Bahamas PIREP

Your trip reports, airport experiences, etc. are welcome here.

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Steven
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Re: Bahamas PIREP

Post by Steven »

This seems like it was a million years ago.

Matt, the process is intimidating the first time. It's not so bad in reality, but you won't feel that way until after you have done it. Any recent changes regarding COVID not withstanding, yes, you can call the States the day of departure and let them know about when you will be there. The rules don't tell you what to do if you call repeatedly and no one answers, but most likely that will not happen to you. (hint: if it does, call Customs at a different airport).

The raft is a box about 12x12x12" and weighs about 20 pounds, though I neither measured nor weighed it. Yes, it will fit in the aft compartment. But in the one-in-a-million chance that you actually need it, do you want to have to take all of the luggage out to get to it? I left in the back seat, though I understand you may not have one available.
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mhoran
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Re: Bahamas PIREP

Post by mhoran »

Good point about keeping the raft accessible! The back seats will be free, so I'll go with that.

I've got just about everything sorted at this point. Thanks so much for the tips. Very excited!
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mhoran
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Re: Bahamas PIREP

Post by mhoran »

After a false start back in July (see viewtopic.php?p=86682#p86682 for details), I'm happy to report that I just returned from an incredible trip to Cat Island. I figured I'd share my experience as there were a few unknowns that left me feeling a bit on edge at points and I found this thread very helpful.

Based on the advice of others I had planned to launch out of and return to Fort Pierce. This was based on the good reports of APP Jet Center and Fort Pierce customs. Reserving a life raft was a simple email. I'd actually reserved one twice -- once in July (which I canceled without issue) and another for my trip last week.

I spent Sunday afternoon preparing for Monday's flight. I called Governors Harbor to check on fuel. Despite what Airnav said, they did *not* have fuel. Though they seem to have fixed their fuel truck, the barge didn't arrive and they would be out until the Thursday after I was set to arrive. I called North Eleuthera and verified that they had avgas.

Monday morning we got breakfast at Airport Tiki, located right at Fort Pierce. It was mostly empty and we were in and out quickly. (Note: on weekends it is packed, as we learned on the way home.) The food was good. Afterwards I grabbed my life raft from the front desk. It's quite small and rather light. 12x12x4 or so and weighs about 20 lbs or so. I was able to strap it right into the back seat. We brought our own life jackets so I can't comment on what APP Jet Center has to offer in that regard.

We launched off from Fort Pierce around 11am and the flight to North Eleuthera was absolutely breathtaking. We could see the amazingly clear water northwest of Grand Bahama just a half hour or so after launching off of Fort Pierce. We arrived at North Eleuthera just two hours after leaving Fort Pierce. There was a Citation taking off before me and a Baron coming in from the South. I had no problem landing before the Citation's rotation point and taxied over to White Crown Aviation.

I topped off with ~20 gallons of fuel for $7-something a gallon. Definitely the most I've ever spent on fuel (until the return flight!) The immigration and customs experience was a breeze. Everyone was so polite and incredibly welcoming. I paid the customs processing fee ($50) in cash and for fuel with a credit card.

We took off from North Eleuthera shortly after for the quick hour long flight to Cat Island. I was a bit confused by the airspace around Eleuthera and, since I couldn't get through to Nassau Approach, took a long route around Eleuthera so I could climb up higher than 1500ft. However, I couldn't climb as high as I wanted because there were clouds at about 2500ft, so I ended up flying along at 2000 feet a bit further away from land than I was really comfortable with. I still don't really understand the airspace. It looks like Nassau class D starts at 1500ft above Eleuthera, and since I couldn't get them on the radio, I couldn't fly in there. I hope to figure that out for next time.
Screenshot_20211102-132309~2.png
The flight over to Cat Island was otherwise uneventful (well, except for a low fuel pressure warning which, in hind sight, should have concerned me), and we were on the ground an hour later. I gave Fernandez Bay Village a call and they were over to pick me up by the time we'd gone through customs. Note: there are no tie downs at New Bight. This was fine for our stay, but if it's going to be windy, you might want to bring something. There were chocks available.

The stay at Fernandez Bay Village was absolutely incredible. We stayed in Travelers Palm Cottage, which is attached to the clubhouse. I mostly just sat on the beach and drank something resembling a mojito. It was great. We also did plenty of kayaking and swimming and snorkeling. There is just so much to do right there on the resort. We were there for five nights and I had no desire to leave the general vicinity of the resort. Of course, you could, if so inclined. But note that some others who took a cab paid a seriously high fare ($60) to go in to town (just a few minutes away.) So be aware. Food at the resort was good. I live in New York, so I'm used to inflated prices. Food and drink worked out to about $100/day/person including tip. I gave an extra tip to the bartender because he was great and kept making me that drink resembling a mojito.

Departure on Saturday was bittersweet. I hadn't slept great the night before because I was pretty anxious about the weather. There were squalls forecast along my route of flight, and based on the weather I'd seen Friday, I wasn't even sure I'd be able to get out of New Bight VFR. There's no way to depart IFR from the out islands, so I was pretty anxious. I also couldn't find a Miami Center frequency to contact once I got up to altitude (7000 feet is what I heard them tell someone was the minimum for IFR clearance). I called Nassau FSS on the phone and they just told me to contact Nassau approach. Okay. Well hopefully I can get to altitude and pick up Nassau before hitting any clouds.

