Florida, Bahamas

A 15-day adventure by GUFY trips Read more

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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
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Dive Center
April 11, 2017 on the Bahamas ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Folks getting ready to take the boat and go to a diving site.
GUFY trips Walkway going to dive center.
5/7/17Reply
GUFY trips View of resort from the dive center
5/7/17Reply
GUFY trips Although this beckoned, I used the one in front of my cottage. Very relaxing.
5/7/17Reply
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
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Nature walk
April 11, 2017 on the Bahamas ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
After yesterday's over-exertions, all I felt comfortable doing was a short nature walk. I wanted to be alert enough to fly back to fForida later today.
GUFY trips There were numerous red winged blackbirds, similar to the ones back home.
5/8/17Reply
GUFY trips The limestone surface is dissolved by acid rain. This area looks like a pock marked sponge.
5/8/17Reply
GUFY trips Sometimes sink holes are formed by the dissolving process.
5/8/17Reply
GUFY trips Another sink hole. Sometimes these form underwater creating 'blue holes'.
5/8/17Reply
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
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Fly by
April 11, 2017 on the Bahamas ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Unplanned encounter. This is how one pilot guest said goodbye to Small Hope Bay.
The Bahamas must have mellowed me because my more typical reaction would have been to dive flat on the deck.

I was walking out to the dive center when I heard a drone to my right. I glanced right and saw the plane 'coming straight at me'. My mind jumped into high gear and everything went into slow motion. Thoughts that ran through my mind:

It must be .. from last night... he was leaving today;
It looks like I am being attacked by a Zero in a Pearl Harbor reenactment;
Do I have to do anything to avoid being hit?;
Nope he is going to miss me;
Camera!

Then time jumped to fast mode and I managed to get some serendipitous photos.
To get a sense of actual distance, the camera lens was at a wide angle, 25 mm, equivalent.Read more
GUFY trips The camera was not horizontal. There is a small part of the horizon in lower right. The plane is climbing.
5/8/17Reply
GUFY trips The plane passed between me at the near end of the wooden crosswalk and the dive hut.
5/8/17Reply
Marc St laurent Must have been close to Bermuda Triangle , registration mysteriously blacked out
5/11/17Reply
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Edge of barrier reef
April 11, 2017, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Andros island is comprised of a narrow hard surfaced island, similar to others of The Bahamas, plus an extensive barrier reef on the west.
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Underwater phantoms?
April 11, 2017, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Near Orange Cay
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Skinny islands south of Bimini
April 11, 2017 on the Bahamas ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Ocean Cay, Bahamas
April 11, 2017 on the Bahamas ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
North Cat Cay
April 11, 2017 on the Bahamas ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Has a lighthouse and an airport.
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Bimini
April 11, 2017 on the Bahamas ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
Turning from Bahamas towards Florida.
Sigh.
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Hollywood, FL
April 11, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Approaching Fort Lauderdale under air traffic control.
Note that the air is less clear than in the Bahamas. This is normal, is not smog, and was this way until reaching Maine.
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
(KFXE) Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport
April 11, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Cleared customs here. That took over an hour. Although I went through fast, they were backed up because a previous person had unexpectedly arrived with over 10000 dollars in gold bullion.
They asked me if I had over 10000 dollars in gold. That is how I found out about the problem. Although I answered with a simple no, to be specific my wallet contained one Bahamian dollar bill and one US dollar bill. I need to get to an ATM.

The picture is of the pilot lounge. Got enough avgas here to get to Winter Haven where I will fill up on mogas,Read more
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
(KGIF) Winter Haven
April 12, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 16 °C
Met David Berelsman.
David drove me around looking for hotels. After several attempts, ended up at Budget Inn.

Pics are of a couple of interesting aircraft at the airport.

Tried to fix an equipment issue that began in the Bahamas. The main 'glass panel' instrument stores maps, airspace info, flight data, etc. on an SD memory card. I generally remove it at night for examination and safe keeping. When I reinstalled it while in the Bahamas I got a card read failure. (I had already managed to lose my backup card a day before.) No big deal since i can get a new card and prepare it accordingly form the laptop i carry with me. Dave kindly took me to a pharmacy where I picked up a card and prepared it that evening.

Tried it the next morn but still got a card read error. Oh oh, the reader is dead. That is not critical since I have the same info on the android tablet I also use when I fly. Effectively it meant I was driving on my spare tire. No more tires after that.

Next is to retrace my way back north. Planned stops are Barnwell SC, and Danville VA.

Managed to spill some gas when refueling which I soaked up with a rag I carry for that purpose. Should not have stored it uncovered with me in the cockpit though.Read more
David BerelsmanI enjoyed meeting you.... hope to see you again
4/12/17Reply
GUFY tripsLikewise. Cuba eh. Hmm.
5/26/17Reply
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Proof we're not in Bahamas anymore
April 12, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
At breakfast in McDonalds across from the Budget Inn.

