July 2011 - Grand Bahama

From my jail cell in Brazil I was allowed one phone call ... I called Alejandro in Venezuela and asked him to make arrangements for my flight out to the next FOTM. "Flight Club aircraft this year, right boss?" he asked. "Yes AIr, please." "And you are not to worry boss" he continued, "I will have all of the arrangements made for your next flight too."
After dinner on Thursday June 30th I was released from the prison and met by a taxi cab that took me to Santos Dumont Airport. There at the VIP counter were my papers and out on the tarmac was the Flight Club's DC-4 in new livery. I pre-flighted the aircraft, did my walk-around and started the four big radial engines and as they warmed I read more carefully the paperwork from Alastair. "Most flights arrive into Nassau ... " Alejandro had attached a sticky-note, "Boss, I have a tour guide named 'Mami' ready to meet you tomorrow in Nassau."
"Mami?" With that I got my clearance and taxied out to the runway just as the sun was sinking over the hills to the northwest. (pict1) I departed to the north, flew over the famous bridge and the big, international airport before setting off across the whole of Brazil. (pict2) As the sun set I broke out the maps thinking that if I had an emergency of some sort and crashed I'd be lost in the thick Amazonian Jungles - perhaps forever.
As the hours drug by I began looking forward to my month in the Bahamas. I took out my map of that area and was shocked to see over 50 airports listed not to mention too many coves and bays to count. (pict3) I began thinking of Twin Otters on sandy beaches and Caravans into remote villages and sunshine and fresh air and .....
Really, the next thing I noticed was sunlight coming in the right-side windows and then Port Au Prince was below. (pict4) (pict5) A couple hours later I was setting up for landing into Nassau. (pict6)
My first order of business was to find "Mami" which I did, shortly after lunchtime on July 1st. She advised me to ditch Alastair's flightplan and actually take a tour and enjoy some of the local culture of the many various islands and villages. (pict7) My only thought was to call my wife and ask for a chaperone!
* Friday mid-day we flew 64 miles to Governors Harbour in the C206 turbo. (pict8) * Next was 30 miles to Cape Eleuthera and a 2000 ft runway. (pict9) (pict10) * After cruising along at 140 knots I had had enough; there were places to go and people to see you know! * At this point we switched to a "Texas Turbine" Cessna Supervan and flew at 190 knots to Sampson Cay. (pict11) (pict12) * Mami's family actually live on Sampson Cay and the plan was for us to spend the night here. * At this point I took a sporty Piaggio back up to Nassau to meet my wife who was to join me for the month. (pict13) (pict14) * Mami's family gave us an extra-warm welcome and it seemed that everyone from her uncle to her maternal grandmother knew of our connection to Alejandro. * The next AM we went island Hop-Scotching in a Flotter. (pict15) * This is crazy, there are just TONS of little runways and islands and inlets all over the place! (pict16) * We landed and took off from no less than six little islands or villages between Sampson Cay and MYXE. (pict17) * Like the C206, I decided that 130 knots felt a bit slow. (pict18) * We traded in the Flotter for the Stratojet Amphibian. Its just 40 miles to Stella Maris (MYLS) but we took the over-water portion at MACH 0.8 which is 530 knots! (pict19) * After lunch we continued our island/cay hopping down south eventually ending up in the water at Providenciales where we spent the night. (pict20) (pict21) * Early the next AM we climbed aboard a Colombian An-24 and headed to Grand Turk for breakfast. (pict22) (pict23) * A couple of hours later we were continuing on to Barahona on the south side of the Dominican Republic. (pict24) (pict25) * Several days later we moved south to visit Alejandro. (pict26) (pict27)
Alastair, what a beautiful, scenic and warm FOTM this has been. THANK YOU!!!!!!