Hawk's Nest, Cat Island Bahamas Fly-out!

Off to the Bahamas again!! We left on Christmas Day because of the big winter storm approaching from the west. Since it was Christmas Day, we had no restaurant nearby for lunch....so we planned ahead and had a "picnic" under the wing at Ft. Pierce where we stopped for fuel. A good start and already the temps were climbing!

Leaving Ft. Pierce with life vests on, life raft in the cockpit and our Epirbs (emergency beacons) ready in case of a water landing!

Land ahoy!  Grand Bahama Island....

Because it was Christmas Day, we had to land at an airport where customs would be open.  This is the Freeport airport on Grand Bahama Island.  After a quick customs inspection and a top-off of fuel, we were on our way to Cat Island about 250 miles away.

Beautiful waters below!

Cat Island / Hawk's Nest Resort in sight!

A quick 100 foot walk from the aircraft tiedown spot and we were in the resort.   Here is the main bar/lounge.  First day we just relaxed and enjoyed the warmth!

We went snorkeling while we waited for the others in our group to arrive a day later.  I won't comment on the photos....just enjoy the fish!

Beautiful shallow bay...

Some of the culprits!

Lindy and I relaxing one night.

Dinner at the resort was always a treat.  This is pretty much our entire group - the couple at the front of the table are the owners of Hawk's Nest - Jerry and Jane Clayton.  Extremely nice folks!

The next day was our SCUBA dive day!  Cecil rode along for fun but he's not a diver.

I'm in the water here waiting on the other divers to get geared up and ready.

My underwater shots:

Duane -

A airplane propeller....hmm....wonder how that got there???

A lionfish that our guide had speared - they are an invasive species brought from Asia and are hurting our reefs because they have poisonous barbs and have no natural predators here.  The divemasters often try to kill any they see to try to control the population.  Probably a loosing battle.

Amazing fish!!

Our guide speared a amber-jack.  He said it would be his dinner that night!

The next day we went on a long bike ride - about 1 1/2 hours.  My tush was feeling it!!!

Beautiful shoreline - Cat Island is sparsely populated.

Back at the resort for more relaxing!  Jane and Jerry were around often for interesting conversation about the drug-running history of the Bahamas.

A long walk around the "point" of the island.

Just can't get over how beautiful it is here!

The honor bar, fully stocked but no bartender - you just get what you want and write down what you took for payment when you check out.

Our good buddy, John Shearer entertained the crowd one night with his beefy baritone!!

Enjoy a short clip!

Then there was some Rummy played, of course!!!

Simple dinner one night - but it all started with a wonderful conch chowder, those mashed potatoes were fabulous and it was finished with delicious home-made rum ice cream....then Jerry brought over a bottle of Bailey's and spiked the late-evening coffee....let's not even think about the calories!!!

While we were there a nice Falcon jet came in with a family on board...

Here's a photo of some of the Wahoo that we had for dinner that night!  This was some of the other folks staying at Hawk's Nest that had gone fishing that day.  I'm not sure but I think the MahiMahi sandwich I had the next day was hanging up there too! Yummy!

More relaxing....

John and his girl Sarah posed for a quick shot!

And more relaxing....

And too soon, it was time to go home.  Unfortunately, a cloudy flight home - had to shoot an actual approach into Ft. Pierce.   Customs was a breeze and we had to get the coats out!!  A great time!