The night before David and I discussed long cross country trips. He recommended a trip he had made through the Florida keys to Cuba. An impressive achievement especially since he did it as an American.

I mentioned I was planning on visiting Siberia next year. He thought Cuba was a much better idea.Read more
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Florida lakes
April 12, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Looking towards Disney World.
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Plant Vogtle, GA
April 12, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Nuclear power plant
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
(KBNL) Barnwell Airport, SC
April 12, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Gas stop.

This leg was hard because of the fumes from a gas soaked rag in the cockpit. If I opened a vent, the fumes would evaporate faster and get worse. Eventually I threw my sweater over the rag area and that seemed to help.

The friendly FBO manager gave me plastic bag to enclose the offending rag. problem solved.
Needed a longer than expected rest stop here before I felt sufficiently recuperated.Read more
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
(KDAN) Danville Airport, VA
April 12, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Sleep and gas.
Staying at Sleep Inn.

I got a collapsible luggage cart for the trip to use instead of the typical airline traveler luggage cart I had previously.That one did not roll well outdoors and not at all in sand. My new one i stronger and has much larger weeks that fold sideways so that it is thinner than the old one when folded. I use the carts to haul loaded gas cans.
Today was the first time I used it on the trip because I will be filling the cans with car gas to take back to the plane. (Could have used them in Front Royal and Jacksonville but did not.) The cart with my luggage and (empty) gas cans rolled well for ten steps.Then the ground crew arrived in a cart and took me to their van where I was driven to a couple of hotels until we found one with a vacancy. For the record, it is harder to load a cart full of luggage and cans onto a vehicle than to load the items on the cart directly on that vehicle. But if they had been less helpful, I am sure the cart would have demonstrated its usefulness.

Plan for tomorrow. Last day (sort of). My home field of Weyman is not landable yet. Latest plan is to go directly to Fredericton and clear customs there too. With the forecast weather for Fredericton area, it should only be a few days before GUFY will be able to land at Weyman. I will still probably have to use my 'bog boards' under the wheels to enable the plane to cross the thawing turf to the hangar.

Used the cart in the morning to go get gas at a nearby station and haul it with my luggage back to the airport. It worked well, handling grass and curbs with ease.Read more
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Threemile Island, PA
April 13, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
Harrisburg on the left.
Threemile Island power plant below. I did not realize this was THAT nuclear power plant until making this entry.
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
(58N) Reigle airport, Palmyra, PA
April 13, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
Mogas fuel stop.Now this airport is definitely within the community.

Had an issue that nearly resulted in me landing back at Front Royal airport instead. About an hour into the flight, my tablet rebooted itself. That was not unusual and not alarming; consumer electronics is generally not as reliable as aviation gear. But when it rebooted, the GPS was unavailable. That WAS alarming. Since my primary panel was crippled because its unreadable memory card. It only showed were I was relative to the next waypoint on my route... no map data. If I could not easily locate myself on a map, I carried no paper charts, the method of continued safe progress was impacted. This was just as I was coming up on Washington and New York airspace.

Over a 15 minute period I tried a few things and forced shutdowns of the tablet hoping it would recover. I called air traffic control telling them I was going to land at Front Royal airport instead. Since I had landed there on the way south, it was on the primary panel. So when i reached Front Royal, I told them I was arriving and begin descending from my 7500 ft cruise altitude. Around 4000 feet the GPS returned to the tablet.

So I told Front Royal I would not be landing, got back on route, climbed back up, and called air traffic to get flight following again.

After touchdown at Reigle I was assaulted by the stench of fresh pig manure from nearby fields. It was still better than gas fumes.
Temperature cooler. Put on my sweater.Read more
J BDid you ever figure out the nav issues?
5/15/17Reply
GUFY tripsMy android/tablet occasionally has lapses similar to this, bit this was bay far the longest. They are normally less of a concern since my aviation panel gps nav system continues to work, and that is much more reliable. But the map nav on that system was down because of its memory card issue.
5/26/17Reply
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Crossing the Appalachian Trail
April 13, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
Bowmanstown PA below.
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Crossing the Hudson River
April 13, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
Apparently I flew right over the FD Roosevelt home and national site. All that you can see in the photo is a parking lot and his house in the lower left corner.
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Manchester, NH
April 13, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
J BManchester , NH
5/15/17Reply
GUFY tripsOops I originally had this in Massachusetts. Thanks for the correction Jim.
5/26/17Reply
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
(KSFM) Sanford Airport, ME
April 13, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Gas stop.
Was feeling a bit tired at Sanford so had a cup of coffee. I never have coffee... unless I need to stay awake.
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Biddeford, ME
April 13, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
There are patches of snow on the ground. Noooo.
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Florida, Bahamas GUFY trips
Border
April 13, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
St. Croix River. Hound Brook Lake, Me in the distance.
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