Caribbean puddle jumpers
This will be a blog of our Caribbean flying adventure that will begin on June 15, 2011. We plan to leave from L18, Fallbrook California.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Florida to Texas
The weather improved a bit. We had a very full day of flying today, 8 hours. I started to really miss MissT, so Stevie flew his heart out.
We had quite a lot of IFR, but the lightening held off, so we were okay.
We had quite a lot of IFR, but the lightening held off, so we were okay.
If all goes well, I will get to hug Miss T, tomorrow.
Of course, I am looking forward to seeing Sissy, Chris, and Russ and Lee too!
Really we are ready to be home.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Not where we wanted to be, but where we are happy to be.
We had a great day kayaking. We found an outfitter, rented a car and headed about 30 miles north of Gainesville, where we landed, and had a fabulous 4 hour kayak down the Santa Fe river. We saw so many beautiful birds: several heron, a pair of spotted owls, egrets, wood stork, and a whole flock of wild turkeys... This river is fed by many natural springs that we kayaked into from the river. It was so cool. It was raining hard with lots of thunder when we started but after about 30 minutes the rain stopped and we had nice cool cloud cover. Perfect for hot Florida.
Like the turtles, we are still in Florida
There were sigmets in northern Florida and VFR was not recommended, so we were able to get as far as Gainesville, just 1 1/2 hrs north of Fort pierce. This is a pic I took kayaking on Santa Fe River today.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Back to the US
We had a glorious day of flying. We started out in Turks and Caicos, Providenciales this morning, and flew for almost two hours to Exuma. From Exuma we flew just over 3 hours direct to Fort Pierce, FL
We had such an amazing trip. The last few posts will just be landing notices so our moms and Cassidy don't worry about us. We should be home sometime this weekend.
Thanks for joining our trip.
Steve and Heidi
We had such an amazing trip. The last few posts will just be landing notices so our moms and Cassidy don't worry about us. We should be home sometime this weekend.
Thanks for joining our trip.
Steve and Heidi
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Sunset on the Caribbean
Looks like our last evening in the Caribbean. We are planning on flying through the Bahamas, and if the weather cooperates we should end up back in Florida tomorrow.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Homeward bound
Today we had a most beautiful flight from Puerto Rico back to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. We had a great tail wind, and the sky was beautiful.
We have decided to spend a few more days diving here before heading home.
We have decided to spend a few more days diving here before heading home.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Less than perfect weather
We shot an instrument approach(Lnav w/vert.) into San Juan, Puerto Rico today. The clouds were 2,000 broken with rain & turbulence. It was challenging and fun and about 10 minutes actual instrument time. Good practice!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
From Antigua to St. Martin via Barbuda
St. Martin, Grand Case Airport. St. Martin/ St. Maarten is a small island of both France and the Netherlands. We landed at Grand Case on the French side for a couple of reasons. #1 the landing fees are $26.00 compared to the price at Juliana International of $ 350.00. #2 We met some great folks in St. Croix who were flying their Cessna 172 to the US from their home in St. Martin and offered us their tiedown space for our plane. Thank you Andrew and Lyn.
Lots of planning goes into where to go, we have to consider landing costs, fuel availability, and most importantly interesting adventure.
Lots of planning goes into where to go, we have to consider landing costs, fuel availability, and most importantly interesting adventure.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Caribbean Gem, Antigua
The next several photos are an example of this incredible island. We had only intended to stay two nights but ended up staying four. We had a day by car,two days by bike to explore. We also had some great fun just hanging out and relaxing. "Yes, I can!"
The weather is fantastic.
The weather is fantastic.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
St. Eustatius' aircraft mechanic
We met a really friendly French expatriate named Michele(sp?) at St. Eustsitus airport. He's a certified Piper mechanic and pilots come from other islands to have him work on their planes. He was kind enough to let us put the plane in his hangar when a strong storm blew in. The weather is pretty volatile here and careful planning must be done before each flight re: the exact location of T-storms and forecasted conditions @ your destination. International flight plans are required for every flight between countries & we get radio communications from several different authorities on most flights. There is no radar in most areas, so exact position reporting is necessary for VFR & IFR flight.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Afternoon Plans in Statia change
We had planned to hike "The Quill" today, the volcano on St. Eustatius, but the weather had other plans. Instead we went to the airport to further secure the airplane. The airport mechanic who has a hanger offered to let us pull the plane as far into the hanger as we could. The customs officer and our hotel manager lent a hand. This crazy storm came out of nowhere today. If you happen to be watching Caribbean weather lately, it is pretty nuts. Not at all the usual. I guess we have been feeling that all year.
Have no worries, we only fly when we feel it is safe.
Have no worries, we only fly when we feel it is safe.
Diving in St. Eustatius
We have had two awesome days diving. The manager of our hotel loaned us his underwater housing for his camera, the same as ours. This is a shot of Steve and a barracuda under a very cool wreck.
"Statia" as the island is called, was the first country to recognize the US as a sovereign nation.
They are pretty proud of this.
"Statia" as the island is called, was the first country to recognize the US as a sovereign nation.
They are pretty proud of this.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
New Directions
Off to the North. We are now on St. Eustatius. We will spend the next few days exploring. Diving should be good. We have our bikes out and are ready for hiking, biking, diving and adventure.
We had an interesting day. The flight was fine.
We had an interesting day. The flight was fine.
Red Tape in Guadeloupe
We spent the good part of today dealing with French authorities. The Glastar was not on their aircraft registry. Thanks to an extra hour or two of our time, French Guadeloupe knows of the Glastar.
Dominica is Out!
Darn! We waited, we tried but the weather heading south form here, Guadeloupe is worse and does not look good for the next week at least. Oh well, we can't argue with Mother Nature. Heading north looks so much better.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Guadaloupe
Because of weather we ended up here. Not too bad! Time for some exercise. We swam out to the little island behind us expecting a drink and a water taxi back. No drink, no taxi. We got a great work-out and a good laugh.
Weather still changing our schedule
We left the St. Kitts this morning with multiple layers of clouds above. The photo is of the island of Montserrat. You can see the lava from the 1995 eruption that destroyed the main city & the whole south end of the island. We shot the instrument approach into Guadeloupe, a French protectorate. Cloud layers thickening. Our destination was Dominica, but as weather came in Guadeloupe was as far as we could get today.
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