(Pics/Video) New York to Austin, TX to Exuma, Bahamas

[phillipny]

We departed 3/12 for a x-country trip from NYC to Austin, Texas for the SXSW conference and then to Exuma, Bahamas.

The weather on departure blocked us from a direct route, so we took a due west heading and went around a huge system that eventually swallowed the entire East Coast and New England, a few days later.

Lots of IMC time and photos/videos of our trip below. We'll keep posting with updates of the flight and new experiences during the trip.

More pics here
http://switchboxcontrol.com/news/

 

[AdamZ]

Wow that is an impressive trip in a Cherokee! How much flying time was that and how many days for each of the three legs?

 

[rocketflyer84]

Nice, thanks for sharing. How many hours were logged on that trip?

 

[phillipny]

Trip is still going. We're Enroute to Bahamas now and then back to NYC.
At 110k it's taking quite a while but a lot of fun

 

[murphey]

I was going to ask if you took the furrball along, then I saw the photo with the pet-friendly sign. Going to park the furry one there while you continue to the Bahamas?

 

[phillipny]

The two furballs are parked in NYC. I need to develop better ear protection for them on a long flight like this

 

[Skywalker]

Nice pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Have fun on your next legs,
Martina

 

[pilottangocharlie]

I will be making a trip similar to your Austin-Bahamas leg this summer. I look forward to a story about the travels To/From the islands.

 

[frfly172]

One long trip,hope your having fun,you should have a tailwind on the way home.

 

[Scott@KTYR]

Looks like a fun trip.
Which Island in the Exuma's are you going to?
Lots of fun places to go. Have a great time.

 

[phillipny]

Thanks Scott.

Staniel Cay, with the pigs!

 

[Scott@KTYR]

Fun island. You can feed the sharks at the yacht club docks.

 

[phillipny]

We made it from Austin, TX to New Orleans now. Had a super memorable (safe) night IMC take off from Texas and then over the cloud layer for a moonlit cruise portion of the flight. Shooting stars over head in the big Texas sky.

Im looking forward to sharing all the 4K video footage we are getting, but the laptop/mobile situation can't handle it! Video will have to wait for the Mac tower back in nyc.

 

[Dennis McKim]

I'm looking forward to seeing the video. Thanks for being willing to take the time to share it.

 

[BigBadLou]

Thank you for the nice pictures, Phillip, looking fwd to the video.
Glad you escaped ATX unscathed and alive. Hope they didn't turn you into a hipster.

 

[Scott@KTYR]

Thanks Scott.

Staniel Cay, with the pigs!

If you want to do some Island hopping, check out Little Farmers Cay. One of the Exuma Islands.

It is 14NM SSE of Stanial Cay. 161* heading

The runway is a few feet from a beautiful beach.

MYE3
23* 57” 41.90N
76* 19” 34.30W

Runway is 2480' x 56'

 

[phillipny]

We made it to Exuma! Incredible journey and the #1 reason to have your pilot's license.

It was our first time here, and the customs and ocean crossing were no problem. I will post more details later. Must get off the computer and enjoy this special place!

Ill post more pictures, videos and info on flying in the Bahamas soon. Some screen grabs over Bimini below and more pics on the site

http://switchboxcontrol.com/news/

 

[AdamZ]

Can't wait for the full trip report. I'll be interested to hear about your experiences with customs and immigration when returning to the U.S.

 

[DJTorrente]

Have you noticed any loss of speed from the exterior cameras? Does it matter on a PA-28 airframe?

 

[phillipny]

Yesterday evening, Incredible night sky in the Bahamas

 

[beestforwardspeed]

I'm NOT at all interested in hearing about your trip to the Exumas. Those islands are wayyy too easy to get to and are NOT remote enough for me.

I need something a lot more challenging and off the beaten path than the Exumas to get me exctied, so how about the "Mt Everest of the Bahamas" instead, 75 miles from the nearest permanant settlement!!

I'm just messing with ya:wink2::wink2:


Seriously though, those are excellent pics and its bringing back memoreies from my trip last July to the Bahamas!

Can't wait to see your UHD video on a retena display when you get back!

On a side note, is there a lot of vibration with the Sony Camera? I tried one out on the outside of a 172 and found there was a lot more vibration that the Gopro that I normally fly with.

 

[TangoWhiskey]

Looking forward to reading more and seeing video from this epic trip! That night shot in Exhuma--awesome.

Troy

 

[jordane93]

Beautiful pictures of the Bahamas!

 

[Agentair]

Nice, thanks for sharing, however it is giving me the bug to plan a trip there.

 

[cirrusmx]

Can't wait for the full trip report. I'll be interested to hear about your experiences with customs and immigration when returning to the U.S.

I never understood the beef people have with cbp on a ga context. I have dealt with them hundreds of times and never had a problem. just call before take off to let them know of your eta and thats that. OTOH dealing with cbp on land crossings is a hit or miss.

 

[phillipny]

Flying to the Exuma Cays, has been one of the most exciting and rewarding trips yet, becoming a pilot. Hopping between islands with good weather and the freedom to explore something new each day, is really deep in the dna of the pilot spirit.

This trip has been incredible. The last few days we based ourselves on the big island of Exuma near Georgetown, which had great line service for 100LL, a nice fbo and our beach home. Each day we'd drive ourselves over to the airport, preflight, jump in the plane for a nice flight to a new island and small landing strip. We tried Little Farmer's Cay (2500'x75') and saw the landing strips for Rudder Cut Cay, Cove Cay, Staniel Cay, Norman's Cay, all the super private ones and it goes on and on.

We love this place and today we are off to Eleuthera for the pink beaches and then home to USA.

Some pics below of the landing at Little Farmer's, the swimming pigs at Staniel Cay, the nurse sharks at Compass Cay, diving for conch and then eating it ceviche style on the boat. We also saw the Rock Iguanas on Leaf Cay and swimming to the Thunderball Grotto. There's a lot more but.. I should really get off the computer now!

See more images here and full report later in the week!
www.switchboxcontrol.com/news/

Phillip

 

[beestforwardspeed]

Fantastic, keep the pics coming!

 

[Mike5250]

Enjoy some fried lobster in Bimini, and rent a golf cart to drive around the island!

 

[jordane93]

Some more great pics!

 

[farmerbrake]

Hey mods can we get this guy removed from the forum for making us all jealous...... really nice pics!

 

[phillipny]

We made it back to USA, and no problem at all with the flight or customs. We cleared in Ft Lauderdale Executive because it stayed open later in the evening than Stuart (KFXE has a 9pm curfew, others in the area go till Midnight too). Ill post more flight details soon.

Our flight home was to fly up the Exuma Cays and take pictures/video, then climb to 10.5 and cross to Eleuthera, to see the Harbour Island beaches.

We found this strip of amazing colors in the ocean that I will post more on the site here. Really incredible
http://switchboxcontrol.com/news/

 

[phillipny]

Write up from my lady on the food/travel aspect of the trip. She works at Bon Appetit magazine and covered all the food stops we had
http://jmdamuck.com/

 

[Skywalker]

I like these two pictures best:

Great shots!! However, you have a lot of really great pictures!

Fantastic, keep the pics coming!

+1

 

[TangoWhiskey]

I feel a new phrase has been added to my vocabulary: "As happy as a wild pig in the Bahamas."