October 2005- I dream in color. Azure blue, coral pink, sunset orange. The silver of clouds when seen with the sun hitting them from above. Tropical fish colors and sea and sky colors. I dream of the Bahamas.
This past February I had a chance to return to the Bahamas with our first annual Piper Flyer Association Bahamas Reunion. Kent and I met up with Thierry and Sophie Pouille and their son Alex in Jupiter, Fla.
The Pouilles run Air Journey, a company that specializes in travel for GA pilots. They are PFA’s partner for the Bahamas trips, handling all of the details of the tour.
We had come to Florida a day early to acclimate ourselves to the warm weather and spend an extra day unwinding prior to starting the tour. Thierry and Sophie are superb hosts and we spent an enjoyable day and night with them.
Thierry was not going to be with us at the start of our trip. His twin-engine airplane required some urgent maintenance. So we were introduced to Jean Pierre Arnaud (known as JP) who would be our chief pilot and tour guide for the first half of our journey.
Monday morning we met at the Vero Beach airport for breakfast at CJ Cannons. Here Kent had his first introduction to grits – he was not impressed. And we got our introductions to the group who would be joining us on the tour: Leon and Nancy Morris from Dover, Del., Jay Jarvis from Hickory, N.C. and John Balles from Grand Rapids, Mich. and Gilles and Alice Gallant from Fla. We were favorably impressed.
Ed Flanagan and Vita Lanoce from Jensen Beach, Fla., friends from previous Bahamas adventures, would be meeting up with us in Treasure Cay.
After breakfast we prepared for our flight to the Bahamas. JP conducted a briefing and handed the pilots their respective flight plans. The first leg of our trip would take us over Grand Bahama Island to Treasure Cay in the Abacos (MYAT) a distance of approximately 170 nm. Air Journey takes care of the paperwork and flight planning throughout the trip.
We were to go over in a loose pack—no formation flying—with each airplane at an assigned altitude. We would be able to talk to each other all the way over and this is, to me, one of the most fun aspects of the flight. As the faster planes reach the Caribbean and they get the first glimpse of that impossibly blue sea they radio back to the rest. This is also helpful for weather updates and general situational awareness.
Here’s an important thing to know about the trips: they are flown in VFR conditions. As the pilot you have the final say regarding takeoff in the case of inclement weather, but Air Journey will err on the side of caution and the least experienced pilots.
Air Journey will also organize any re-routing or change in the itinerary imposed by adverse or unsafe weather conditions.
In my three years of traveling in the Bahamas we’ve only been delayed by weather once—and Thierry, who has flown several trips a year for many years, tells me that’s the only time he’s ever had to turn back.
For most of the trip across we were at 8,000 feet and above the broken cloud layer. I don’t mind missing the view of the Atlantic, but as we approached the islands, we came down through a hole in the clouds to do some sightseeing in the Caribbean.
We landed at Treasure Cay under clear skies and proceeded through customs. I have never had an unpleasant experience with Bahamas customs. It does help to come through with the Air Journey group as Thierry and JP are well-known and well-liked throughout the Out Islands of the Bahamas.
Groups of us took taxis to our resort and here we had a chance to get to know Leon and Nancy a little better. Be prepared to spend some cash on taxi transfers from and to airports.
After getting settled into our room at the Treasure Cay resort, we headed over to the Coco Beach Bar for lunch. Most of the rest of the group had congregated there as well. It was a blustery day, but we set out to explore the beach after lunch anyway.
The effect of the hurricanes was seen in the massive amounts of seaweed washed up on the beach. The resort was making a heroic effort at cleanup and had raked the stuff into piles, but it was a shame to see the beach—previously rated one of most beautiful in the world—in that state.
That night was our get-acquainted cocktail reception. We were joined by representatives of the Abacos tourism board who welcomed us to and gave us a background of the islands. Over dinner we all decided to take the water taxi to New Plymouth the next day to do some exploring and shopping. It had been a long day and tomorrow promised to be eventful so we all headed back to our rooms for some much-needed sleep.
After breakfast we boarded taxis that took us to the water taxi wharf. A brief trip across the bay and we landed at New Plymouth. We made plans to meet back at the wharf at a specific time and took off to enjoy the island, each in his own way.
Most of us ended up at the museum as our first stop. Here a charming lady gave us a tour of the museum and some background on New Plymouth, including its ties to Key West and its British Loyalist history. She spoke of locals by first name, using the familiarity that comes to people who have lived their lives in small towns and just expect that, of course you know Tom and Betty. I gained an interesting insight to a chapter in Bahamas history of which hadn’t been aware.
We had lunch at the Turtle Cay Club and walked a short distance to some absolutely gorgeous beaches. Up early the next day, we met for breakfast and JP gave individual briefings. We were all heading to North Eleuthera (MYEH) and then by water taxi to Harbor Island for lunch at the famed Blue Bar on the beautiful pink sand beaches.
Harbor Island is one of my favorite spots in the Bahamas. We shared a really good lunch together and then split up to explore the beaches and tour the rest of the island by golf cart. A stop at the duty-free shop completed our stay on Harbor and we set off for our next stop and what would be our base for the next three days—Hawk’s Nest Resort on Cat Island (MYCH).
At Hawk’s Nest you land on the resort’s 3,100-foot runway and walk to your rooms. Pilot paradise.
Kent and I received the good news that we would be sharing the Point House with Ed and Vita. Yes! I had seen and coveted the Point House on previous trips so this was a special treat. What I hadn’t counted on was that transportation from the Point House to the main resort where the meals were served was accomplished by bicycle. Ah, well – this didn’t seem like a big deal.
We mounted up on some of the scraggly assortment of bikes that the resort has available for anyone’s use and off we went. Well, this was actually fun breezing along, taking in the scenery. Then suddenly, Vita who was ahead of me began to wobble and then she fell down. In a domino effect, I braked and fell over.
Turns out the hurricane had washed out part of the road to the house and replaced it with a sand pit. Kent, who was a Category 2 bicycle racer in Canada powered through with no problem, but I was to spend the next three days trying to conquer the sand, sometimes getting halfway through before bogging down, sometimes just giving up and walking my bike through the sandy part. But it wasn’t so bad—all that exercise allowed me to justify another conch fritter or two and some dessert at dinner.
Our first full day at Hawk’s Nest was an “on your own” day. We made the most of it, spending some time on the beach, snorkeling, beachcombing and relaxing. We met up with Ed and Vita for a kayak trip around harbor and down a small salt water channel, complete with sharks! (They were just small nurse sharks – at least that’s what the others told me to reassure me.)
That night we all met for dinner in the resort’s dining room. It was a great time to catch up with everyone and see how they had all spent their day. “Sat around the pool and read a book.” “Went for a walk.” “Took the plane up for a look around.”
Jay and John had come on the trip hoping for a chance to do some diving. The weather over the first couple of days had been disappointing, but today they had their chance. They described how they had to swim through a narrow opening at the end of which lay – the abyss. They told us the sensation of looking down into the infinite deep was awesome.
The next day we rented a couple of cars and made the relatively short drive to Mount Alvernia and the monastery that’s there. The Hermitage sits on the highest spot in the Bahamas. At 206 feet the mount is not exactly nosebleed-high, but it affords some wonderful views and the monastery is a very interesting place to explore.
Dinner tonight will be our last together as a group. It’s amazing and wonderful how you start out as a group of strangers from different places and disparate backgrounds and you end the week as friends.
Two days later, we’re back in Wisconsin. What a shock to return to Wisconsin winter after a week in the Bahamas. The wind chill must be 10 below zero. The skies are gray. But I dream in color.
Jennifer Dellenbusch is the President of the Piper Flyer Association. She has made three trips to the Bahamas with Air Journey, including this year’s Piper Flyer Association Bahamas reunion. If you’re interested in seeing the Bahamas in the unique way only a GA pilot can, and you want to make some friends at the same time, join us in 2006 for the Piper Flyer Association Bahamas Reunion. For more information contact Jennifer Dellenbusch at jen@aviationgroupltd.com.