I mentioned that I should have been concerned about that low fuel pressure warning. When sumping the gascolator before departure from New Bight, out came a ton of yellow looking gunk and small leaves! Yikes. I can only imagine this came from the fuel at North Eleuthera. I refueled at the same stops on the way home and found no further debris in the gascolator. Now I'm not sure that the fuel pressure warning was because of blockage or because of a pressure balance issue (plenty of reports of this on DAN), but seeing all that junk come out of the gascolator really had me worried.

Weather ended up being VFR at New Bight, so VFR departure was not an issue. However, I wasn't really able to hear Nassau until about 20 miles off of New Bight, inching closer and closer to IMC. I eventually got them on the radio, and they sent me back to Miami Center. It's worth noting that I had filed my flight plan with fltplan.com and called Nassau on the phone to verify that they had my flight plan before taking off. They did! So I didn't have to deal with filing an ICAO flight plan in the air, thankfully. The frequency for Miami Center over New Bight was the same as the one published for San Salvador: 127.22.

Because of the weather in Florida as well as throughout the islands, I had decided to head straight back instead of refueling at another island and potentially getting stuck there. This meant choosing an airport of entry a bit closer than Fort Pierce, and I ended up choosing Fort Lauderdale Executive. What a mistake. I had a very similar experience to that of CFIDave. While the preclearance experience was fine (filed eAPIS and called for clearance to land), the experience at Fort Lauderdale Executive itself was terrible.

I'd heard that you're not to leave the plane until instructed to do so. We sat in the plane for about 5 minutes and nobody acknowledged our presence so I called customs on the phone. They seemed rather annoyed that I didn't know what to do and told me to come in. We unpacked the plane and as we were about to go in, an officer came out to inspect the plane. He used a rather useless looking piece of technology to determine that we were not drug smugglers, then directed us inside. You enter the customs building and sit in a waiting room. We sat there for about 5 minutes with no instructions. Then the doors just opened. Still, nobody told us what to do. We finally saw someone waiting in a booth and walked up to him. Handed over our passports. Not a word. We were then directed to an x-ray machine. We then waited on the other side for about 10 minutes. After 5 minutes of waiting I asked if we were all set. The officer seemed rather annoyed that I'd ask such a question. The one other person in customs seemed to be getting deported. That took about six officers. About 10 minutes later another annoyed officer told us that we were cleared (apparently I should have just known this?) We turned around and walked out the side door back to the plane.

After buying some overpriced fuel at Executive Jet Center we hopped back to Fort Pierce for the night. Two other planes arrived from the Bahamas at just around the same time. Their experience was totally different. The customs officer met them at their plane and cleared them in short order. They seemed to even have a good time doing it. Next time I'll do all I can to make it to Fort Pierce for customs.

COVID protocols were no big deal. You have to fill out the Bahamas Travel Health Visa and get approval before arriving. This was checked by immigration. Applying for the visa requires taking a PCR or (if vaccinated) antigen test ahead of time. I got this done at an urgent care center and it was covered by insurance. For the return, you pay $25 via the Bahamas Travel Health Visa website and get a rapid test right at the resort. Nobody at CBP asked to see the results.

Thanks to everyone for the great information in this thread. We had an incredible trip and I won't forget this experience. Hopefully experience will be useful to someone else as well!
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Donkadillapig
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Re: Bahamas PIREP

Post by Donkadillapig »

Thanks for this post Matt, this is on my list of flying ambitions.
Irks me no end that with all the wherewithal and resources this country has, we have spawned overly bureaucratic and officious agencies such as the CBP and the TSA. The experience doesn't change from KIAD flying commercial to KFXE in GA... sigh...
Hey Ho... We work with what we've got and are very lucky to be part of a GA community that, by and large, skirts such nonsense.
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Re: Bahamas PIREP

Post by AirHog »

Matt, what was the condition of the runway at New Bight MYCB ???
I am planning a trip to Fernandez Bay Village soon, and have seen a notam saying it is rough and uneven.

Thanks for any info,
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Bruce
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mhoran
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Re: Bahamas PIREP

Post by mhoran »

AirHog wrote: Wed Nov 24, 2021 12:40 am Matt, what was the condition of the runway at New Bight MYCB ???
I am planning a trip to Fernandez Bay Village soon, and have seen a notam saying it is rough and uneven.

Thanks for any info,
-
Bruce
Oh, I meant to post about that. I was also concerned re: the NOTAM, and could find limited information. As of November, the runway was not *too* bad, though I do understand why a NOTAM is posted (especially since the various data sources do not report runway condition.) The approach end of 09 is much better than 27. If possible I would try and land 09. The approach end of 27 (and the first ~100ft of 09) are pretty rough. There was a pretty big hole about 1000ft from the approach end of 27, which I discovered when taxiing down the runway for departure (there's no taxiway.)

The reality is that there is at least one scheduled flight in and out per day. Generally these are props, but there are also some jets. I would say the runway is better than gravel, but not by much. A short field landing/takeoff approach would be prudent. I sustained no damage to my aluminum prop and would not hesitate to fly there again.
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