Come with me to the Bahama "Out Islands"

Finally online again!

The long awaited Bahamas fly out was finally under way!   Since we're flying ourselves this time, we aren't limited to just two bags.   Duane always says I pack too much...oh well...

The total flight time is about 6 hours - so we planned an early morning departure.  Three planes were in the "convoy" - all flying into Ft. Pierce, Florida for a final refueling before making the "hop" over to Eleuthera.

The plane all packed up with supplies and survival gear.  We carried a life raft and we wore life vests for the over-water portion of the flight.

The three couples met at Ft. Pierce for lunch and a final double check of the airplanes and International flight plan paperwork.  The couples were Duane and myself, neighbors Dick and Lindy and longtime friends Cecil and Carolyn.

A final pose before getting our life vests on for the flight.

All ready!!

We flew in a "flight of three" with us in the lead.  Here we are departing over the Intercoastal Waterway. 

Not too much to see except blue ocean until we approached the lovely Bahamas...I don't think I'll ever tire of the stunning crystal clear water!

Our destination for the day is Rock Sound, Eleuthera where we will pick up our sailboat the next day.

We had to clear customs - so everything had to be removed from the planes and wheeled into the small terminal building.

Always helpful people around.....see how much "stuff" I had in the airplane??

Clearing customs was a breeze - then we moved the airplanes to a parking area.  All three airplanes are secure and we're ready for our "Out Island" adventure to be underway!

We weren't able to be on the boat for the first night, so we stayed in these lovely little cottages overlooking the Atlantic side of Eleuthera.

The girls took a little walk on the lovely deserted beach.

Then there was much relaxing on the deck before dinner.

We all decided that this particular kind of aloe plant looked like a giant asparagus, so it was worthy of a photo. The photo doesn't do it justice - it's about 20 feet tall!

This is a very small establishment called Northside Inn - the owner is also the cook - she whips up nice Bahama dinners to your order, all served with "Rice and Peas" and fried plantains.  A great start!

I had to snap a photo of Carolyn with the "glass of water" that she ordered.  It came as a neat little squatty quart sized jug...the cold beer in the foreground is the local Bahamian beer - Kalik.  These were liberally ordered during the entire trip!

This is the way you get down to the beach - it's a ten foot ladder propped up on the dune.   Whatever works!!

It was wonderful to have the ocean breeze flowing thru the cottage all night long....more tomorrow when we board the sailboat!