Palm Beach on Wednesday, 1/29. We narrowly escaped the big ice storm in Atlanta and arrived at PBI after a 3-hour delay. We had allotted 5 days for the Bahamas excursion, which was a good thing as a stationary front was parked over West Palm for the next 3 days. With moisture being pulled from the gulf, it rained non-stop for 3 days – solid IFR. We set up Base Camp at a hotel in downtown West Palm and hoped for the best.

Finally on Friday, Saturday’s TAF showed promise. We parked ourselves at the local watering hole on Friday night and collectively prayed and ran through the flight plan. Our plan was to arrive at our departure airport [F45] at 8AM for a 9AM departure to Freeport.

Overnight, an IFR SIGMET was issued for a north-south line directly thru and west of F45. There was some light patchy fog in the low-lying areas, but we were optimistic. We arrived at the airport, pre-flighted the C-162, and loaded up the plane. The IFR area was west of our position.

Once at F45, we filed our manifest on eAPIS, called FSS for a Standard Briefing for a VFR flight direct to Freeport [MYGF]. The briefing went well and we filed to depart at 9:30AM. PBI was showing VFR and the radar loop to the Bahamas was clear. Winds were calm and clouds were scattered at 1,500’. We elected to fly below the clouds at 1,000’ AGL.

At 9:30AM we conducted a run-up and set out for a departure on 26L. Once in the air we departed the pattern to the east at 1,000’ and contacted Miami Radio to activate our DVFR flight plan. Once activated, we switched over to Palm Beach Departure and received our discrete ADIZ squawk and flight following.

About 20 miles east of PBI, we were advised that we were too low for FF and we were told "radar service terminated - squawk VFR." We were now alone over the Atlantic at 1,000’ with 30 minutes to go before first sight of land at West End – Grand Bahama. The cockpit became eerily quiet… perhaps trying to spot sharks or cruise ships…?

The air was surprising smooth over the water and the time passed quickly. Before long, land was in sight and we breathed a collective sigh of relief. It is worth noting, ADS-B radar coverage via Stratus/Foreflight was dropped about 20 miles from the coast of Florida.

Twenty miles from Freeport, we contacted the tower and requested a full stop. Her response had us scratching our heads due to her thick Bahamian accent. After requesting a repeat, we confirmed we were cleared to land on runway 6 and winds were 140 at 12 - direct crosswind - here we go…. Runway length was over 11,000’, so we had plenty of room if needed.

We crabbed it in and applied appropriate rudder over the numbers. Landing was uneventful and we were soon switched to ground and told to taxi to customs. A quick call to local FSS confirmed that the Tower had closed our flight plan. Total time was 1.2 on the Hobbs.

Once at Customs, we were marshaled in, told to gather our bags, and were given a ride to the Customs Office. Inside, we filled out the required paper work and were asked for our Passports. [By the way, that was the only document ever requested during the entire trip…. no pilot certificate, no logbook, no drivers license, no medical, no radio license, and no rental authorization letter was ever requested. They didn’t search the plane or our bags either]

The paperwork process was seamless and once the $50 customs fee was paid and the island cruising permit was in hand, we were free to hop the islands at our leisure. One problem… it was now raining. Pop up showers are apparently common place in the islands – more on that later…

We decided to grab a cab and have lunch at Port Lucaya.

Part II tomorrow…

[FastEddieB]

Where's Part II?

[pjcampbell]

Cool, great pictures. Out of sheer curiosity what is your emergency plan at 1000 ft (or even at 5000 ft).

[Flocker]

Where's Part II?

The narrative is forthcoming... here's a few pics to tide you over:

Departing Freeport to Marsh Harbour:


Marsh Harbour International Airport [Note the stout crosswind}


Abaco Island Sunset:


Treasure Cay - Abaco Bahamas: