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Bahamas, May 2013

ScottSchmidt

Well Known Member
Life seems to get busier everyday for all of us. Luckily there are places like the Bahamas that can recalibrate us and allow us to just relax, build sand castles with our kids and have a good margarita. We were invited to join up with three other RV-10's and head to the Bahamas in late April.
Seems like all of VAF was in the Bahamas the same time so I will try to just hit the highlights and share some pictures.
Of course the kids came with us who had just turned 3 and almost 20 months old. I was a little concerned about the long flight from Salt Lake to the Bahamas but they did perfect. They never complained and were either sleeping, eating or watching a movie.

We departed Salt Lake on a Thursday afternoon and flew non-stop to Wiley Post airport just next to Oklahoma City for the first night. I was not sure how far we were going to make it and I had about three airports planned. The kids were doing so great we stretched it as far as we could. RaNae even took the controls for awhile over a beautiful overcast layer. The next day was a little rainy and overcast so I filed IFR and flew in the soup for about 2 hours and from then on we had perfect weather the rest of the trip.
We landed in Monroe, Alabama (KMVC). Again the kids were doing great so when I amended my flight plan to go a little further ATC asked why, I said "cause the kids are still sleeping", they were just fine with that. If you are ever in the area be sure to stop here. The fuel was cheap and they had the best lunch ready for us there. We ate BBQ pork sandwiches, great iced tea and they had 3 types of homemade cake that the kids loved. Everything was free with a fuel purchase. They get lots of military aircraft visits. They also said Monroe was famous for "To Kill a Mockingbird"

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We fueled up and planned on meeting up with everyone at Ft. Lauderdale Executive airport. That flight went great and we landed just as the sun went down. We tied down at Banyan which is one of the nicest FBO's I have been to. The next morning we quickly visited their pilot shop which is huge. Anna flew the big iron for a minute before putting on her life vest and heading across the water.

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We flew with Brian and Brandi Unrein, The Olson's (Tim, Andrea, Colleen and Danielle), and Sean and Hollie Strasburg.
Both Brian and Brandi Unrein and Tim Olson did great write-ups for this trip.

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We left Ft. Lauderdale and did customs at Fresh Creek (MYAF). There was no line and it was simple. Didn't even have to unload the plane. From there we flew to our first stop which was Staniel Cay.

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We stayed 4 nights at Staniel Cay and had a great time. Our room was called the Sea Glass and was one of their newer rooms. Luckily they let us stay in there with all four of us. We have two Aerobeds for kids that they just love and slept on the floor. I landed about 4 times at Staniel Cay with the gusty winds and wrote down everyone in my logbook.
One thing that was really great about this place is the rooms come with a boat. The newer rooms are a little more money but come with a bigger boat. So each day we would get up and have breakfast, have them pack a lunch in a cooler and we would go play on our own beach somewhere. I asked a local where to go and he suggested a couple of beaches. We snorkeled the Thunderball Grotto and of course went and fed the swimming pigs.

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This is a picture of Staniel Cay looking to the north.
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And here it is looking to the south. The Staniel Cay Yacht Club is where we stayed.
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Like I said, the kids did great. They never complained about their life vests and enjoyed looking out the window. I guess the chocolate doesn't hurt.
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Landing at Staniel Cay.
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"Hey, which way to the beach?"
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There were two beaches we really enjoyed. This was one of them.
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This beach from the air. Someone told me that Tyler Perry owns the island with the windmills.
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The last day we found this one. It was our favorite.
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This beach from the air. We were on the back side of the closest island.
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And if the map says "Iguanas" it is not the name of the beach.
These guys sprinted for us as we pulled up in the boat. We were not going to stick around long.
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A picture of the rooms at the Yacht Club.
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The view from our room.
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We really enjoyed our stay at Staniel Cay and will go back and stay again. The food was great and the access to a boat is perfect. We had those beaches all to ourselves and the water and sand could not have been better.

We then loaded up and headed to Stella Maris.
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We flew over this dinghy on the way. It belongs to a 38 year old billionaire from Russia. Over $300 Million. Video Here Just for the record, when I get my billions I will call my boat "A+".
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I have not touched the colors on these pictures. It was very cool.
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Resort just north of Stella Maris. Looked really nice as well.
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Blue Hole - Deepest hole in the world.
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Stella Maris is also a great resort. The resort sits on a hill and at the top is the bar and restaurant. There is also a bar and grill down by the water with a playground and pool. Hard to go wrong with either place.
I did a wreck and shark dive (recommended by Rosie) and swam at the Blue Hole.
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Emily (20 months) loved the airport/hotel dog Stella. I think we spent most of the time just walking around yelling her name.
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The crew after a hard day of flying (not)
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Snails down by the water.
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Well, it was time to start heading back early Saturday morning. We had bought RaNae and the kids tickets out of Ft. Lauderdale International so I could book it home in just over one day and make it back Sunday afternoon. The kids did so good the whole time I know they would have been just fine. So we loaded up the planes and we headed to Ft. Lauderdale while everyone else headed to Ft. Pierce.

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Followed an Airbus in.
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The big iron waiting for the little iron.
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Customs was a snap and I departed to meet back up with the crew at Leesburg before leaving Tim. Sean and I flew to an airport just over the Mississippi (0R4) for cheap gas and then stayed at Shreveport Lousiana. We landed at the downtown airport which had a very cool approach. There we had some great margaritas on Cinco de Mayo at the Superior Grill.

Leesburg, FL
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Mississippi River
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Landing at Shreveport, LA
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The next day we were in the air early and back home in Salt Lake just after lunch. We stopped once more in TX for gas.
This will probably be an every other year trip for us.
 
Nice write up and great photo's, Scott. We are packing up the airplane and heading for Staniel Cay on Sunday. This will be our third trip to Staniel, and we are really looking forward to it.
 
Glad you started traveling and writing again Scott. I was fascinated with your early trips and now show is going on.

Quote from VAF front page
That's why we do it. It's that *thing* that keeps us engaged. Keeps us young. Keeps us longing for time off the surface in a mechanical marvel.
 
Glad you started traveling and writing again Scott. I was fascinated with your early trips and now show is going on.
What he said. Your trip reports are always great, Scott - thanks for sharing.
 
Awesome! I always love it when someone flies out to the Bahamas. I just passed my Checkride yesterday and a trip to the Bahamas will be for sure in the first 150 hrs. of my flight experiences.

Cheers!

~J~
 
Bahamas Trip

Scott,
Very nice write up, fantastic pictures! Motivates me to fly down to the Bahamas or the Caribbean this fall. (Hurricanes permitting.:cool:)
 
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